Electron microscopy study of incommensurate modulated structures in misfit ternary chalcogenides

The study of misfit structures by means of transmission electron microscopy and associated techniques is reviewed. It is complementary to X-ray crystallography and provides a local and direct view of the beautiful complexity of these systems. Three different types are presented in this work. Misfit columnar structures can be contemplated as a case of one-dimensional misfit structures while misfit layer structures are considered as two-dimensional misfit structures. Some extra dimensionality is added when these misfit layer structures wrap to give rise to tubular crystals. Electron microscopy/diffraction shows clearly in many examples the presence of structural modulations as weak satellite reflections that are very difficult to detect by X-ray diffraction methods. Besides, high-resolution images show the presence of stacking defects in some of these misfit layer structures.