A high-resolution electron microscope study of synthetic and biological carbonated apatites

A series of synthetic carbonated apatites and human dental enamels characterized by chemical analysis, infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction was studied using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Steps on the surfaces of apatite crystals, often only a few unit cells high and occasionally one unit cell high, were observed by their Fresnel diffraction contrast. Highly substituted synthetic carbonated apatites appeared to have more irregular and finer-textured surface features than materials with less carbonate substitution. The surface features of enamel apatite crystal were also irregular, but surface steps were less frequently aligned in crystallographic directions. Complex strain fields due to radiation damage centers were observed in some crystals and the fine structure of dislocations and grain boundaries in synthetic apatites was resolved at high magnification. Experimental lattice-image contrasts, in favorable circumstances, could be matched to computer-simulated images and were found to contain detail at near atomic resolution, around 2.0-2.5 A.