Distinguishing space groups by electron channelling: centrosymmetric full-Heusler or non-centrosymmetric half-Heusler?

Abstract

X-ray emission under electron-channelling conditions is used to distinguish between a non-centrosymmetric half-Heusler and a centrosymmetric full-Heusler crystal. For TiCo 1.5+ xSn the space-group determination based on a Rietveld refinement procedure became challenging for increasing Co content ( x > 0.2), while electron channelling proved successful for higher Co content ( x = 0.35). This technique can be used on crystals as small as (10 nm) 3 .