Abstract
The success of the correction of spherical aberration in the electron microscope has revolutionized our views of oxides. This is a very important class of materials that poses an exciting promise towards future applications of some of the most intriguing phenomena in condensed matter physics: colossal magnetoresistance, colossal ionic conductivity, high Tc superconductivity, ferroelectricity, etc. Understanding the physics underlying such phenomena, especially in low dimensional systems (thin films, interfaces, nanowires, nanoparticles, etc), relies on the availability of techniques capable of looking at these systems in real space and with atomic resolution… and even beyond: in many cases the system properties depend on minuscule amounts of minuscule point defects that alter the materials properties dramatically. Atomic resolution spectroscopy in the aberration corrected electron microscope is one of the most powerful techniques available to materials scientists today. This article will briefly review some state-of-the-art applications of these techniques to oxide materials: from atomic resolution elemental mapping and single atom imaging to applications to real systems including oxide interfaces and mapping of physical properties such as the spin state of magnetic atoms.