Invited
Insights into multi-scale structural dynamics of complex oxides using physics-informed Dark-Field X-ray Microscopy

A comprehensive understanding of structure-property relationships in functional electroceramics demands the ability to interrogate structural dynamics across multiple length scales from the atomic to the macroscopic. Dark-field x-ray microscopy (DFXM) has recently emerged as a tool for mapping diverse phenomena including plasticity, domain wall motion and phase transitions, however its optically-limited resolution prohibits direct sensitivity to structures below these mesoscopic scales. Here we describe our ongoing development of methods for quantifying structures below DFXM`s resolution limit based on physics-informed forward models that scale from the atomic to the mesoscopic. Specifically, examples include the mapping of oxygen transport, of nanoscale domain structures, and of the electrical polarization of the lattice. Uniquely, these approaches provide the means to non-destructively acquire detailed maps of complex nanoscale structural features throughout macroscopic samples up to millimeters in size.