Precession electron diffraction tomography for solving complex modulated structures: the case of Bi5Nb3O15.

The crystal structure of the 1D incommensurately modulated phase Bi5Nb3O15 [superspace group X2mb(0b0)000, a = 5.46781(7) Å, b = 5.47381(8) Å, c = 41.9005(5) Å, and q = 0.17588(8)b*] is solved by electron diffraction using a tomography technique combined with precession of the electron beam. The (3 + 1)D structure is further validated by a refinement against powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). A coherent picture of the true nature of this compound is obtained, conciliating experimental observations made by different groups using transmission electron microscopy and PXRD. Bi5Nb3O15 does not have a mixed-layer Aurivillius-type structure but does contain structural elements, [Bi2O2](2+) slabs, and perovskite-like blocks, characteristic of Aurivillius phases. The presence of aperiodic crystallographic shear planes (CSPs) along the modulated direction b leads to the formation of an original layered structure containing both continuous and discontinuous [Bi2O2](2+) and perovskite-like octahedral layers. Between CSPs, the stacking of these two structural elements exhibits an unprecedented nonuniform sequence referring to Aurivillius phases.