Probing planar defects in nanoparticle superlattices by 3D small-angle electron diffraction tomography and real space imaging.

We demonstrate how the acquisition and processing of 3D electron diffraction data can be extended to characterize structural features on the mesoscale, and show how lattice distortions in superlattices of self-assembled spherical Pd nanoparticles can be quantified by three-dimensional small-angle electron diffraction tomography (3D SA-EDT). Transmission electron microscopy real space imaging and 3D SA-EDT reveal a high density of stacking faults that was related to a competition between fcc and hcp arrangements during assembly. Information on the orientation of the stacking faults was used to make analogies between planar defects in the superlattices and Shockley partial dislocations in metallic systems.