Sr4Ru6ClO18, a new Ru4+/5+ oxy-chloride, solved by precession electron diffraction: Electric and magnetic behavior

The crystal structure of Sr4Ru6ClO18, a new Ru4+/5+ oxo-chloride, has been determined from Precession Electron Diffraction (PED) data acquired on a nanocrystal in a transmission electron microscope using the technique of electron diffraction tomography. This approach is described in details following a pedagogic route and a systematic comparison is made of this rather new method with other experimental methods of electron diffraction, and with the standard single crystal X-ray diffraction technique. Both transport and magnetic measurements, showed a transition at low temperature that may be correlated to Ru4+/Ru5+ charge ordering. - Graphical abstract: Structure of Sr4Ru6ClO18, determined using Precession Electron Diffraction data. - Highlights: • Structure of Sr4Ru6ClO18 was solved ab initio using precession electron diffraction. • This was done both on a nanometric sample and on a micrometric one. • Different type of experimental methods of electron diffraction are compared. • Single crystal X-ray diffraction was used to confirm the results. • Transport properties were characterized and show "exotic" behavior