Electron tomography resolves a novel crystal structure in a binary nanocrystal superlattice

Mark P. Boneschanscher; Wiel H. Evers; Weikai Qi; Johannes D. Meeldijk; Marjolein Dijkstra; Daniel Vanmaekelbergh

doi:10.1021/nl400100c

Electron tomography resolves a novel crystal structure in a binary nanocrystal superlattice

Mark P. Boneschanscher, Wiel H. Evers, Weikai Qi, Johannes D. Meeldijk, Marjolein Dijkstra, Daniel Vanmaekelbergh (Corresponding author)

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Abstract

The self-assembly of different nanocrystals into a binary superlattice is of interest for both colloidal science and nanomaterials science. New properties may emerge from the interaction between the nanocrystal building blocks that are ordered in close contact in three dimensions. Identification of the superlattice structure including its defects is of key interest in understanding the electrical and optical properties of these systems. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been very instrumental to reach this goal but fails for complex crystal structures and buried defects. Here, we use electron tomography to resolve the three-dimensional crystal structure of a binary superlattice that could not be resolved by TEM only. The structure with a [PbSe] ₆[CdSe]₁₉ stoichiometry has no analogue in the atomic world. Moreover we will show how tomography can overcome the clouding effects of planar defects on structure identification by TEM.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1312-1316
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nano Letters
Volume	13
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1021/nl400100c
Publication status	Published - 13 Mar 2013
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Electron tomography
nanocrystals
self-assembly
superlattices

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10.1021/nl400100c

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abstract = "The self-assembly of different nanocrystals into a binary superlattice is of interest for both colloidal science and nanomaterials science. New properties may emerge from the interaction between the nanocrystal building blocks that are ordered in close contact in three dimensions. Identification of the superlattice structure including its defects is of key interest in understanding the electrical and optical properties of these systems. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been very instrumental to reach this goal but fails for complex crystal structures and buried defects. Here, we use electron tomography to resolve the three-dimensional crystal structure of a binary superlattice that could not be resolved by TEM only. The structure with a [PbSe] 6[CdSe]19 stoichiometry has no analogue in the atomic world. Moreover we will show how tomography can overcome the clouding effects of planar defects on structure identification by TEM.",

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AU - Boneschanscher, Mark P.

AU - Evers, Wiel H.

AU - Qi, Weikai

AU - Meeldijk, Johannes D.

AU - Dijkstra, Marjolein

AU - Vanmaekelbergh, Daniel

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AB - The self-assembly of different nanocrystals into a binary superlattice is of interest for both colloidal science and nanomaterials science. New properties may emerge from the interaction between the nanocrystal building blocks that are ordered in close contact in three dimensions. Identification of the superlattice structure including its defects is of key interest in understanding the electrical and optical properties of these systems. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has been very instrumental to reach this goal but fails for complex crystal structures and buried defects. Here, we use electron tomography to resolve the three-dimensional crystal structure of a binary superlattice that could not be resolved by TEM only. The structure with a [PbSe] 6[CdSe]19 stoichiometry has no analogue in the atomic world. Moreover we will show how tomography can overcome the clouding effects of planar defects on structure identification by TEM.

KW - Electron tomography

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KW - self-assembly

KW - superlattices

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Electron tomography resolves a novel crystal structure in a binary nanocrystal superlattice

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