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“Study of the Mechanism and Increasing Crystallinity in the Self-Templated Growth of Ultrathin PbS Nanosheets”. van der Sluijs MM, Salzmann BBV, Arenas Esteban D, Li C, Jannis D, Brafine LC, Laning TD, Reinders JWC, Hijmans NSA, Moes JR, Verbeeck J, Bals S, Vanmaekelbergh D, Chemistry of materials (2023). http://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.3c00300
Abstract: Colloidal 2D semiconductor nanocrystals, the analogue of solid-state quantum wells, have attracted strong interest in material science and physics. Molar quantities of suspended quantum objects with spectrally pure absorption and emission can be synthesized. For the visible region, CdSe nanoplatelets with atomically precise thickness and tailorable emission have been (almost) perfected. For the near-infrared region, PbS nanosheets (NSs) hold strong promise, but the photoluminescence quantum yield is low and many questions on the crystallinity, atomic structure, intriguing rectangular shape, and formation mechanism remain to be answered. Here, we report on a detailed investigation of the PbS NSs prepared with a lead thiocyanate single source precursor. Atomically resolved HAADF-STEM imaging reveals the presence of defects and small cubic domains in the deformed orthorhombic PbS crystal lattice. Moreover, variations in thickness are observed in the NSs, but only in steps of 2 PbS monolayers. To study the reaction mechanism, a synthesis at a lower temperature allowed for the study of reaction intermediates. Specifically, we studied the evolution of pseudo-crystalline templates towards mature, crystalline PbS NSs. We propose a self-induced templating mechanism based on an oleylamine-lead-thiocyanate (OLAM-Pb-SCN) complex with two Pb-SCN units as a building block; the interactions between the long-chain ligands regulate the crystal structure and possibly the lateral dimensions.
Keywords: A1 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
Impact Factor: 8.6
Times cited: 2
DOI: 10.1021/acs.chemmater.3c00300
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“Optical versus electron diffraction imaging of Twist-angle in 2D transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers”. Psilodimitrakopoulos S, Orekhov A, Mouchliadis L, Jannis D, Maragkakis GM, Kourmoulakis G, Gauquelin N, Kioseoglou G, Verbeeck J, Stratakis E, npj 2D Materials and Applications 5, 77 (2021). http://doi.org/10.1038/S41699-021-00258-5
Abstract: Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials can be vertically stacked with van der Waals bonds, which enable interlayer coupling. In the particular case of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) bilayers, the relative direction between the two monolayers, coined as twist-angle, modifies the crystal symmetry and creates a superlattice with exciting properties. Here, we demonstrate an all-optical method for pixel-by-pixel mapping of the twist-angle with a resolution of 0.55(degrees), via polarization-resolved second harmonic generation (P-SHG) microscopy and we compare it with four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D STEM). It is found that the twist-angle imaging of WS2 bilayers, using the P-SHG technique is in excellent agreement with that obtained using electron diffraction. The main advantages of the optical approach are that the characterization is performed on the same substrate that the device is created on and that it is three orders of magnitude faster than the 4D STEM. We envisage that the optical P-SHG imaging could become the gold standard for the quality examination of TMD superlattice-based devices.
Keywords: A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
Times cited: 4
DOI: 10.1038/S41699-021-00258-5
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“Epitaxial growth of the candidate ferroelectric Rashba material SrBiO3by pulsed laser deposition”. Verdierre G, Gauquelin N, Jannis D, Birkhölzer YA, Mallik S, Verbeeck J, Bibes M, Koster G, APL materials 11, 031109 (2023). http://doi.org/10.1063/5.0138222
Abstract: Among oxides, bismuthates have been gaining much interest due to their unique features. In addition to their superconducting properties, they show potential for applications as topological insulators and as possible spin-to-charge converters. After being first investigated in their bulk form in the 1980s, bismuthates have been successfully grown as thin films. However, most efforts have focused on BaBiO<sub>3</sub>, with SrBiO<sub>3</sub>receiving only little attention. Here, we report the growth of epitaxial films of SrBiO<sub>3</sub>on both TiO<sub>2</sub>-terminated SrTiO<sub>3</sub>and NdO-terminated NdScO<sub>3</sub>substrates by pulsed laser deposition. SrBiO<sub>3</sub>has a pseudocubic lattice constant of ∼4.25 Å and grows relaxed on NdScO<sub>3</sub>. Counter-intuitively, it grows with a slight tensile strain on SrTiO<sub>3</sub>despite a large lattice mismatch, which should induce compressive strain. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy reveals that this occurs as a consequence of structural domain matching, with blocks of 10 SrBiO<sub>3</sub>unit planes matching blocks of 11 SrTiO<sub>3</sub>unit planes. This work provides a framework for the synthesis of high quality perovskite bismuthates films and for the understanding of their interface interactions with homostructural substrates.
Keywords: A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
Impact Factor: 6.1
DOI: 10.1063/5.0138222
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“Real-Time Integration Center of Mass (riCOM) Reconstruction for 4D STEM”. Yu C-P, Friedrich T, Jannis D, Van Aert S, Verbeeck J, Microscopy and microanalysis , 1 (2022). http://doi.org/10.1017/S1431927622000617
Abstract: A real-time image reconstruction method for scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) is proposed. With an algorithm requiring only the center of mass of the diffraction pattern at one probe position at a time, it is able to update the resulting image each time a new probe position is visited without storing any intermediate diffraction patterns. The results show clear features at high spatial frequency, such as atomic column positions. It is also demonstrated that some common post-processing methods, such as band-pass filtering, can be directly integrated in the real-time processing flow. Compared with other reconstruction methods, the proposed method produces high-quality reconstructions with good noise robustness at extremely low memory and computational requirements. An efficient, interactive open source implementation of the concept is further presented, which is compatible with frame-based, as well as event-based camera/file types. This method provides the attractive feature of immediate feedback that microscope operators have become used to, for example, conventional high-angle annular dark field STEM imaging, allowing for rapid decision-making and fine-tuning to obtain the best possible images for beam-sensitive samples at the lowest possible dose.
Keywords: A1 Journal article; Engineering sciences. Technology; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
Impact Factor: 2.8
Times cited: 7
DOI: 10.1017/S1431927622000617
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“Germanium vacancy centre formation in CVD nanocrystalline diamond using a solid dopant source”. Mary Joy R, Pobedinskas P, Bourgeois E, Chakraborty T, Görlitz J, Herrmann D, Noël C, Heupel J, Jannis D, Gauquelin N, D'Haen J, Verbeeck J, Popov C, Houssiau L, Becher C, Nesládek M, Haenen K, Science talks 5, 100157 (2023). http://doi.org/10.1016/j.sctalk.2023.100157
Keywords: A3 Journal article; Electron microscopy for materials research (EMAT)
DOI: 10.1016/j.sctalk.2023.100157
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