Zig-zag Self-assembly of Magnetic Octahedral Fe 3 O 4 Nanocrystals using in situ Liquid Transmission Electron Microscopy
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Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Dunin-Borkowski, Rafal.
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We study planar defects in epitaxial Co:ZnO dilute magnetic semiconductor thin films deposited on c-plane sapphire (Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}), as well as the Co:ZnO/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} interface, using aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy and electron energy-loss spectroscopy. Co:ZnO samples that were deposited using pulsed laser deposition and reactive magnetron sputtering are both found to contain extrinsic stacking faults, incoherent interface structures, and compositional variations within the first 3–4 Co:ZnO layers next to the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} substrate. The stacking fault density is in the range of 10{sup 17} cm{sup −3}. We also measure the local lattice distortions around the stacking faults. It is shown that despite the relatively high density of planar defects, lattice distortions, and small compositional variation, the Co:ZnO films retain paramagnetic properties.
The material characterization toolbox has recently experienced a number of parallel revolutionary advances, foreshadowing a time in the near future when material scientists can quantify material structure evolution across spatial and temporal space simultaneously. This will provide insight to reaction dynamics in four-dimensions, spanning multiple orders of magnitude in both temporal and spatial space. This study presents the authors’ viewpoint on the material characterization field, reviewing its recent past, evaluating its present capabilities, and proposing directions for its future development. Electron microscopy; atom probe tomography; x-ray, neutron and electron tomography; serial sectioning tomography; and diffraction-based analysis methods are reviewed, and opportunities for their future development are highlighted. Advances in surface probemicroscopy have been reviewed recently and, therefore, are not included [D.A.Bonnell et al.: Rev.Modern Phys. in Review]. In this study particular attention is paid to studies that have pioneered the synergetic use of multiple techniques to provide complementary views of a single structure or process; several of these studies represent the stateof- the-art in characterization and suggest a trajectory for the continued development of the field. Based on this review, a set of grand challenges for characterization science is identified, including suggestions for instrumentation advances, scientific problems in microstructure analysis, and complex structure evolution problems involving material damage. The future of microstructural characterization is proposed to be one not only where individual techniques are pushed to their limits, but where the community devises strategies of technique synergy to address complex multiscale problems in materials science and engineering.