Resolving Multielement
Semiconductor Nanocrystals
at the Atomic Level: Complete Deciphering of Domains and Order in
Complex CuαZnβSnγSeδ (CZTSe) Tetrapods
posted on 2024-02-11, 22:03authored byHuan Ren, Yuanwei Sun, Frank Hoffmann, Matthias Vandichel, Temilade E. Adegoke, Ning Liu, Conor McCarthy, Peng Gao, Kevin M. Ryan
Semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) with high elemental
and structural
complexity can be engineered to tailor for electronic, photovoltaic,
thermoelectric, and battery applications etc. However, this greater
complexity causes ambiguity in the atomic structure understanding.
This in turn hinders the mechanistic studies of nucleation and growth,
the theoretical calculations of functional properties, and the capability
to extend functional design across complementary semiconductor nanocrystals.
Herein, we successfully deciphered the atomic arrangements of 4 different
nanocrystal domains in CuαZnβSnγSeδ (CZTSe) nanocrystals using crucial
zone axis analysis on multiple crystals in different orientations.
The results show that the essence of crystallographic progression
from binary to multielemental semiconductors is actually the change
of theoretical periodicity. This transition is caused by decreased
symmetry in the crystal instead of previously assumed crystal deformation.
We further reveal that these highly complex crystalline entities have
highly ordered element arrangements as opposed to the previous understanding
that their elemental orderings are random.