1 research outputs found
Subangstrom Profile Imaging of Relaxed ZnO(101Ì…0) Surfaces
Relaxation is a most basic structural behavior of free
surfaces,
however, direct observation of surface relaxation remains challenging
in atomic-scale. Herein, single-crystalline nanoislands formed in
situ on ZnO nanowires and nanobelts are characterized using aberration-corrected
transmission electron microscopy combined with ab initio calculations.
For the first time, displacements of both Zn and O atoms in the fresh
(101Ì…0) facets are quantified to accuracies of several picometers
and the under-surface distributions of contractions and rotations
of Zn–O bonds are directly measured, which unambiguously verify
the theoretically predicted relaxation of ZnO (101Ì…0) free surfaces.
Finally, the surface relaxation is directly correlated with the size
effects of electromechanical properties (e.g., elastic modulus and
spontaneous polarization) in ZnO nanowires