Solid-State Physics and Magnetism Section, KU Leuven, BE-3001 Leuven, Belgium.
Electron Microscopy for Materials Science (EMAT), University of Antwerp, BE-2020 Antwerp, Belgium.
Nat Commun. 2016 Dec 23;7:14001. doi: 10.1038/ncomms14001.
Stacking faults are known as defective structures in crystalline materials that typically lower the structural quality of the material. Here, we show that a particular type of defect, that is, stacking fault tetrahedra (SFTs), exhibits pronounced quantized electronic behaviour, revealing a potential synthetic route to decoupled nanoparticles in metal films. We report on the electronic properties of SFTs that exist in Au(111) films, as evidenced by scanning tunnelling microscopy and confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. We find that the SFTs reveal a remarkable decoupling from their metal surroundings, leading to pronounced energy level quantization effects within the SFTs. The electronic behaviour of the SFTs can be described well by the particle-in-a-box model. Our findings demonstrate that controlled preparation of SFTs may offer an alternative way to achieve well-decoupled nanoparticles of high crystalline quality in metal thin films without the need of thin insulating layers.
层错是晶体材料中常见的缺陷结构，通常会降低材料的结构质量。在这里，我们表明，一种特殊类型的缺陷，即堆垛层错四面体（SFT），表现出明显的量子化电子行为，为在金属薄膜中制备分离的纳米颗粒提供了一种潜在的合成途径。我们通过扫描隧道显微镜报告了在 Au(111) 薄膜中存在的 SFT 的电子特性，并通过透射电子显微镜得到了证实。我们发现，SFT 与其金属环境明显解耦，导致 SFT 内出现明显的能级量子化效应。SFT 的电子行为可以很好地用粒子在盒模型来描述。我们的研究结果表明，通过控制 SFT 的制备，可以提供一种替代方法，在无需薄绝缘层的情况下，在金属薄膜中获得具有高结晶质量的良好分离的纳米颗粒。
