Article abstract
Nature Materials 6, 586 - 591 (2007)
Published online: 24 June 2007 | doi:10.1038/nmat1953
Subject Categories: Ceramics | Nanoscale materials
Nano-chessboard superlattices formed by spontaneous phase separation in oxides
Beth S. Guiton & Peter K. Davies
Abstract
The use of bottom-up fabrication of nanostructures for nanotechnology inherently requires two-dimensional control of the nanostructures at a particular surface. This could in theory be achieved crystallographically with a structure whose three-dimensional unit cell has two or more—tuneable—dimensions on the nanometre scale. Here, we present what is to our knowledge the first example of a truly periodic two-dimensional nanometre-scale phase separation in any inorganic material, and demonstrate our ability to tune the unit-cell dimensions. As such, it represents great potential for the use of standard ceramic processing methods for nanotechnology. The phase separation occurs spontaneously in the homologous series of the perovskite-based Li-ion conductor, (Nd2/3-xLi3x)TiO3, to give two phases whose dimensions both extend into the nanometre scale. This unique feature could lead to its application as a template for the assembly of nanostructures or molecular monolayers.
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, 3231 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
Correspondence to: Beth S. Guiton e-mail: guiton@seas.upenn.edu
Correspondence to: Peter K. Davies e-mail: davies@seas.upenn.edu
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