Dislocation Motion and Grain Boundary Migration in Two-Dimensional Tungsten Disulphide

A. Azizi, X. Zou, P. Ercius, Z. Zhang, A. L. Elias, N. Perea-Lopez, G. Stone, M. Terrones, B. I. Yakobson, N. Alem. (2014). “Dislocation motion and grain boundary migration in two-dimensional tungsten disulphide“. Nature Communications 5, 4867.

“Dislocations have a significant effect on mechanical, electronic, magnetic and optical properties of crystals. For a dislocation to migrate in bulk crystals, collective and simultaneous movement of several atoms is needed. In two-dimensional crystals, in contrast, dislocations occur on the surface and can exhibit unique migration dynamics. Dislocation migration has recently been studied in graphene, but no studies have been reported on dislocation dynamics for two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides with unique metal-ligand bonding and a three-atom thickness. This study presents dislocation motion, glide and climb, leading to grain boundary migration in a ​tungsten disulphide monolayer. Direct atomic-scale imaging coupled with atomistic simulations reveals a strikingly low-energy barrier for glide, leading to significant grain boundary reconstruction in ​tungsten disulphide. The observed dynamics are unique and different from those reported for graphene. Through strain field mapping, we also demonstrate how dislocations introduce considerable strain along the grain boundaries and at the dislocation cores.”

 

Coalescence of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

M. Terrones, H. Terrones, F. Banhart, J. Charlier, P. M. Ajayan. (2000). “Coalescence of single-walled carbon nanotubes“. Science 288, 1226-1229.

“The coalescence of single-walled nanotubes is studied in situ under electron irradiation at high temperature in a transmission electron microscope. The merging process is investigated at the atomic level, using tight-binding molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations. Vacancies induce coalescence via a zipper-like mechanism, imposing a continuous reorganization of atoms on individual tube lattices along adjacent tubes. Other topological defects induce the polymerization of tubes. Coalescence seems to be restricted to tubes with the same chirality, explaining the low frequency of occurrence of this event.”

 

Controlled Formation of Sharp Zigzag and Armchair Edges in Graphitic Nanoribbons

X. Jia, M. Hofmann, V. Meunier, B. G. Sumpter, J. Campos-Delgado, J. M. Romo-Herrera, H. Son, Y. P. Hsieh, A. Reina, J. Kong, M. Terrones, M. S. Dresselhaus. (2009). “Controlled formation of sharp zigzag and armchair edges in graphitic nanoribbons“. Science 323, 1701-1705.

“Graphene nanoribbons can exhibit either quasi-metallic or semiconducting behavior, depending on the atomic structure of their edges. Thus, it is important to control the morphology and crystallinity of these edges for practical purposes. We demonstrated an efficient edge-reconstruction process, at the atomic scale, for graphitic nanoribbons by Joule heating. During Joule heating and electron beam irradiation, carbon atoms are vaporized, and subsequently sharp edges and step-edge arrays are stabilized, mostly with either zigzag- or armchair-edge configurations. Model calculations show that the dominant annealing mechanisms involve point defect annealing and edge reconstruction.”

 

In Situ Nucleation of Carbon Nanotubes by the Injection of Carbon Atoms into Metal Particles

J. A. Rodríguez-Manzo, M. Terrones, H. Terrones, H. W. Kroto, L. Sun, F. Banhart. (2007). “In situ nucleation of carbon nanotubes by the injection of carbon atoms into metal particles“. Nature nanotechnology 2, 307-311.

“The synthesis of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) of desired chiralities and diameters is one of the most important challenges in nanotube science and achieving such selectivity may require a detailed understanding of their growth mechanism. We report the formation of CNTs in an entirely condensed phase process that allows us, for the first time, to monitor the nucleation of a nanotube on the spherical surface of a metal particle. When multiwalled CNTs containing metal particle cores are irradiated with an electron beam, carbon from graphitic shells surrounding the metal particles is ingested into the body of the particle and subsequently emerges as single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) or multiwalled nanotubes (MWNTs) inside the host nanotubes. These observations, at atomic resolution in an electron microscope, show that there is direct bonding between the tubes and the metal surface from which the tubes sprout and can be readily explained by bulk diffusion of carbon through the body of catalytic particles, with no evidence of surface diffusion.”