Correlative Characterizations Reveal the Structure‐Bonding‐Property Relationship at a Local Scale

Chemistry - Methods, vol. 5

Abstract

Abstract Grain boundaries (GBs) play an important role in the mechanical and functional properties of polycrystalline materials. For charge carrier transport, GBs can either decrease or even increase the electrical conductivity, depending on the local atomic arrangements at the GB. Yet, uncovering the “one‐to‐one correlation” between structures and properties is non‐trivial. This work demonstrates an advanced approach that combines multiple in‐situ and ex‐situ techniques to investigate the structural, chemical, and transport properties of individual GBs. Advanced characterization and processing techniques such as electron backscatter diffraction and focused ion beam allow us to site specifically “lift out” individual GBs from the polycrystalline bulk. Combined with semiconductor fabrication protocols such as electron beam lithography and deposition to prepare a measurement circuit, we can obtain the electrical properties of the microscale lamella. Moreover, the chemical composition and bonding mechanism of the same GB can be determined by atom probe tomography. An example of PbS shows that the high‐angle GB strongly reduces carrier mobility due to the existence of a potential barrier and the local collapse of metavalent bonding.

Authors 5

1. Huaide Zhang Aachen Institute of Physics (IA)

   Paul Drude Institute for Solid State Electronics · Forschungsverbund Berlin · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Physics (IA) RWTH Aachen University Sommerfeldstraße 14 52074 Aachen Germany

   Paul-Drude-Institut für Festkörperelektronik Leibniz-Institut im Forschungsverbund Berlin e. V. Hausvogteiplatz 5–7 10117 Berlin Germany

2. Yiming Zhou Aachen Institute of Physics (IA)

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Physics (IA) RWTH Aachen University Sommerfeldstraße 14 52074 Aachen Germany

3. Chongjian Zhou

   Northwestern Polytechnical University · State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing

   Affiliation as printed

   State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing and Key Laboratory of Radiation Detection Materials and Devices Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Northwestern Polytechnical University Xi'an 710072 China

4. Matthias Wuttig Aachen Institute of Physics (IA)

   Jülich Aachen Research Alliance · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Physics (IA) RWTH Aachen University Sommerfeldstraße 14 52074 Aachen Germany

   Peter Grünberg Institute – JARA-Institute Energy Efficient Information Technology (PGI-10) Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße 52428 Jülich Germany

5. Yuan Yu corresponding Aachen Institute of Physics (IA)

   RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Physics (IA) RWTH Aachen University Sommerfeldstraße 14 52074 Aachen Germany