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Guo Z, Han M, Zeng S, Yin Z, Tan J, Niu K, Zhao E, Zhao Y, Liu B, Zou X, Lin J. Intrinsic Grain Boundary Structure and Enhanced Defect States in Air-Sensitive Polycrystalline 1T'-WTe 2 Monolayer. ADVANCED MATERIALS (DEERFIELD BEACH, FLA.) 2024; 36:e2402219. [PMID: 38843883 DOI: 10.1002/adma.202402219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2024] [Revised: 05/03/2024] [Indexed: 06/15/2024]
Abstract
Monolayer WTe2 has attracted significant attention for its unconventional superconductivity and topological edge states. However, its air sensitivity poses challenges for studying intrinsic defect structures. This study addresses this issue using a custom-built inert gas interconnected system, and investigate the intrinsic grain boundary (GB) structures of monolayer polycrystalline 1T' WTe2 grown by nucleation-controlled chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. These findings reveal that GBs in this system are predominantly governed by W-Te rhombi with saturated coordination, resulting in three specific GB prototypes without dislocation cores. The GBs exhibit anisotropic orientations influenced by kinks formed from these fundamental units, which in turn affect the distribution of grains in various shapes within polycrystalline flakes. Scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/S) analysis further reveals metallic states along the intrinsic 120° twin grain boundary (TGB), consistent with computed band structures. This systematic exploration of GBs in air-sensitive 1T' WTe2 monolayers provides valuable insights into emerging GB-related phenomena.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zenglong Guo
- Department of Physics and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China
| | - Mengjiao Han
- Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong, 523808, China
| | - Shengfeng Zeng
- Shenzhen Geim Graphene Center, Institute of Materials Research, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Zhouyi Yin
- Department of Physics and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China
| | - Junyang Tan
- Shenzhen Geim Graphene Center, Institute of Materials Research, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Kangdi Niu
- Department of Physics and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China
| | - Erding Zhao
- Department of Physics and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China
| | - Yue Zhao
- Department of Physics and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China
| | - Bilu Liu
- Shenzhen Geim Graphene Center, Institute of Materials Research, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Xiaolong Zou
- Shenzhen Geim Graphene Center, Institute of Materials Research, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Junhao Lin
- Department of Physics and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, 518055, China
- Quantum Science Center of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Guangdong), Shenzhen, 518045, China
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2
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Dihingia N, Vázquez-Lizardi GA, Wu RJ, Reifsnyder Hickey D. Quantifying the thickness of WTe2 using atomic-resolution STEM simulations and supervised machine learning. J Chem Phys 2024; 160:091101. [PMID: 38436439 DOI: 10.1063/5.0188928] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024] Open
Abstract
For two-dimensional (2D) materials, the exact thickness of the material often dictates its physical and chemical properties. The 2D quantum material WTe2 possesses properties that vary significantly from a single layer to multiple layers, yet it has a complicated crystal structure that makes it difficult to differentiate thicknesses in atomic-resolution images. Furthermore, its air sensitivity and susceptibility to electron beam-induced damage heighten the need for direct ways to determine the thickness and atomic structure without acquiring multiple measurements or transferring samples in ambient atmosphere. Here, we demonstrate a new method to identify the thickness up to ten van der Waals layers in Td-WTe2 using atomic-resolution high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy image simulation. Our approach is based on analyzing the intensity line profiles of overlapping atomic columns and building a standard neural network model from the line profile features. We observe that it is possible to clearly distinguish between even and odd thicknesses (up to seven layers), without using machine learning, by comparing the deconvoluted peak intensity ratios or the area ratios. The standard neural network model trained on the line profile features allows thicknesses to be distinguished up to ten layers and exhibits an accuracy of up to 94% in the presence of Gaussian and Poisson noise. This method efficiently quantifies thicknesses in Td-WTe2, can be extended to related 2D materials, and provides a pathway to characterize precise atomic structures, including local thickness variations and atomic defects, for few-layer 2D materials with overlapping atomic column positions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikalabh Dihingia
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
| | - Gabriel A Vázquez-Lizardi
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
| | - Ryan J Wu
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
| | - Danielle Reifsnyder Hickey
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
- Materials Research Institute, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
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3
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Zhang Z, Dong X, Chen J, Liu Z, Gao Z, Chang X, Du Y, Jia C, Fu H, Luo F, Wu J. Transferred Polymer-Encapsulated Metal Electrodes for Electrical Transport Measurements on Ultrathin Air-Sensitive Crystals. SMALL METHODS 2023; 7:e2300177. [PMID: 37287373 DOI: 10.1002/smtd.202300177] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2023] [Revised: 05/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Owing to rapid property degradation after ambient exposure and incompatibility with conventional device fabrication process, electrical transport measurements on air-sensitive 2D materials have always been a big issue. Here, for the first time, a facile one-step polymer-encapsulated electrode transfer (PEET) method applicable for fragile 2D materials is developed, which showed great advantages of damage-free electrodes patterning and in situ polymer encapsulation preventing from H2 O/O2 exposure during the whole electrical measurements process. The ultrathin SmTe2 metals grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) are chosen as the prototypical air-sensitive 2D crystals for their poor air-stability, which will become highly insulating when fabricated by conventional lithographic techniques. Nevertheless, the intrinsic electrical properties of CVD-grown SmTe2 nanosheets can be readily investigated by the PEET method instead, showing ultralow contact resistance and high signal/noise ratio. The PEET method can be applicable to other fragile ultrathin magnetic materials, such as (Mn,Cr)Te, to investigate their intrinsic electrical/magnetic properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zheshan Zhang
- Tianjin Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Center for Rare Earth and Inorganic Functional Materials, Smart Sensor Interdisciplinary Science Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Xinyue Dong
- Tianjin Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Center for Rare Earth and Inorganic Functional Materials, Smart Sensor Interdisciplinary Science Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Jiabiao Chen
- Tianjin Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Center for Rare Earth and Inorganic Functional Materials, Smart Sensor Interdisciplinary Science Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Zhaochao Liu
- Tianjin Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Center for Rare Earth and Inorganic Functional Materials, Smart Sensor Interdisciplinary Science Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Zhansheng Gao
- Tianjin Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Center for Rare Earth and Inorganic Functional Materials, Smart Sensor Interdisciplinary Science Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Xinyue Chang
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-scale Optical Information Science and Technology, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Yaping Du
- Tianjin Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Center for Rare Earth and Inorganic Functional Materials, Smart Sensor Interdisciplinary Science Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Chuancheng Jia
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-scale Optical Information Science and Technology, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Huixia Fu
- Center of Quantum Materials and Devices & College of Physics, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 401331, China
| | - Feng Luo
- Tianjin Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Center for Rare Earth and Inorganic Functional Materials, Smart Sensor Interdisciplinary Science Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
| | - Jinxiong Wu
- Tianjin Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Center for Rare Earth and Inorganic Functional Materials, Smart Sensor Interdisciplinary Science Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350, China
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4
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Zheng H, Ghosh A, Swamynadhan MJ, Wang G, Zhang Q, Wu X, Abdelwahab I, Wong WPD, Xu QH, Ghosh S, Chen J, Campbell BJ, Stroppa A, Lin J, Mahendiran R, Loh KP. Electron Spin Decoherence Dynamics in Magnetic Manganese Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Crystals: The Effect of Lattice Dimensionality. J Am Chem Soc 2023; 145:18549-18559. [PMID: 37579341 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.3c05503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/16/2023]
Abstract
Organic-inorganic metal hybrids with their tailorable lattice dimensionality and intrinsic spin-splitting properties are interesting material platforms for spintronic applications. While the spin decoherence process is extensively studied in lead- and tin-based hybrids, these systems generally show short spin decoherence lifetimes, and their correlation with the lattice framework is still not well-understood. Herein, we synthesized magnetic manganese hybrid single crystals of (4-fluorobenzylamine)2MnCl4, ((R)-3-fluoropyrrolidinium)MnCl3, and (pyrrolidinium)2MnCl4, which represent a change in lattice dimensionality from 2D and 1D to 0D, and studied their spin decoherence processes using continuous-wave electron spin resonance spectroscopy. All manganese hybrids exhibit nanosecond-scale spin decoherence time τ2 dominated by the symmetry-directed spin exchange interaction strengths of Mn2+-Mn2+ pairs, which is much longer than lead- and tin-based metal hybrids. In contrast to the similar temperature variation laws of τ2 in 2D and 0D structures, which first increase and gradually drop afterward, the 1D structure presents a monotonous rise of τ2 with the temperatures, indicating the strong correlation of spin decoherence with the lattice rigidity of the inorganic framework. This is also rationalized on the basis that the spin decoherence is governed by the competitive contributions from motional narrowing (prolonging the τ2) and electron-phonon coupling interaction (shortening the τ2), both of which are thermally activated, with the difference that the former is more pronounced in rigid crystalline lattices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Haining Zheng
- Joint School of National University of Singapore and Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University, Binhai New City, Fuzhou 350207, China
- Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, 117543 Singapore
| | - Arup Ghosh
- Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, 2 Science Drive 3, 117551 Singapore
| | - M J Swamynadhan
- Department of Physics and Nanotechnology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur 603203, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Gang Wang
- Department of Physics and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Qihan Zhang
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 117575 Singapore
| | - Xiao Wu
- Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, 117543 Singapore
| | - Ibrahim Abdelwahab
- Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, 117543 Singapore
| | - Walter P D Wong
- Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, 117543 Singapore
| | - Qing-Hua Xu
- Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, 117543 Singapore
| | - Saurabh Ghosh
- Department of Physics and Nanotechnology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur 603203, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Jingsheng Chen
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, 117575 Singapore
| | - Branton J Campbell
- Department of Physics & Astronomy, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602, United States
| | - Alessandro Stroppa
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Institute for Superconducting and Innovative Materials and Devices (CNR-SPIN), c/o Department of Physical and Chemical Sciences, University of L'Aquila, Via Vetoio, I-67100 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy
| | - Junhao Lin
- Department of Physics and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
- Quantum Science Center of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Guangdong), Shenzhen 518045, China
| | - Ramanathan Mahendiran
- Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, 2 Science Drive 3, 117551 Singapore
| | - Kian Ping Loh
- Joint School of National University of Singapore and Tianjin University, International Campus of Tianjin University, Binhai New City, Fuzhou 350207, China
- Department of Chemistry, National University of Singapore, 3 Science Drive 3, 117543 Singapore
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5
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Yuan F, Jia Y, Cheng G, Singha R, Lei S, Yao N, Wu S, Schoop LM. Atomic Resolution Imaging of Highly Air-Sensitive Monolayer and Twisted-Bilayer WTe 2. NANO LETTERS 2023; 23:6868-6874. [PMID: 37477415 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c01175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/22/2023]
Abstract
Bulk Td-WTe2 is a semimetal, while its monolayer counterpart is a two-dimensional (2D) topological insulator. Recently, electronic transport resembling a Luttinger liquid state was found in twisted-bilayer WTe2 (tWTe2) with a twist angle of ∼5°. Despite the strong interest in 2D WTe2 systems, little experimental information is available about their intrinsic microstructure, leaving obstacles in modeling their physical properties. The monolayer, and consequently tWTe2, are highly air-sensitive, and therefore, probing their atomic structures is difficult. In this study, we develop a robust method for atomic-resolution visualization of monolayers and tWTe2 obtained through mechanical exfoliation and fabrication. We confirm the high crystalline quality of mechanically exfoliated WTe2 samples and observe that tWTe2 with twist angles of ∼5 and ∼2° retains its pristine moiré structure without substantial deformations or reconstructions. The results provide a structural foundation for future electronic modeling of monolayer and tWTe2 moiré lattices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fang Yuan
- Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
| | - Yanyu Jia
- Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
| | - Guangming Cheng
- Princeton Materials Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
| | - Ratnadwip Singha
- Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
| | - Shiming Lei
- Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
| | - Nan Yao
- Princeton Materials Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
| | - Sanfeng Wu
- Department of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
| | - Leslie M Schoop
- Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States
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6
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Li S, Wang YP, Ning S, Xu K, Pantelides ST, Zhou W, Lin J. Revealing 3D Ripple Structure and Its Dynamics in Freestanding Monolayer MoSe 2 by Single-Frame 2D Atomic Image Reconstruction. NANO LETTERS 2023; 23:1298-1305. [PMID: 36779843 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.2c04476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
An atomic-scale ripple structure has been revealed by electron tomography based on sequential projected atomic-resolution images, but it requires harsh imaging conditions with negligible structure evolution of the imaged samples. Here, we demonstrate that the ripple structure in monolayer MoSe2 can be facilely reconstructed from a single-frame scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) image collected at designated collection angles. The intensity and shape of each Se2 atomic column in the single-frame projected STEM image are synergistically combined to precisely map the slight misalignments of two Se atoms induced by rippling, which is then converted to three-dimensional (3D) ripple distortions. The dynamics of 3D ripple deformation can thus be directly visualized at the atomic scale by sequential STEM imaging. In addition, the reconstructed images provide the first opportunity for directly testing the validity of the classical theory of thermal fluctuations. Our method paves the way for a 3D reconstruction of a dynamical process in two-dimensional materials with a reasonable temporal resolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Songge Li
- Department of Physics and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
- Quantum Science Center of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Guangdong), Shenzhen 518045, China
| | - Yun-Peng Wang
- School of Physics and Electronics, Hunan Key Laboratory for Super-Micro Structure and Ultrafast Process, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
| | - Shoucong Ning
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117575, Singapore
| | - Kai Xu
- School of Physical Sciences and CAS Key Laboratory of Vacuum Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Sokrates T Pantelides
- Department of Physics and Astronomy and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Vanderbilt University, Nashville 37235, Tennessee, United States
| | - Wu Zhou
- School of Physical Sciences and CAS Key Laboratory of Vacuum Physics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Topological Quantum Computation, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Junhao Lin
- Department of Physics and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
- Quantum Science Center of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Guangdong), Shenzhen 518045, China
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7
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A small-dataset-trained deep learning framework for identifying atoms on transmission electron microscopy images. Sci Rep 2023; 13:2631. [PMID: 36788257 PMCID: PMC9929221 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29606-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2022] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023] Open
Abstract
To accurately identify atoms on noisy transmission electron microscope images, a deep learning (DL) approach is employed to estimate the map of probabilities at each pixel for being an atom with element discernment. Thanks to a delicately-designed loss function and the ability to extract features, the proposed DL networks can be trained by a small dataset created from approximately 30 experimental images, each with a size of 256 × 256 pixels2. The accuracy and robustness of the network were verified by resolving the structural defects of graphene and polar structures in PbTiO3/SrTiO3 multilayers from both the general TEM images and their imitated images on which intensities of some pixels lost randomly. Such a network has the potential to identify atoms from very few images of beam-sensitive material and explosive images recorded in a dynamical atomic process. The idea of using a small-dataset-trained DL framework to resolve a specific problem may prove instructive for practical DL applications in various fields.
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Guo Z, Wang L, Han M, Zhao E, Zhu L, Guo W, Tan J, Liu B, Chen XQ, Lin J. One-Step Growth of Bilayer 2H-1T' MoTe 2 van der Waals Heterostructures with Interlayer-Coupled Resonant Phonon Vibration. ACS NANO 2022; 16:11268-11277. [PMID: 35848623 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.2c04664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
2H-1T' MoTe2 van der Waals heterostructures (vdWHs) have promising applications in optoelectronics due to a seamlessly homogeneous semiconductor-metal coupled interface. However, the existing methods to fabricate such vdWHs involved complicated steps that may deteriorate the interfacial coupling and are also lacking precise thickness control capability. Here, a one-step growth method was developed to controllably grow bilayer 2H-1T' MoTe2 vdWHs in the small growth window overlapped for both phases. Atomic-resolution low-voltage transmission electron microscopy shows the distinct moiré patterns in the bilayer vdWHs, revealing the epitaxial nature of the top 2H phase with the lattice parameters regulated by the underneath 1T' phase. Such epitaxially stacked bilayer vdWHs modulate the interlayer coupling by resonating their vibration modes, as unveiled by the angle-resolved polarized Raman spectroscopy and first-principles calculations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zenglong Guo
- Department of Physics, Shenzhen Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering (SIQSE), Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
| | - Lei Wang
- Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 110016 Shenyang, People's Republic of China
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, 110016 Shenyang, People's Republic of China
| | - Mengjiao Han
- Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory, Dongguan, Guangdong 523808, People's Republic of China
| | - Erding Zhao
- Department of Physics, Shenzhen Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering (SIQSE), Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
| | - Liang Zhu
- Department of Physics, Shenzhen Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering (SIQSE), Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
| | - Weiteng Guo
- Department of Physics, Shenzhen Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering (SIQSE), Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
| | - Junyang Tan
- Shenzhen Geim Graphene Center, Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute and Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, People's Republic of China
| | - Bilu Liu
- Shenzhen Geim Graphene Center, Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute and Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, People's Republic of China
| | - Xing-Qiu Chen
- Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 110016 Shenyang, People's Republic of China
- School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, 110016 Shenyang, People's Republic of China
| | - Junhao Lin
- Department of Physics, Shenzhen Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering (SIQSE), Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
- Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Advanced Quantum Functional Materials and Devices, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, People's Republic of China
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9
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Zhang B, Zhu Q, Xu C, Li C, Ma Y, Ma Z, Liu S, Shao R, Xu Y, Jiang B, Gao L, Pang X, He Y, Chen G, Qiao L. Atomic-scale insights on hydrogen trapping and exclusion at incoherent interfaces of nanoprecipitates in martensitic steels. Nat Commun 2022; 13:3858. [PMID: 35790737 PMCID: PMC9256589 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31665-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2021] [Accepted: 06/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Hydrogen is well known to embrittle high-strength steels and impair their corrosion resistance. One of the most attractive methods to mitigate hydrogen embrittlement employs nanoprecipitates, which are widely used for strengthening, to trap and diffuse hydrogen from enriching at vulnerable locations within the materials. However, the atomic origin of hydrogen-trapping remains elusive, especially in incoherent nanoprecipitates. Here, by combining in-situ scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy and aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy, we unveil distinct scenarios of hydrogen-precipitate interaction in a high-strength low-alloyed martensitic steel. It is found that not all incoherent interfaces are trapping hydrogen; some may even exclude hydrogen. Atomic-scale structural and chemical features of the very interfaces suggest that carbon/sulfur vacancies on the precipitate surface and tensile strain fields in the nearby matrix likely determine the hydrogen-trapping characteristics of the interface. These findings provide fundamental insights that may lead to a better coupling of precipitation-strengthening strategy with hydrogen-insensitive designs. By trapping hydrogen, nanoprecipitates can mitigate the hydrogen embrittlement of high strength steels. Here, the authors report direct evidences on the structural and chemical features underlying distinct hydrogen-trapping behaviors at the incoherent interfaces of precipitates and steel matrix.
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