Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 30, 2026

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Low-temperature nanocrystal unification through rotations and relaxations probed by in situ transmission electron
Marijn A van Huis1, Lucas T Kunneman, Karin Overgaag
1Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands. m.a.vanhuis@tudelft.nl
Abstract:
Through the mechanism of "oriented attachment", small nanocrystals can fuse into a wide variety of one- and two-dimensional nanostructures. This fusion phenomenon is investigated in detail by low-temperature annealing of a two-dimensional array of 10 nm-sized PbSe nanocrystals, in situ in the transmission electron microscope. We have revealed a complex chain of processes; after coalescence, the connected nanocrystals undergo consecutive rotations in three-dimensional space, followed by drastic interfacial relaxations whereby full fusion is obtained.
Related Concept Videos
Cryo-electron Microscopy
Electron Microscope Tomography and Single-particle Reconstruction
Electron Tomography
Electron tomography can be performed either in TEM or STEM (scanning transmission...

