Atomistic manipulation of reversible oxidation and reduction in Ag by electron beam

TL;DR

This study demonstrates precise control of nanoscale oxidation and reduction in silver using electron beams in transmission electron microscopy, enabling atomic-level fabrication of nanostructures.

Contribution

It introduces a method for reversible oxidation and reduction of silver at atomic resolution controlled by electron beam parameters.

Findings

Reversible oxidation and reduction of Ag controlled by electron dose rate.

Formation of 3 nm Ag2O nanodots within Ag matrix.

Oxidation occurs along {111} planes of Ag.

Abstract

Employing electrons for direct control of nanoscale reaction is highly desirable since it provides fabrication of nanostructures with different properties at atomic resolution and with flexibility of dimension and location. Here, applying in situ transmission electron microscopy, we show the reversible oxidation and reduction kinetics in Ag, well controlled by changing the dose rate of electron beam. Aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy observation reveals that O atoms are preferably inserted and extracted along the {111} close-packed planes of Ag, leading to the nucleation and decomposition of nanoscale Ag2O islands on the Ag substrate. By controlling electron beam size and dose rate, we demonstrated fabrication of an array of 3 nm Ag2O nanodots in an Ag matrix. Our results open up a new pathway to manipulate atomistic reaction with electron beam towards the precise fabrication of nanostructures for device applications.