Morphology and composition of nanoinclusions in (Fe, Ni)0.25TiSe2

Abstract

A nanocomposite material consisting of (Fe,Ni)4Se5 and Ti3Se4 nanocrystals coherently bounded with the (Fe,Ni)0.25TiSe2 substrate was obtained during the synthesis of the (Fe, Ni)xTiSe2 bi-intercalation compound from the mixture of Fe0.25TiSe2 and Ni0.25TiSe2. The morphology of these composite crystals has been studied using optical, scanning electron and atomic force microscopy. The electronic structure of the inclusions was studied using X-ray scanning photoelectron microscopy (SPEM). We have shown that (Fe,Ni)4Se5 and Ti3Se4 inclusions grow simultaneously with (Fe,Ni)xTiSe2 substrate crystal on its (001) plane. The lateral growth of the (Fe,Ni)xTiSe2 crystal is accompanied by the “capturing” of the (Fe,Ni)4Se5 and Ti3Se4 inclusions by the (Fe,Ni)0.25TiSe2 substrate resulting in the formation of the composite crystal.