Abstract
Research on ferroelectricity and related phenomena has come a long way since the discovery of hysteretic nonlinearity of polarization in "Rochelle Salt" by J. Valasek in 1920's. Ever since the discovery, microstructural issues have dominated the field. With the current trends in using ferroelectric and related oxides in nanocrystalline and thin film forms, techniques for microstructural analysis for such specimens are becoming more sophisticated.We are currently investigating nanocrystalline TiO2 as a model system to examine size dependency of electronic structure in nanocrystals, as reflected in their energy loss spectra. Electron beam evaporated nanocrystals of TiO2 (size ranging from 2 - 10 nm) have been examined with transmission EELS with a ~ 0.8 nm electron probe of our HF-2000 FE TEM. The particles were dispersed on a holey carbon grid and those protruding into the holes were analyzed for changes in valence and core loss spectra as a function of nominal particle size. The plasmon loss energies were observed to increase with decrease in particle size.
Published Version
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