Bragg coherent diffraction imaging of iron diffusion into gold nanocrystals

Abstract

Understanding how diffusion takes place within nanocrystals is of great importance for their stability and for controlling their synthesis. In this study, we used the strain sensitivity of Bragg coherent diffraction imaging (BCDI) to study the diffusion of iron into individual gold nanocrystals in situ at elevated temperatures. The BCDI experiments were performed at the I-07 beamline at Diamond Light Source, UK. The diffraction pattern of individual gold nanocrystals was measured around the (11-1) Bragg peak of gold before and after iron deposition as a function of temperature and time. Phase retrieval algorithms were used to obtain real space reconstructions of the nanocrystals from their measured diffraction patterns. Alloying of iron with gold at sample temperatures of 300 °C–500 °C and dealloying of iron from gold at 600 °C were observed. The volume of the alloyed region in the nanocrystals was found to increase with the dose of iron. However, no significant time dependence was observed for the structure following each iron deposition, suggesting that the samples reached equilibrium relatively quickly. The resulting phase distribution within the gold nanocrystals after the iron depositions suggests a contraction due to diffusion of iron. Our results show that BCDI is a useful technique for studying diffusion in three dimensions and alloying behaviour in individual crystalline grains.

Keywords

• diffusion
• gold iron
• Bragg coherent diffraction imaging
• nanocrystals