A journey from order to disorder - Atom by atom transformation from graphene to a 2D carbon glass
- Author(s)
- Franz Eder, Jani Kotakoski, Ute Kaiser, Jannik C. Meyer
- Abstract
One of the most interesting questions in solid state theory is the structure of glass, which has eluded researchers since the early 1900's. Since then, two competing models, the random network theory and the crystallite theory, have both gathered experimental support. Here, we present a direct, atomic-level structural analysis during a crystal-to-glass transformation, including all intermediate stages. We introduce disorder on a 2D crystal, graphene, gradually, utilizing the electron beam of a transmission electron microscope, which allows us to capture the atomic structure at each step. The change from a crystal to a glass happens suddenly, and at a surprisingly early stage. Right after the transition, the disorder manifests as a vitreous network separating individual crystallites, similar to the modern version of the crystallite theory. However, upon increasing disorder, the vitreous areas grow on the expense of the crystallites and the structure turns into a random network. Thereby, our results show that, at least in the case of a 2D structure, both of the models can be correct, and can even describe the same material at different degrees of disorder.
- Organisation(s)
- Physics of Nanostructured Materials
- External organisation(s)
- Universität Ulm, University of Helsinki
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Volume
- 4
- No. of pages
- 6
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/srep04060
- Publication date
- 02-2014
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 103009 Solid state physics, 210006 Nanotechnology, 103008 Experimental physics
- Keywords
- Portal url
- https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/a-journey-from-order-to-disorder--atom-by-atom-transformation-from-graphene-to-a-2d-carbon-glass(6908a5a1-211d-45d4-a962-89029ce6a8ed).html