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. 2010 Dec 21;1:144. doi: 10.1038/ncomms1149

Figure 3. Surface stress-induced phase transformation.

Figure 3

(a) The moment before nanocrystal fractures. (b) The contraction (relaxation) of the bottom part of Au crystal after the crystal fractures. The scale bar in each figure represents 3 nm. (c, d) Enlarged HRTEM images of the white-boxed area in a and b, respectively, accompanied with the corresponding crystallographic orientation. (e) Simulated HRTEM image of FCC Au along [110] zone axis with lattice parameter of a=4.078 Å. (f) Simulated image of BCT Au along [100] zone axis with lattice parameter of a=b=3.34 Å and c=2.86 Å. The simulations were conducted by applying the parameters including the acceleration voltage of 300 kV, spherical aberration coefficient of the 1.2 mm, the specimen thickness of 3 nm and the focus value of −43 nm. (g) Martensitic transition (FCC–BCT) due to lattice distortion along [001] direction in FCC crystal on the basis of the Bain path. The unit cells of FCC and BCT crystals are outlined with black and blue lines, respectively.