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Reverse‐Engineering Strain in Nanocrystallites by Tracking Trimerons
Author(s) -
Nickel Rachel,
Chi C.C.,
Ranjan Ashok,
Ouyang Chuenhou,
Freeland John W.,
van Lierop Johan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 10.707
H-Index - 527
eISSN - 1521-4095
pISSN - 0935-9648
DOI - 10.1002/adma.202007413
Subject(s) - materials science , nanorod , nanomaterials , strain (injury) , metal–insulator transition , strain engineering , charge ordering , nanotechnology , crystallite , condensed matter physics , nanoparticle , oxide , metal , optoelectronics , charge (physics) , metallurgy , medicine , physics , quantum mechanics , silicon
Although strain underpins the behavior of many transition‐oxide‐based magnetic nanomaterials, it is elusive to quantify. Since the formation of orbital molecules is sensitive to strain, a metal–insulator transition should be a window into nanocrystallite strain. Using three sizes of differently strained Fe 3 O 4 polycrystalline nanorods, the impact of strain on the Verwey transition and the associated formation and dissolution processes of quasiparticle trimerons is tracked. In 40 and 50 nm long nanorods, increasing isotropic strain results in Verwey transitions going from T V ≈ 60 K to 20 K. By contrast, 700 nm long nanorods with uniaxial strain along the (110) direction have T V ≈ 150 K—the highest value reported thus far. A metal–insulator transition, like T V in Fe 3 O 4 , can be used to determine the effective strain within nanocrystallites, thus providing new insights into nanoparticle properties and nanomagnetism.