Strain-relief by single dislocation loops in calcite crystals grown on self-assembled monolayers
- University of Leeds, Leeds (United Kingdom)
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg (Germany)
- Univ. College London (United Kingdom)
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)
Most of our knowledge of dislocation-mediated stress relaxation during epitaxial crystal growth comes from the study of inorganic heterostructures. In this study, we use Bragg coherent diffraction imaging to investigate a contrasting system, the epitaxial growth of calcite (CaCO3) crystals on organic self-assembled monolayers, where these are widely used as a model for biomineralization processes. The calcite crystals are imaged to simultaneously visualize the crystal morphology and internal strain fields. Our data reveal that each crystal possesses a single dislocation loop that occupies a common position in every crystal. The loops exhibit entirely different geometries to misfit dislocations generated in conventional epitaxial thin films and are suggested to form in response to the stress field, arising from interfacial defects and the nanoscale roughness of the substrate. In conclusion, this work provides unique insight into how self-assembled monolayers control the growth of inorganic crystals and demonstrates important differences as compared with inorganic substrates.
- Research Organization:
- SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515
- OSTI ID:
- 1272105
- Journal Information:
- Nature Communications, Vol. 7; ISSN 2041-1723
- Publisher:
- Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
Similar Records
Physical basis for materials synthesis using biomineralization
Thermodynamic and Kinetic Parameters for Calcite Nucleation on Peptoid and Model Scaffolds: A Step toward Nacre Mimicry