Surface Atomic Structure and Growth Mechanism of Monodisperse {1 0 0}-Faceted Strontium Titanate Zirconate Nanocubes

The highly sensitive and selective properties of monodisperse faceted nanocrystals inherently stem from the atomic and electronic structures on the faceted surfaces. For elemental nanocrystals, the atomic structure on the surfaces is merely determined by the geometric shape itself. However, for compound materials such as alloys and complex oxides, atomic details on the faceted surfaces need to be studied on the atomic level. Here, we demonstrate that the surface atomic structure of faceted nanocrystals of complex oxides, {1 0 0}-faceted strontium titanate zirconate nanocubes, can be unambiguously resolved by aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy. The resolved surface atomic details reveal a layerwise growth process of the nanocubes, thereby allowing an in-depth understanding of the growth mechanism.