SCALING LAW FOR STRUCTURAL METASTABILITY IN SEMICONDUCTOR NANOCRYSTALS

In contrast to extended solids, nanometer size crystals convert from o ne structure to another by single nucleation events, and the transform ation obey simple kinetics. Barrier heights are observed to increase i n nanocrystals of larger size, but also depend on the nature of the na nocrystal surface. These results are analogous to magnetic phase trans itions in nanocrystals and suggest some general rules which may be of use in the discovery of new metastable phases.