Morphological characterisation of nanocrystals with layered structures

Nanocrystalline compounds with layered structures such as MoS2, WS2, MoSe2, WSe2, SnS2, or ZrSe2 show interesting structural features. These particles are synthesised in a microwave plasma. The morphology of the particles is characterised by high resolution transmission electron microscopy. Dependin g on the parameters of the synthesis different morphologies are observed. T he size of the particles is in a range from 5 to 10 nm. Many odd shaped par ticles with bent lattice planes and varying distances between the planes ar e observed. Additionally, the lattice parameters differ from sizes found in crystals in the micrometer range. (C) 1999 Acta Metallurgica Inc.