Precession electron diffraction for orientation analysis in one-dimensional heterostructures

Abstract

Understanding crystallographic orientation relationships at buried nanoscale interfaces is crucial for optimizing the functional performance of heterostructures in thermoelectric and optoelectronic applications. Conventional x-ray diffraction lacks sufficient spatial resolution, while traditional electron diffraction in transmission electron microscope suffers from strong dynamical scattering. In this work, we employ Precession Electron Diffraction (PED) that mitigates multiple scattering by averaging over a precessed Ewald sphere, yielding quasi-kinematical intensities suitable for accurate structural analysis. Using PED, we determine the orientation relationships among Te, PbTe, and Bi2Te3 phases in solution-synthesized one-dimensional PbTe–Bi2Te3 heterostructure nanowires. Cross-correlation of experimental PED patterns with simulated templates reveals an epitaxial relationship between Te and Bi2Te3 along a common [1̅10] zone axis, while PbTe adopts a [001]/[1̅10] orientation, confirming coherent interfacial alignment across multiple phases. Furthermore, electrical transport measurements on individual PbTe–Bi2Te3 superlattice nanowires exhibit rectifying current–voltage characteristics, indicative of p-n-type junction behavior arising from the engineered heterointerfaces. This integrated structural and transport analysis demonstrates that PED serves as a powerful diffraction-based tool to precisely correlate real-space morphology with reciprocal-space crystallography, thereby elucidating the interfacial physics that govern the electronic functionality of complex one-dimensional heterostructures.