Spencer Golze

2019 Best Electron Microscopy Publication Imaging Award

The 2019 Best Electron Microscopy Imaging Publication was awarded to Spencer Golze, a PhD candidate with Professor Svetlana Neretina in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering.  Spencer and coworkers published a paper entitled "Plasmon-Mediated Synthesis of Periodic Arrays of Gold Nanoplates Using Substrate-Immobilized Seeds Line with Planar Defects".

The growth mechanisms and defect formation in Au seeds and nanoplates have been studied based on SEM and TEM analysis. A combination of High Resolution TEM and STEM imaging as well as Selected Area Electron Diffraction (SAED) performed using an FEI Titan 80-300. TEM has been employed for structural and compositional characterization of the samples. TEM cross-sectional samples were prepared using an FEI Helios SEM/FIB dual beam tool. The cross-sectional TEM images provide evidence that Au seeds and the hexagonal nanoplates contain planar defects, twins, and stacking faults, that are parallel to the substrate surface. The presence of twins in the seeds and nanoplates is also evidenced by the corresponding electron diffraction pattern.