X-ray diffraction study of the elastic properties of jagged spherical CdS nanocrystals

Abstract

In this work, jagged spherical CdS nanocrystals have been synthesized by chemical method to study their elastic properties. The synthesized CdS nanocrystal has been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The transmission electron microscope images show that the average size of the nanocrystal is 100 nm approximately. X-ray diffraction (XRD) study confirms that the CdS nanocrystals are in cubic zinc blende structure. The size calculated from the XRD is consistent with the average size obtained from the TEM analysis. The XRD data have been analyzed to study the elastic properties of the jagged spherical CdS nanocrystals, such as intrinsic strain, stress and energy density, using WilliamsonHall plot method. Williamson-Hall method and size-strain plot (SSP) have been used to study the individual effect of crystalline size and lattice strain on the peak broadening of the jagged spherical CdS nanocrystals. Size-strain plot (SSP) and root mean square (RMS) strain further confirm the results obtained from W-H plots.