Misfit (a)symmetry

With the following image I was (again) able to win the Best Image in Materials at MFS 2025!

Con la siguiente imagen pude (otra vez) ganar el premio para la mejor imagen en materiales en la MFS2025!

Colored selected-area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern of a flake of the misfit layered compound (MLC) SmS-TaS2 framed by a high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (HRSTEM) image taken from a nanotube made of the MLC LaS-TaS2. MLCs are made up of two slabs of different materials (e.g. TaS2 and SmS or LaS), which are stacked alternatively. Due to the lattice mismatch between the two subsystems, the compound is incommensurate. The two slabs are revealed in the HRSTEM image frame and the complex interplay between the hexagonal TaS2 and the (distorted) rocksalt lattice of SmS are reflected by the multitude of spots in the SAED pattern.