Ultrasonic force microscopy on strained antimony nanoparticles.

Ultrasonic force microscopy (UFM) is used to resolve the elastic nanostructure of strained antimony (Sb) particles. These nanoparticles were formed by aggregation and spontaneous rapid crystallization of thermally deposited Sb onto the (0001) basal planes of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) and molybdenum disulfide (MoS(2)). UFM reveals clear contrast within individual nanoparticles, which can be attributed to differences in the local stiffness. This interpretation is confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images, in which bending contours prove the existence of strained regions within the nanocrystals.