Fabricating ordered functional nanostructures onto polycrystalline substrates from the bottom-up

Microemulsion-mediated synthesis has emerged as a powerful bottom-up procedure for the preparation of ferroelectric nanostructures onto substrates. However, periodical order has yet to be achieved onto polycrystalline Pt-coated Si substrates. Here, we report a new methodology that involves microemulsion-mediated synthesis and the controlled modification of the surface of the substrate by coating it with a template-layer of water-micelles. This layer modifies the surface tension of the substrate and yields a periodic arrangement of ferroelectric crystalline nanostructures. The size of the nanostructures is decreased to the sub-50 nm range and they show a hexagonal order up to the third neighbors, which corresponds to a density of 275 Gb in−2. The structural analysis of the nanostructures by synchrotron X-ray diffraction confirms that the nanostructures have a PbTiO3 perovskite structure, with lattice parameters of a = b = 3.890(0) Å and c = 4.056(7) Å. Piezoresponse force microscopy confirmed the ferro-piezoelectric character of the nanostructures. This simple methodology is valid for the self-assembly of other functional oxides onto polycrystalline substrates, enabling their reliable integration into micro/nano devices.