The synthesis and structure of suspended ultra-thin Si3N4 nanosheets

Suspended Si3N4 nanosheets at least 4 μm in width and ranging from 1.5 to 4 nm in thickness were successfully synthesized for the first time. Several of those nanosheets had scrolled edges due to being ultra-thin. According to transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) observations, the Si3N4 nanosheets exhibit microscopic corrugations in the range of several tens of nanometres. In addition, the directions of the microscopic corrugations were not random, but instead parallel to specific crystal orientations.