In Situ Electron Beam Amorphization of Sb₂Te₃ within Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes

In this study, we reveal the crystallography, crystallinity, and amorphization of low-dimensional crystals of the topological insulator and phase change material Sb₂Te₃ within both discrete and bundled single walled carbon nanotubes with a diameter range spanning 1.3-1.7 nm by a combination of electron diffraction, aberration-corrected high resolution imaging, and variable dose electron beam irradiation. We further reveal that electron diffraction indicates that the crystallinity of the host single walled carbon nanotubes is largely unaffected by this process indicating that mass loss during the observed in situ glass transition had not occurred and that the template had maintained its structural integrity. Such a transition would not be possible with any other common nanoporous template for which the pores would be enlarged due to likely sintering.