NaGdF₄ is a well-known up-conversion material with potential applications in lasers and biolabels and used to be known as a thermally stable material bearing harsh natural conditions. In this work, a TEM electron beam was found to be able to manipulate the morphology of cubic-NaGdF₄, changing it from solid nanoparticles to porous materials with nano-sized vacancies by electron beam irradiation. Electron beams also induce a structure change from cubic-NaGdF₄ to GdF₃. By controlling the current density of the TEM electron beam, the in situ epitaxial growth behavior of GdF₃ (020) was observed at the NaGdF₄ (111) interface. Structural correlations between two compounds were discussed to understand the epitaxial growth with a large lattice mismatch. These findings suggest a TEM electron beam can be used not only as an imaging tool, but also as an alternative paradigm for manipulating matter.

中文翻译：

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在NaGdF ₄：Yb，Er纳米粒子上原位外延生长GdF ₃

NaGdF ₄是一种众所周知的上转换材料，在激光和生物标签中具有潜在的应用，并且曾经被称为承受恶劣自然条件的热稳定材料。在这项工作中，发现TEM电子束能够控制立方NaGdF ₄的形态，通过电子束辐照将其从固体纳米颗粒变为具有纳米级空位的多孔材料。电子束还引起从立方NaGdF ₄到GdF ₃的结构变化。通过控制TEM电子束的电流密度，在NaGdF ₄处观察到GdF ₃（020）的原位外延生长行为（111）界面。讨论了两种化合物之间的结构相关性，以了解具有大晶格失配的外延生长。这些发现表明，TEM电子束不仅可以用作成像工具，还可以用作操纵物质的替代范例。