Traditional characterization methods provide averaged structural information and are only applicable to periodic structures, which limit our understanding towards amorphous materials. This project develops Atomic Electron Tomography method and determined the first experimental 3D atomic structures of metallic glasses. Further analysis revealed novel medium-range structural order in single- and multi-element metallic glasses, which provides new insights in understanding the glass transition. The AET method will also provide new opportunities in understanding early-stage nucleation, quasicrystals, and various functional and biological materials.

Related works:

1. "Three-dimensional atomic packing in amorphous solids with liquid-like structure" Nature Materials, 95-102, 21 (2022)

2. "Determining the three-dimensional atomic structure of an amorphous solid" Nature, 60-64, 592, (2021)

3. "Capturing 3D atomic defects and phonon localization at the 2D heterostructure interface" Science Advances, 7(38), (2021)

4. "Correlating the three-dimensional atomic defects and electronic properties of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides" Nature Materials, 1-7, (2020)