
“Sunset in the Atomic Alps”, was the winner of the 2024 NanoArt contest, submitted by Foundry user Hudson Shih. This image shows an atomic force microscopy (AFM) image of atomic terrace steps on the (001) facet of a single-crystal membrane of strontium cobalt oxide (Sr2Co2O5) fabricated by the Takamura and Hong groups at UC Davis. These nanometer-tall steps arise due to a small angle of miscut relative to the facet (<0.5 degrees). If the miscut angle were exactly 0 degrees, no steps would be present! These single crystal oxide membranes provide an ideal material platform for plan-view transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging at the National Center for Electron Microscopy because they have millimeter lateral dimensions, but nanometer scale thickness. Using TEM of Sr2Co2O5 membranes, oxygen ion diffusion can be observed within the crystal lattice on nanometer scales, which is of major interest for realizing solid-state oxide ionic devices.