Tendency in tip polarity changes in non-contact atomic force microscopy imaging on a fluorite surface

• Bob Kyeyune,
• Philipp Rahe and
• Michael Reichling

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 944–950, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.72

• . Keywords: atomic resolution imaging; calcium fluoride surface; interaction force; non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM); tip change; Introduction Non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) [1] is a surface science tool that has been used to atomically resolve surfaces of semiconductor and

Characterization of ion track-etched conical nanopores in thermal and PECVD SiO₂ using small angle X-ray scattering

• Shankar Dutt,
• Rudradeep Chakraborty,
• Christian Notthoff,
• Pablo Mota-Santiago,
• Christina Trautmann and
• Patrick Kluth

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 899–909, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.68

• dioxide [29][40][30]. Amorphous silicon dioxide (SiO2) has excellent chemical stability, well-understood surface chemistry, and compatibility with semiconductor processing, opening up new applications for track-etched nanopores in this material [30]. In this study, we report the characterization of track

Heat-induced transformation of nickel-coated polycrystalline diamond film studied in situ by XPS and NEXAFS

• Olga V. Sedelnikova,
• Yuliya V. Fedoseeva,
• Dmitriy V. Gorodetskiy,
• Yuri N. Palyanov,
• Elena V. Shlyakhova,
• Eugene A. Maksimovskiy,
• Anna A. Makarova,
• Lyubov G. Bulusheva and
• Aleksandr V. Okotrub

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 887–898, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.67

• their distinct atomic structures. Diamond is a wide bandgap semiconductor, which makes it resistant to high voltages and ionizing radiation. In contrast, graphitic materials demonstrate excellent electrical conductivity. This divergence in physical properties has encouraged significant interest in

Ar⁺ implantation-induced tailoring of RF-sputtered ZnO films: structural, morphological, and optical properties

• Manu Bura,
• Divya Gupta,
• Arun Kumar and
• Sanjeev Aggarwal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 872–886, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.66

• , which is a well-established and non-destructive method to determine crystal structure, lattice defects, and dynamics. Since ZnO is a polar semiconductor, the phonon–electron interaction produces longitudinal optical (LO) phonon modes, whose long-range behavior considerably affects the efficacy of

Insights into the electronic and atomic structures of cerium oxide-based ultrathin films and nanostructures using high-brilliance light sources

• Paola Luches and
• Federico Boscherini

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 860–871, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.65

• FEL was also exploited to investigate the electron transfer process in a composite plasmonic/semiconductor system, based on silver NPs embedded in a CeO2 film [63]. Pump–probe XANES measurements were performed at the Ce N4,5 edge upon photoexcitation of plasmonic resonances in the metal NPs by visible

Morphology and properties of pyrite nanoparticles obtained by pulsed laser ablation in liquid and thin films for photodetection

• Akshana Parameswaran Sreekala,
• Bindu Krishnan,
• Rene Fabian Cienfuegos Pelaes,
• David Avellaneda Avellaneda,
• Josué Amílcar Aguilar-Martínez and
• Sadasivan Shaji

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 785–805, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.60

• detectivity in the order of 106–108 Jones is attained. The FeS2/n-Si photodetector works in self-powered mode also in addition to the photoconductive mode. The results show the effective fabrication of nanostructured ultraviolet–visible–near infrared thin film photodetectors using semiconductor nanocolloids

• Earth, including toxic heavy metals and metalloids, radionuclides, and organic pollutants [5]. In addition to the aforementioned advantages as a semiconductor, it has the potential to be used in various applications through its nanostructures created via pulsed laser ablation in liquid (PLAL) and thin

• as indicators of surface recombination. Peter et al. have explained this mechanism in semiconductor photoanodes [63]. When light is turned on, an immediate photocurrent appears due to the rapid separation of electron–hole pairs in the space charge region. This initial response is followed by a decay

Nanostructured materials characterized by scanning photoelectron spectromicroscopy

• Matteo Amati,
• Alexey S. Shkvarin,
• Alexander I. Merentsov,
• Alexander N. Titov,
• María Taeño,
• David Maestre,
• Sarah R. McKibbin,
• Zygmunt Milosz,
• Ana Cremades,
• Rainer Timm and
• Luca Gregoratti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 700–710, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.54

• ; operando; oxides; scanning photoelectron spectromicroscopy; semiconductor nanowires; transition metal dichalcogenides; XPS; Introduction Nanometer or micrometer-sized materials play a key role in modern technologies in the search of new routes for unforeseen performances generating breakthroughs in

•  1i–k). Operando characterization of InP nanowire p–n junctions Semiconductor nanowires offer unprecedented possibilities in utilizing, combining, and modifying material properties for application in electronic, photonic, energy harvesting, or quantum information devices [15][16]. Their small

• expensive III–V materials to the active device area. The flexible geometry of nanowires standing upright on their growth substrate directly leads to gate-all-around metal-oxide-semiconductor stacks [23][24], and advanced electronic device designs such as nanowire tunneling field-effect transistors [24] or

High-temperature epitaxial growth of tantalum nitride thin films on MgO: structural evolution and potential for SQUID applications

• Michelle Cedillo Rosillo,
• Oscar Contreras López,
• Jesús Antonio Díaz,
• Agustín Conde Gallardo and
• Harvi A. Castillo Cuero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 690–699, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.53

• nitride system TaNx can be an insulator, semiconductor, or superconductor and also can exhibit a variety of crystallographic phases [8][9]. For example, Nie and collaborators mentioned that Ta2N thin films presented a high-temperature coefficient of resistance, and resistors using this material as a

The impact of tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane hole transport layer doping on interfacial charge extraction and recombination

• Konstantinos Bidinakis and
• Stefan A. L. Weber

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 678–689, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.52

• ]. For PTAA, under illumination, a similar mechanism is proposed, whereby the oxidation of PTAA raises the conductivity of the polymer [33]. For both HTLs, the inclusion of tBP promotes a better distribution of the HTL on the perovskite, preventing organic semiconductor/LiTFSI phase segregation [34

• solubility in solvents orthogonal to the underlying perovskite active layer. Such an alternative compound is tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane (BCF), which is an electrophilic Lewis acid that interacts with the organic semiconductor and increases its conductivity. Here, we performed a dedicated study for the HTL

Electron beam-based direct writing of nanostructures using a palladium β-ketoesterate complex

• Chinmai Sai Jureddy,
• Krzysztof Maćkosz,
• Aleksandra Butrymowicz-Kubiak,
• Iwona B. Szymańska,
• Patrik Hoffmann and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 530–539, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.41

• this study, we present a detailed analysis of the characteristics of deposits obtained using the new precursor bis(tert-butylacetoacetate)palladium(II), [Pd(tbaoac)2], a member of the β-ketoesterate complex group. Given the growing interest in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene for semiconductor

Performance optimization of a microwave-coupled plasma-based ultralow-energy ECR ion source for silicon nanostructuring

• Joy Mukherjee,
• Safiul Alam Mollick,
• Tanmoy Basu and
• Tapobrata Som

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 484–494, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.37

• treatments such as nanopatterning, sputter etching, and controlled defect formation [6][7]. Particularly, ultralow-energy ion beams are exceptionally valuable for the precise modification of 2D layers [8] and ion-induced nanopatterning of semiconductor surfaces [9]. Over the past few decades, ion-induced

Quantification of lead through rod-shaped silver-doped zinc oxide nanoparticles using an electrochemical approach

• Ravinder Lamba,
• Gaurav Bhanjana,
• Neeraj Dilbaghi,
• Vivek Gupta and
• Sandeep Kumar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 422–434, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.33

• activity, and semiconductor properties. By doping ZnO nanoparticles with transition metals, we can alter their electrical, optical, and magnetic properties by introducing new electronic states into the band structure. Herein, Ag is added to ZnO nanostructures to improve their optical properties to detect

• employed as effective electron mediators [9]. Zinc oxide nanoparticles have gained a lot of attention due to their unique features, such as wide bandgap (approximately 3.37 eV), excellent electron transportation, piezoelectric behavior, semiconductor nature, low toxicity, and enhanced electrochemical

• medicine, electronics, environmental remediation, and energy [10][11]. The use of certain metal dopants to modify the chemical, optical, and electrical features of a material has gained considerable interest in the realm of semiconductor technology. A recent study has conducted thorough investigations into

Tailoring of physical properties of RF-sputtered ZnTe films: role of substrate temperature

• Kafi Devi,
• Usha Rani,
• Arun Kumar,
• Divya Gupta and
• Sanjeev Aggarwal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 333–348, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.25

• II–VI semiconductor with a direct bandgap of 2.26 eV, which lies in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. ZnTe is a p-type semiconductor because of zinc vacancies and has a low electron affinity of 3.53 eV at room temperature [5]. It exists in both zincblende and wurtzite structures

• . The photoluminescence occurs when a material absorbs energy higher than its bandgap. In a semiconductor, this leads to the creation of a large number of electrons and holes in comparison to their equilibrium concentration. These generated charge carriers recombine after thermal relaxation, and photons

Emerging strategies in the sustainable removal of antibiotics using semiconductor-based photocatalysts

• Yunus Ahmed,
• Keya Rani Dutta,
• Parul Akhtar,
• Md. Arif Hossen,
• Md. Jahangir Alam,
• Obaid A. Alharbi,
• Hamad AlMohamadi and
• Abdul Wahab Mohammad

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 264–285, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.21

• to human health and ecological balance, requiring immediate and novel intervention techniques. Regarding this, semiconductor-based photocatalysts have appeared as promising candidates, providing a sustainable and efficient way to remove antibiotics from aquatic ecosystems. Nanomaterials can

• capacity to absorb light and concerns about catalytic stability, photocatalysis outperforms other advanced oxidation processes in multiple aspects. This study focuses on summarizing recent advances in the sustainable removal of antibiotics using semiconductor-based photocatalysts. By reviewing the latest

• improve the performance and scalability for wider use in real-world situations. Keywords: antibiotics; degradation pathways; heterojunctions; mechanisms; photocatalysts; semiconductor; Introduction Antibiotics are chemical substances used to treat bacterial infections in humans, animals, aquaculture

Recent advances in photothermal nanomaterials for ophthalmic applications

• Jiayuan Zhuang,
• Linhui Jia,
• Chenghao Li,
• Rui Yang,
• Jiapeng Wang,
• Wen-an Wang,
• Heng Zhou and
• Xiangxia Luo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 195–215, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.16

• , and inorganic semiconductor materials that absorb light through bandgap transitions [25]. The specific photothermal properties of these materials, encompassing aspects such as range and rate of light absorption, photothermal conversion efficiency, heat transfer capability, and photothermal stability

• , including exceptional biocompatibility, biodegradability, wide availability, low cost, and a highly tunable structure, making them well-suited for such uses [67][68][69][70][71]. 2.3 Inorganic semiconductor materials Inorganic semiconductor materials, such as TiO2, SiO2, and Fe2O3, possess conductivity

• photothermal conversion capabilities. For instance, titanium dioxide (TiO2) with a bandgap of 3.3 eV, which is transparent to visible light, primarily absorbs ultraviolet light, and common semiconductor materials are only weakly absorbent in the NIR range (Figure 2h) [78]. In comparison to LSPR metals and

Clays enhanced with niobium: potential in wastewater treatment and reuse as pigment with antibacterial activity

• Silvia Jaerger,
• Patricia Appelt,
• Mario Antônio Alves da Cunha,
• Fabián Ccahuana Ayma,
• Ricardo Schneider,
• Carla Bittencourt and
• Fauze Jacó Anaissi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 141–154, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.13

• residues from the original organic matter, thus avoiding the disposal of sludge [8]. This approach allows the removal of various organic pollutants, including textile dyes, using solid semiconductors (e.g., NbOPO4 and Nb2O5) and photons (with energy greater than the bandgap energy of the semiconductor) to

• photocatalyst to treat MB dye solutions and reuse this material as a hybrid pigment. Considering the semiconductor properties of niobium and the high capacity of the clay to remove pollutants from wastewater, we proposed in this research to use the niobium-modified clay as an adsorbent and photocatalyst to

• comparison obtained regarding the percentage of removal from adsorption and heterogeneous photocatalysis tests. The photocatalysis mechanism can be explained as follows: a semiconductor such as the BEPh and BEOx samples absorbs a photon, promoting an electron from the valence band (VB) to the conduction band

TiO₂ immobilized on 2D mordenite: effect of hydrolysis conditions on structural, textural, and optical characteristics of the nanocomposites

• Marina G. Shelyapina,
• Rosario Isidro Yocupicio-Gaxiola,
• Gleb A. Valkovsky and
• Vitalii Petranovskii

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 128–140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.12

• studied nanocomposites transformed using Equation 6 with n = 2 (since TiO2 is an indirect bandgap semiconductor). Semiconductor materials are characterized by a steep linear increase in light absorption with increasing energy. The bandgap energy can be estimated from the point of intersection of the x

Characterization of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized using probiotic Lactiplantibacillus plantarum GP258

• Prashantkumar Siddappa Chakra,
• Aishwarya Banakar,
• Shriram Narayan Puranik,
• Vishwas Kaveeshwar,
• C. R. Ravikumar and
• Devaraja Gayathri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 78–89, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.8

• [16]. This peak, observed in the blue line of the spectrum, confirms the formation of ZnO NPs with semiconductor properties and highlights their high purity, which is proven by the lack of peaks that would indicate impurities. This data validates the successful synthesis of ZnO NPs with a clear

• MB dye progressed with time and yielded 95% degradation under 120 min. The process involved in dye degradation is exciting electrons and generating holes in the semiconductor. The produced electrons form superoxide radicals (•O2−) by reacting with O2, while holes react with water (H2O) molecules to

Theoretical study of the electronic and optical properties of a composite formed by the zeolite NaA and a magnetite cluster

• Joel Antúnez-García,
• Roberto Núñez-González,
• Vitalii Petranovskii,
• H’Linh Hmok,
• Armando Reyes-Serrato,
• Fabian N. Murrieta-Rico,
• Mufei Xiao and
• Jonathan Zamora

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 44–53, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.5

• that the composite exhibits magnetic properties of a half-semiconductor and a strong optical response within the visible and ultraviolet regions of the spectrum. Keywords: magnetic cluster; NaA zeolite; optical properties; Introduction Zeolites are crystalline materials made up of aluminosilicates

• bandgap of 6.5 eV, along with additional bandgaps originating from states associated with the bands at 4.5 and 5.2 eV. In Figure 4b, the TDOS for the NaA-M composite is presented, clearly revealing the decoupling of the spin-up and spin-down states, resulting in a “half-semiconductor”-type magnetic

• within the zeolite exhibits characteristics of a half-semiconductor in contrast to the free cluster in the vacuum, which presents ferromagnetic behavior. Moreover, the results suggest that introducing the cluster into zeolite enhances the control over the transition between spin polarizations, making it

Heterogeneous reactions in a HFCVD reactor: simulation using a 2D model

• Xochitl Aleyda Morán Martínez,
• José Alberto Luna López,
• Zaira Jocelyn Hernández Simón,
• Gabriel Omar Mendoza Conde,
• José Álvaro David Hernández de Luz and
• Godofredo García Salgado

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1627–1638, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.128

• ; chemical reactions; flow dynamics; HFCVD; hot filament chemical vapor deposition; SiOx films; Introduction The growth of materials such as non-stoichiometric silicon oxide (SiOx) is an important step in semiconductor devices development. Control of deposition parameters determines the success of the

• because the input gases and materials are accessible; also, it is scalable to larger areas [6]. The SiOx films obtained by HFCVD possess excellent optical and electrical properties, which makes such films suitable for applications in the manufacture of metal–insulator–semiconductor and metal–insulator

Strain-induced bandgap engineering in 2D ψ-graphene materials: a first-principles study

• Kamal Kumar,
• Nora H. de Leeuw,
• Jost Adam and
• Abhishek Kumar Mishra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1440–1452, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.116

• atoms arranged in 5,6,7-membered rings. The half and fully hydrogenated (hydrogen-functionalized) forms of ψ-graphene are called ψ-graphone and ψ-graphane. Like ψ-graphene, ψ-graphone has a zero bandgap, but ψ-graphane is a wide-bandgap semiconductor. In this study, we have applied in-plane and out-of

• are zero-bandgap, like goldene [15] and ψ-graphene [16]. The absence of bandgaps in 2D materials makes them unsuitable for conventional semiconductor applications and limits their use in photonics and optical devices [17]. Therefore, bandgap engineering (manipulation of electronic band structures

• compatibility with established technologies (the semiconductor industry can adopt it to enhance the performance of devices) [28]. Strain can be introduced in graphene using different methods, namely, by exploiting a mismatch in thermal expansion between graphene and the underlying substrate, by transferring

Ion-induced surface reactions and deposition from Pt(CO)₂Cl₂ and Pt(CO)₂Br₂

• Mohammed K. Abdel-Rahman,
• Patrick M. Eckhert,
• Atul Chaudhary,
• Johnathon M. Johnson,
• Jo-Chi Yu,
• Lisa McElwee-White and
• D. Howard Fairbrother

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1427–1439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.115

• , deposition strategies in various applications, such as circuit editing and lithographic mask repair in the semiconductor industry [7][8][9][10][11][12] as well as the growth of functional materials for magnetism [13][14][15][16], superconductivity [17], and sensing [18][19]. Compared to FEBID, FIBID operates

Lithium niobate on insulator: an emerging nanophotonic crystal for optimized light control

• Midhun Murali,
• Amit Banerjee and
• Tanmoy Basu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1415–1426, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.114

• challenging due to its ultrafast nature. In 2022, Quach et al. presented an innovative model of a quantum battery [37]. This device comprises a DBR structure-based microcavity that encloses an organic semiconductor molecular dye, named Lumogen-Forange (LFO). The DBRs comprised 10 bilayers of SiO2/Nb2O5 in the

• and driving coherent interactions with the organic semiconductor molecules. Secondly, enabling the measurement of the evolution of stored energy and the differential reflectivity induced by the pump pulse, which is essential for monitoring the charging dynamics at a femtosecond resolution. The

Various CVD-grown ZnO nanostructures for nanodevices and interdisciplinary applications

• The-Long Phan,
• Le Viet Cuong,
• Vu Dinh Lam and
• Ngoc Toan Dang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1390–1399, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.112

• electronic/optoelectronic devices, energy storage/generation systems, and renewable energy conversion devices with high performance and low-power consumption [1][2][3]. In comparison to semiconductors, ZnO has attracted much more attention. This is due to ZnO having outstanding semiconductor behaviours in

• microcavities [9]. Additionally, it is a transparent semiconductor with significant piezoelectricity [10]. These noble characteristics suggest ZnO to be a potential material in the fabrication of UV/blue/green LEDs, solid-state random lasers, UV-absorption devices, and nanogenerators [9][11][12][13]. Magnetic

Green synthesis of carbon dot structures from Rheum Ribes and Schottky diode fabrication

• Muhammed Taha Durmus and
• Ebru Bozkurt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1369–1375, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.110

• were calculated as 566 nm and 5.25 eV, respectively. The ideality factor and the measured barrier height (Φb) of the CDs-based Schottky diode were calculated as 9.1 and 0.364 eV, respectively. The CDs were used as semiconductor material in a Schottky diode, and the diode exhibited rectification

• electrical current. There are many types of diodes, such as Zener diodes, crystal diodes, and Schottky diodes, and each type has different features and is used for different purposes. Schottky diodes contain a metal–semiconductor junction. This structure differs from other diodes because of its high

• of demonstrating the applicability of CDs in the field of electronics, apart from sensor studies, which are common application areas, and in terms of introducing new semiconductor materials to the field of electronics. Experimental Materials Rheum ribes was purchased from the market, washed, and