Formation of nanoripples on ZnO flat substrates and nanorods by gas cluster ion bombardment

• Xiaomei Zeng,
• Vasiliy Pelenovich,
• Bin Xing,
• Rakhim Rakhimov,
• Wenbin Zuo,
• Alexander Tolstogouzov,
• Chuansheng Liu,
• Dejun Fu and
• Xiangheng Xiao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 383–390, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.29

• bombardment, the modified surface morphology of the flat substrates and nanorods was studied with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) Zeiss Sigma, operated at 20 kV accelerating voltage. An atomic force microscope (AFM) Shimadzu SPM-9500J3 was used to study the ripple formation on the flat ZnO substrates

Implementation of data-cube pump–probe KPFM on organic solar cells

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Olivier Bardagot and
• Renaud Demadrille

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 323–337, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.24

• describe the general setup that has been used to implement data-cube pump–probe-KPFM (Figure 1b and Figure 1c). Additional technical information is provided in the experimental section. We kept the standard SPM controller configuration for frequency-modulation KPFM (FM-KPFM). Here, the electrostatic forces

• are detected by demodulating the modulated component (ωmod) of the frequency-shift signal (Δf) with the LIA. The reference bias modulation voltage (Vmod, ωmod) and the compensation voltage generated by the KPFM feedback loop (VKPFM) are internally summed by the SPM unit. To generate the modulated bias

• . Switching the controller configuration from standard KPFM to pp-KPFM was done by synchronizing the AWG unit with the spectroscopic ramps of the SPM controller by means of TTL pulses and by using predefined sequences of pulses and continuous-wave (cw) dc signals stored in the memory of the AWG. Note that in

Antimony deposition onto Au(111) and insertion of Mg

• Lingxing Zan,
• Da Xing,
• Abdelaziz Ali Abd-El-Latif and
• Helmut Baltruschat

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2541–2552, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.245

• LabVIEW software (National Instruments GmbH, Munich, Germany) for recording the cyclic voltammograms (CVs). Electrochemical scanning tunneling microscopy (EC-STM) measurements All EC-STM measurements were performed with an Agilent Technologies 5500 scanning probe microscope (SPM) and a commercially

• and EC-SPM Studies of Electrode Kinetics and Electrode Structure” (University of Bonn, Germany). Author contributions: L. X. Zan and A. A. Abd-El-Latif designed experiments suggested by H. Baltruschat and L. X. Zan; D. Xing and A. A. Abd-El-Latif performed the electrochemical studies and

Mobility of charge carriers in self-assembled monolayers

• Zhihua Fu,
• Tatjana Ladnorg,
• Hartmut Gliemann,
• Alexander Welle,
• Asif Bashir,
• Michael Rohwerder,
• Qiang Zhang,
• Björn Schüpbach,
• Andreas Terfort and
• Christof Wöll

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2449–2458, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.235

• experiments The grafting process was performed with the Bruker Dimension® Icon™ SPM system in a liquid cell filled with a 1 mM ethanolic solution of HDT. The PAT SAM-Au/mica substrate was placed into the solution and allowed to stand for 30 min in order to avoid thermal drift of the sample during grafting

• the C−, CH2−, S−, and Au− peaks. The conductivity measurements (PFTUNA probes, spring const. 0.4 N/m) were performed by the PeakForce TUNATM method of a Bruker’s Dimension® IconTM SPM system. The scan rate was set to 0.5 Hz, the DC bias to 11.1 mV. Current sensitivity range was set to highest value

Integration of sharp silicon nitride tips into high-speed SU8 cantilevers in a batch fabrication process

• Nahid Hosseini,
• Matthias Neuenschwander,
• Oliver Peric,
• Santiago H. Andany,
• Jonathan D. Adams and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2357–2363, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.226

• (SPM) [1]. Quality and accuracy of an AFM image strongly depend on the tip geometry since the image topography is the convolution of the surface topography and the cantilever tip geometry [2]. More precisely, the resulting images suffer from the effect of dilation [3]. AFM images with tip artefacts are

Subsurface imaging of flexible circuits via contact resonance atomic force microscopy

• Wenting Wang,
• Chengfu Ma,
• Yuhang Chen,
• Lei Zheng,
• Huarong Liu and
• Jiaru Chu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1636–1647, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.159

• and on the other hand the resolution is quite limited. Cross-sectional approaches can provide through-depth information, yet they are intrinsically destructive and require complicated sample processing. To meet such challenges, noninvasive subsurface imaging based on scanning probe microscopy (SPM

• ) has emerged as a promising way. Various SPM-based nanoscale subsurface imaging methods have been proposed that rely on different detection mechanisms including thermal, magnetic, electric, and mechanical sensing. Among them, contact resonance atomic force microscopy (CR-AFM) demonstrates the unique

Comparing a porphyrin- and a coumarin-based dye adsorbed on NiO(001)

• Sara Freund,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Nathalie Marinakis,
• Edwin C. Constable,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Catherine E. Housecroft and
• Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 874–881, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.88

• semiconductor TiO2 has become one of the most extensively studied metal oxides, especially in the context of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) [1]. The working principle of an n-type DSSC, which is shown in Figure 1a, relies on the functionalization of TiO2 surfaces with dye molecules enabling the absorption of

• -bandgap p-type semiconductors, such as NiO, and their functionalization with sensitizers, have been less extensively studied by using SPM [12][13][14][15]. NiO was the first reported p-type wide-bandgap semiconductor [16], and can be used for the fabrication of p-type DSSCs with photoactive cathodes, a

• surfaces, mandatory for reliable SPM studies, are difficult to prepare because of the hardness of the material and its high reactivity [12][13][14][15][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. Figure 2a shows a topographic image measured by nc-AFM of the bare NiO(001) surface that was prepared by in situ

Co-doped MnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles: magnetic anisotropy and interparticle interactions

• Bagher Aslibeiki,
• Parviz Kameli,
• Hadi Salamati,
• Giorgio Concas,
• Maria Salvador Fernandez,
• Alessandro Talone,
• Giuseppe Muscas and
• Davide Peddis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 856–865, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.86

• , where they spontaneously reverse their direction in a superparamagnetic (SPM) regime, in analogy to atomic paramagnetism [10]. On the other hand, in concentrated ensembles of NPs, interparticle interactions can arise from long-range magnetostatic forces or local exchange coupling among particles [13][14

Biocompatible organic–inorganic hybrid materials based on nucleobases and titanium developed by molecular layer deposition

• Leva Momtazi,
• Henrik H. Sønsteby and
• Ola Nilsen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 399–411, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.39

• purging system. An uncoated Si(100) substrate was used to collect the background. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements were performed in contact mode using a Park XE70 device. The data were analyzed using the Gwyddion 2.44 SPM visualization tool. The contact angle measurements were performed using a

Sputtering of silicon nanopowders by an argon cluster ion beam

• Xiaomei Zeng,
• Vasiliy Pelenovich,
• Zhenguo Wang,
• Wenbin Zuo,
• Sergey Belykh,
• Alexander Tolstogouzov,
• Dejun Fu and
• Xiangheng Xiao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 135–143, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.13

• surface, with energy in the range of 10.4–69 keV and dose of 7.2 × 1014–2.3 × 1016 cluster/cm2 at room temperature. The sputtering depth and surface roughness RRMS (root mean squared roughness) were monitored by AFM with a Shimadzu SPM-9500 J3 device, operated in tapping mode with a measuring area of 7

Scanning probe microscopy for energy-related materials

• Rüdiger Berger,
• Benjamin Grévin,
• Philippe Leclère and
• Yi Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 132–134, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.12

• interfaces is therefore essential. Furthermore, these interface phenomena are strongly linked to material properties such as grain size, roughness, mechanical properties and work function. In an attempt to address the diversity of phenomena on the nanoscale, scanning probe microscopy (SPM) methods play an

• significant role for the in-operando characterization. SPM methods offer a plethora of operation modes beyond topography imaging, which is well reflected in the articles of this thematic issue. The majority of contributions stem from research on photovoltaic materials. Here, electrical conductive atomic force

• beyond the scope of solar cells. Katherine Atamanuk and co-workers impressively demonstrate that SPM methods can also be used to perform tomography [7]. They apply photoconducting scanning force microscopy for mapping the open-circuit voltage of cadmium telluride (CdTe) polycrystalline thin film solar

Investigation of CVD graphene as-grown on Cu foil using simultaneous scanning tunneling/atomic force microscopy

• Majid Fazeli Jadidi,
• Umut Kamber,
• Oğuzhan Gürlü and
• H. Özgür Özer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2953–2959, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.274

• TÜBITAK funding through 1003 program with Project no. 114F036. H.Ö.Ö thanks Nanomagnetics Inst. Ltd. for the SPM Control Unit.

Biomimetic surface structures in steel fabricated with femtosecond laser pulses: influence of laser rescanning on morphology and wettability

• Camilo Florian Baron,
• Alexandros Mimidis,
• Daniel Puerto,
• Evangelos Skoulas,
• Emmanuel Stratakis,
• Javier Solis and
• Jan Siegel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2802–2812, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.262

• surfaces were polished obtaining mirror-like quality with an average roughness Ra < 2 nm measured by an atomic force microscope (AFM, Agilent 5100 AFM/SPM in tapping mode). In order to avoid environmental oxidation by humidity, the samples were stored in a desiccator at 30% relative humidity. Before and

Low cost tips for tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy fabricated by two-step electrochemical etching of 125 µm diameter gold wires

• Antonino Foti,
• Francesco Barreca,
• Enza Fazio,
• Cristiano D’Andrea,
• Paolo Matteini,
• Onofrio Maria Maragò and
• Pietro Giuseppe Gucciardi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2718–2729, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.254

• . The analysis of the tips’ TERS performance is carried out in gap-mode [14], using a commercial setup that couples a micro-Raman spectrometer (XploRA Plus, Horiba) with an AFM/STM (Smart SPM-1000, AIST-NT). The setup, shown in Supporting Information File 1, works in a side-illumination configuration

Au–Si plasmonic platforms: synthesis, structure and FDTD simulations

• Anna Gapska,
• Marcin Łapiński,
• Paweł Syty,
• Wojciech Sadowski,
• Józef E. Sienkiewicz and
• Barbara Kościelska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2599–2608, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.241

• UHV VT SPM XA were used. AFM images were recorded in contact mode using a Si tip with a radius lower than 10 nm. The structure of the samples was examined by using a Phipips X’Pert diffractometer, using Cu Ka radiation in a 2θ range of 10–70° with a step size of 0.006° at 1 s per step. The quality of

Thickness-dependent photoelectrochemical properties of a semitransparent Co₃O₄ photocathode

• Malkeshkumar Patel and
• Joondong Kim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2432–2442, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.228

• light source (5800 K, Bridgelux, ES Star Array, BXRA-56C0700-A) with a light intensity of 100 mW·cm−2 was calibrated with a power meter (KUSAMMECO, KM-SPM-11). Scan rates of 20 mV·s−1 with a 0.1 mV step were set to record the linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), with the scan direction from positive to

High-throughput micro-nanostructuring by microdroplet inkjet printing

• Hendrikje R. Neumann and
• Christine Selhuber-Unkel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2372–2380, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.222

• .). Image processing was carried out with JPK SPM Data Processing. (A) Schematic representation of the operational principle of the Fuji Dimatix DMP-2800 printing head. 4 mL of gold-loaded micelle solution (BMCL) is stored in the cartridge storage unit that is connected to the cartridge head. Via the

Numerical analysis of single-point spectroscopy curves used in photo-carrier dynamics measurements by Kelvin probe force microscopy under frequency-modulated excitation

• Pablo A. Fernández Garrillo,
• Benjamin Grévin and
• Łukasz Borowik

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1834–1843, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.175

• this context, few teams around the world have recently began to develop time-resolved scanning probe microscopies (SPM) techniques, aimed at addressing the photo-carrier dynamics at the local scale in photoactive materials and devices. At this point, Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) emerged as a

Direct AFM-based nanoscale mapping and tomography of open-circuit voltages for photovoltaics

• Katherine Atamanuk,
• Justin Luria and
• Bryan D. Huey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1802–1808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.171

• and some sub-granular regions. For any given plane through the specimen it is sometimes difficult to recognize these local properties. This is partially due to convolution with inevitable noise in any SPM-based imaging, but especially results from the stacked and arbitrarily shaped and oriented grains

• micro-scale. Such novel SPM-based measurements can be crucial to advancing the fundamental understanding, and ultimately performance and reliability, of a wide range of photosensors, photoactivated catalysts, and photovoltaics. pcAFM measurement of a CdTe/CdS solar cell, during specimen illumination

Nanoscale electrochemical response of lithium-ion cathodes: a combined study using C-AFM and SIMS

• Jonathan Op de Beeck,
• Nouha Labyedh,
• Alfonso Sepúlveda,
• Valentina Spampinato,
• Alexis Franquet,
• Thierry Conard,
• Philippe M. Vereecken,
• Wilfried Vandervorst and
• Umberto Celano

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1623–1628, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.154

• formed. For instance, Figure 1b shows the topography and current distribution map when performing such measurements in the case of the electrodeposited LMO. This basic concept was extended with the development of various scanning probe microscopy (SPM) techniques [8][9][10][11][12] dedicated to probe

• hybrid metrology approach combining SPM with SIMS, this is a technique able to observe the actual Li concentration. Using the C-AFM tip as a nanoscaled electrode, we can now stress films at different bias values by scanning over the surface (8.5 min) and subsequently observe the induced conductivity

Artifacts in time-resolved Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Sascha Sadewasser,
• Nicoleta Nicoara and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1272–1281, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.119

• the critical frequencies should be avoided, and (ii) an FFT analysis of the total electrostatic driving force is recommended to avoid misinterpretation of experimental data. Experimental Experiments were performed in an ultra-high vacuum atomic force microscope (Omicron VT-SPM) at a base pressure

Electrostatic force spectroscopy revealing the degree of reduction of individual graphene oxide sheets

• Yue Shen,
• Ying Wang,
• Yuan Zhou,
• Chunxi Hai,
• Jun Hu and
• Yi Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1146–1155, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.106

• of rGO, scanning probe microscopy (SPM) has also been employed recently to study the reduction of GO sheets at the nanoscale. Conductive atomic force microscopy (CAFM) [15][16] can be used to verify the reduced nanostructures on GO sheets. However, because CAFM relies on contact with the sample, the

• mass application of GO material, whose use is strongly desired for its mechanical, thermal, optical and electronic applications. Moreover, we believe that this advanced SPM method provides a general and quantitative approach for characterizing the small differences in the dielectric properties of

• adiabatic hoses, forming the gas transmission loop. The temperature fluctuations were below 0.2 °C and the error of humidity control was about 2% relative humidity (RH). To avoid influences on EFM or SPFM imaging from the dielectric constant change of the mica substrate, all the SPM-based operations were

Electro-optical interfacial effects on a graphene/π-conjugated organic semiconductor hybrid system

• Karolline A. S. Araujo,
• Luiz A. Cury,
• Matheus J. S. Matos,
• Thales F. D. Fernandes,
• Luiz G. Cançado and
• Bernardo R. A. Neves

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 963–974, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.90

• interfacial effects. Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) and Raman scattering experiments, along with first-principles calculations, reveal the presence of a highly ordered RA self-assembled monolayer atop graphene and graphite. The electro-optical characterization of the hybrid system discloses interfacial

• substrate, for example, should enable a true RA/graphene interfacial interaction, free from deleterious influence of the supporting substrate. A free-standing monolayer graphene membrane would also avoid spurious substrate influences, but this kind of sample would bring some obstacles for SPM experiments

• analysis of surface potential behavior, their quantitative values may not be as precise, as they might suffer from several approximations leading to Equation 1 and Equation 2 [34]. Therefore, another established SPM-based mode, SKPM, which directly measures surface potential differences [34][37] was

Towards the third dimension in direct electron beam writing of silver

• Katja Höflich,
• Jakub Mateusz Jurczyk,
• Katarzyna Madajska,
• Maximilian Götz,
• Luisa Berger,
• Carlos Guerra-Nuñez,
• Caspar Haverkamp,
• Iwona Szymanska and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 842–849, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.78

• a reference silver layer. The quantified carbon background of ca. 15 atom % was subtracted to determine the actual deposit composition. The topography of the deposits was monitored using atomic force microscopy (AFM) with an AIST Smart SPM system. Data processing was carried out using the free

Anchoring of a dye precursor on NiO(001) studied by non-contact atomic force microscopy

• Sara Freund,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Nathalie Marinakis,
• Edwin C. Constable,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Catherine E. Housecroft and
• Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 242–249, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.26

• probe microscopy (SPM) [5]. Through the adsorption of a large variety of dye molecules, the ability of sensitized TiO2 to absorb light can be triggered and tuned. Thus, the possibility of designing photoactive devices with anodes consisting of nanostructured and functionalized TiO2 leads to numerous

• importance for the comprehension and design of improved and more efficient devices. NiO single-crystal surfaces functionalized with adsorbed dye molecules are ideal candidates to analyze the fundamental properties of such systems by SPM techniques. Because of the large band gap of NiO, which is reported to