Ultralow-energy amorphization of contaminated silicon samples investigated by molecular dynamics

• Grégoire R. N. Defoort-Levkov,
• Alan Bahm and
• Patrick Philipp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 834–849, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.68

• . Keywords: angle dependency; argon; contamination; energy dependency; ion bombardment; low energy; molecular dynamics; silicon; simulations; water; Introduction Low-energy ion beams offer substantial improvements and possibilities to reduce the damage production on the surface of samples [1][2]. In recent

• breaking of bonds in the sample. The second one is the Morse potential [32] used to model the interactions of the argon particles with other species. Since argon atoms interact only very weakly with the sample atoms, a simple Morse potential is enough to describe these interactions. ReaxFF potentials are

• in this study. In contrast, the simplicity of the Morse potential allowed us to represent the interactions between the argons atoms with full valence band and the sample atoms. As described in [26], a set of DFT calculations were performed using VASP to compute the Morse potential for argon–silicon

In situ magnesiothermic reduction synthesis of a Ge@C composite for high-performance lithium-ion batterie anodes

• Ha Tran Huu,
• Ngoc Phi Nguyen,
• Vuong Hoang Ngo,
• Huy Hoang Luc,
• Minh Kha Le,
• Minh Thu Nguyen,
• My Loan Phung Le,
• Hye Rim Kim,
• In Young Kim,
• Sung Jin Kim,
• Van Man Tran and
• Vien Vo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 751–761, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.62

• , then placed in a ceramic crucible and heated to 800 °C for 5 h under argon gas flow with a heating rate of 10 °C·min−1. The obtained solid was washed with potassium hydroxide solution (KOH 20%) at 70 °C for 2 h, then leached with 2 M HCl at 70 °C for 15 h and washed several times with de-ionized (DI

• and transferred to a ceramic crucible. The mixture was heated at 750 °C in argon gas flow for 3 h. The obtained solid was re-ground and denoted as Ge/C-SS750. Material characterization X-ray diffraction measurements (XRD, Bruker D8 Advance with Cu Kα radiation (λ = 1.5406 Å) at 40 kV and 40 mA) were

• -cell configuration, were assembled in an argon-filled glovebox (MB 20 G, MBRAUN), with oxygen content and moisture below 1.0 ppm. A disc-shaped lithium metal foil was used as counter electrode, and a glassy carbon fiber pad soaked in 1 M electrolyte of LiPF6 in ethylene carbonate/dimethyl carbonate

SERS performance of GaN/Ag substrates fabricated by Ag coating of GaN platforms

• Magdalena A. Zając,
• Bogusław Budner,
• Malwina Liszewska,
• Bartosz Bartosewicz,
• Łukasz Gutowski,
• Jan L. Weyher and
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 552–564, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.46

• [31], gene mutation identification [34][35], and investigations of the reactivity of organic monoradicals [36]. In our previous studies, nanostructured GaN platforms were coated with pure metals or alloys using magnetron sputtering (MS) in an argon atmosphere [28][29][30][31][32]. Until now, no other

Evaluation of electrosynthesized reduced graphene oxide–Ni/Fe/Co-based (oxy)hydroxide catalysts towards the oxygen evolution reaction

• Karolina Cysewska,
• Marcin Łapiński,
• Marcin Zając,
• Jakub Karczewski,
• Piotr Jasiński and
• Sebastian Molin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 420–433, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.34

• working electrode was coated or bare nickel foam with an exposed area of 0.25 cm2, while the reference electrode was a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) (Gaskatel). The electrochemical cell was purged with argon for 20 min before each experiment. The measurements were performed in an aqueous solution of

A novel approach to pulsed laser deposition of platinum catalyst on carbon particles for use in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

• Bogusław Budner,
• Wojciech Tokarz,
• Sławomir Dyjak,
• Andrzej Czerwiński,
• Bartosz Bartosewicz and
• Bartłomiej Jankiewicz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 190–204, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.19

• (absolute) pressure in an argon atmosphere. After thermal ignition, a mixture of magnesium and calcium formate powders (mixed with a 6:1 molar ratio) reacted vigorously in a self-propagating high-temperature regime, giving rise to MgO/CaO and carbon as the main solid-state products. After the reaction, a

Combining physical vapor deposition structuration with dealloying for the creation of a highly efficient SERS platform

• Adrien Chauvin,
• Walter Puglisi,
• Damien Thiry,
• Cristina Satriano,
• Rony Snyders and
• Carla Bittencourt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 83–94, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.10

• were adapted from [39]. The Ag–Al thin films were deposited by DC magnetron co-sputtering in pure argon plasma of a Ag target (diameter: 50.8 mm; purity: 99.99%) and an Al target (diameter: 50.8 mm; purity: 99.99%) placed in a confocal geometry. The distance between the targets and the substrate was

Upper critical magnetic field in NbRe and NbReN micrometric strips

• Zahra Makhdoumi Kakhaki,
• Antonio Leo,
• Federico Chianese,
• Loredana Parlato,
• Giovanni Piero Pepe,
• Angela Nigro,
• Carla Cirillo and
• Carmine Attanasio

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 45–51, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.5

• voltage contacts of L = 90 μm. The NbReN films were structured by using direct laser writer exposure followed by argon ion etching into constriction-type bridges with w = 2 μm and L = 700 μm. Further details on the fabrication procedure of the films are reported elsewhere [4][8]. The superconducting

Two-step single-reactor synthesis of oleic acid- or undecylenic acid-stabilized magnetic nanoparticles by thermal decomposition

• Mykhailo Nahorniak,
• Pamela Pasetto,
• Jean-Marc Greneche,
• Volodymyr Samaryk,
• Sandy Auguste,
• Anthony Rousseau,
• Nataliya Nosova and
• Serhii Varvarenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 11–22, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.2

• was heated to 120 °C and the acetylacetone (AcAc) was removed under a vacuum of 150 mmHg with constant stirring. Then, the reflux condenser was replaced by an air condenser, and the reaction mixture was heated to 255 °C in the case of diphenyl and paraffin and to 312 °C under argon, in the case of 1

• -octadecene. The stirring was continued for 30 min. The resulting reaction mass was transferred into a 250 mL reactor equipped with a mechanical stirrer and washed five times with propanone (150 mL each time) followed by nanoparticle deposition by magnetic separation on a NdFeB magnet under argon. The

• stored under argon. Formation of nanoparticles via decarboxylation of Fe(III) alkenoates. TEM micrographs of the nanoparticles synthesized in 1-octadecene using different stabilizers (TMO-I – OA, TMU-IV, TMU-V – UA). TEM micrographs of the nanoparticles synthesized using OA in paraffin (МТ-ІІ, MT-IV, MT

Influence of water contamination on the sputtering of silicon with low-energy argon ions investigated by molecular dynamics simulations

• Grégoire R. N. Defoort-Levkov,
• Alan Bahm and
• Patrick Philipp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 986–1003, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.86

• by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations how one of the most commonly found residual contaminations in vacuum chambers (i.e., water adsorbed on a silicon surface) influences sputtering by 100 eV argon ions. The incidence angle was changed from normal incidence to close to grazing incidence. For the

• sputtered largely depends on the incidence angle. This fraction is the largest for incidence angles between 70 and 80° defined with respect to the sample surface. Overall, it changes from 25% to 65%. Keywords: angle dependency; argon ions; contamination; focused ion beams; ion bombardment; low energy

• depth. Investigations performed with low-energy argon ions [15][19][20] have shown that the current model describing the sputter yields and the sputtering processes (such as sputtering threshold and the amorphization process) does not fit with experimental data, leading to discrepancies that cannot be

Optimizing PMMA solutions to suppress contamination in the transfer of CVD graphene for batch production

• Chun-Da Liao,
• Andrea Capasso,
• Tiago Queirós,
• Telma Domingues,
• Fatima Cerqueira,
• Nicoleta Nicoara,
• Jérôme Borme,
• Paulo Freitas and
• Pedro Alpuim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 796–806, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.70

• controllers. The Cu foil was first annealed in argon atmosphere (500 sccm, 9.0 Torr) for 30 min in a quartz tube furnace. In the growth process, the gas mixture of argon (250 sccm), hydrogen (100 sccm), and methane (1.2 sccm) was subsequently introduced into the quartz chamber, where a reaction pressure of

• 4.0 Torr was kept constant through the variable frequency-driven pumping system. The growth time for single graphene crystals (250–350 µm) and large-area graphene films (ca. 25 cm2) was 40 and 80 min, respectively. To finalize the process, an argon flush of 500 sccm was conducted to cool down samples

A nonenzymatic reduced graphene oxide-based nanosensor for parathion

• Sarani Sen,
• Anurag Roy,
• Ambarish Sanyal and
• Parukuttyamma Sujatha Devi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 730–744, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.65

• spectra of the samples were recorded in the 1000–3500 cm−1 region with a resolution of 1 cm−1 using a Renishaw via a Reflex micro-Raman spectrometer with an argon ion (514.6 nm) laser. The X-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS) data were obtained from a PHI 5000 Versa probe II scanning XPS microprobe

Design and characterization of polymeric microneedles containing extracts of Brazilian green propolis

• Camila Felix Vecchi,
• Rafaela Said dos Santos,
• Jéssica Bassi da Silva and
• Marcos Luciano Bruschi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 503–516, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.42

• details of the fabricated MNs was performed by scanning electron microscopy. Each sample was placed over a circular metallic holder (with the help of double-sided tape) and fixed with colloidal gold in a hermetically closed chamber in argon atmosphere. The samples were observed using a Quanta 250 electron

Investigation of electron-induced cross-linking of self-assembled monolayers by scanning tunneling microscopy

• Patrick Stohmann,
• Sascha Koch,
• Yang Yang,
• Christopher David Kaiser,
• Julian Ehrens,
• Jürgen Schnack,
• Niklas Biere,
• Dario Anselmetti,
• Armin Gölzhäuser and
• Xianghui Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 462–471, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.39

• Au(111) surface was prepared by argon sputtering for 10 min at 1 keV with a pressure of 3 × 10−6 mbar. Secondly, the treated substrate was annealed at 673 K for 1 h in order to obtain a flat substrate surface characterized by large gold terraces. When required, successive sputtering/annealing cycles

Tubular glassy carbon microneedles with fullerene-like tips for biomedical applications

• Sharali Malik and
• George E. Kostakis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 455–461, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.38

• prepared by flowing methane (CH4) at a rate of 40 sccm for 12 h at p = 200 mbar and a gas temperature of 1020 °C through a 20 mm diameter alumina (Al2O3) tube (15 mm internal diameter), which was then cooled under argon (Ar). Characterization The prepared glassy carbon microneedles were characterized by

Selected properties of Al_xZn_yO thin films prepared by reactive pulsed magnetron sputtering using a two-element Zn/Al target

• Witold Posadowski,
• Artur Wiatrowski,
• Jarosław Domaradzki and
• Michał Mazur

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 344–354, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.29

• magnetron sputtering. A two-element Zn/Al planar target was used as source material prepared in the form of a Zn disc (100 mm diameter) with Al rings pressed into its surface. The sputtering processes were carried out in a mixture of argon and oxygen. The films were deposited with a discharge power of PE

• so far by reactive sputtering of Zn/Al metal targets [8][10][12][13][14][19][20][21] using an argon/oxygen atmosphere. There are also examples where such films were deposited by co-sputtering of two independently powered ZnO and Al targets [10][20][21]. This method of sputtering allowed the

• working and reactive gases, namely argon and oxygen, with a ratio of 70:30, was introduced into the vacuum chamber through a set of needle valves (Figure 1). The total pressure during reactive sputtering processes was established at about pAr+O2 = 3 × 10−3 mbar. The power supplying the target (the

Tin dioxide nanomaterial-based photocatalysts for nitrogen oxide oxidation: a review

• Viet Van Pham,
• Hong-Huy Tran,
• Thao Kim Truong and
• Thi Minh Cao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 96–113, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.7

• suitable site for the formation of NO− intermediates to generate nitrite and nitrate products in the photocatalytic reaction processes. Moreover, additional OVs could be readily formed by thermal treatment under argon atmosphere. The work suggested an innovative approach for developing high-performance

Theranostic potential of self-luminescent branched polyethyleneimine-coated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles

• Rouhollah Khodadust,
• Ozlem Unal and
• Havva Yagci Acar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 82–95, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.6

• 80 °C under argon atmosphere. The black solution was cooled to room temperature after 30 min and acidified to pH 5 with CH3COOH (Lachema, Czech Republic). The final product SPION@bPEI was washed with DI water using 30 kDa Amicon centrifugal filters and stored at room temperature. The total organic

Sputtering onto liquids: a critical review

• Anastasiya Sergievskaya,
• Adrien Chauvin and
• Stephanos Konstantinidis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 10–53, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.2

• gas phase and subsequent film growth can be computed using, for example, SIMTRA [37] and NASCAM [38] codes, respectively. The evolution of the sputtering yield calculated by SRIM for carbon (C), titanium (Ti), and Au targets as a function of the kinetic energy of the bombarding argon ions is presented

• in Figure 4. The kinetic energy of the argon ions ranges from 100 to 1100 eV, which are typical values for MS discharges. For the calculation, ions are assumed to impinge the surface at normal incidence and the thickness of the target is set to 1 µm. The sputtering yield values are averaged over 5000

• plasma ON and OFF times. The liquid is heated by the sputtering plasma and cooled by the emission of radiation. Values of the liquid temperature reached after 1800 s of plasma ON time are reported in [48] for a power density of 4 W/cm2 applied to the magnetron cathode. The argon plasma (0.07 Pa) is used

Design aspects of Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ THz sources: optimization of thermal and radiative properties

• Mikhail M. Krasnov,
• Natalia D. Novikova,
• Roger Cattaneo,
• Alexey A. Kalenyuk and
• Vladimir M. Krasnov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1392–1403, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.103

• on a flat portion of Bi-2212 surface, followed by argon-ion etching of the unprotected parts of Au and Bi-2212, the deposition of insulating SiO2 or CaF2 layers and a lift-off of the photoresist at the line. The depth of Bi-2212 etching at this stage (dm ≈ 200–400 nm) defines the height of mesas and

• photolithography and argon-ion etching. Mesa structures are formed at the overlap between the line and the electrodes, as indicated in Figure 1a. Figure 2a,b shows current–voltage (I–V) characteristics of mesas of whisker- and crystal-based devices, respectively. The I–V curves are fairly similar. They contain

Plasmon-enhanced photoluminescence from TiO₂ and TeO₂ thin films doped by Eu³⁺ for optoelectronic applications

• Marcin Łapiński,
• Jakub Czubek,
• Katarzyna Drozdowska,
• Anna Synak,
• Wojciech Sadowski and
• Barbara Kościelska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1271–1278, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.94

• ethanol and dried at 50 °C. Plasmonic nanostructures were prepared by thermal dewetting of gold thin films. Thin Au films with a thickness of 2.8 nm were deposited using a tabletop DC magnetron sputtering coater (EM SCD 500, Leica) in pure Ar plasma (argon, Air Products, 99.999%) at a pressure of 0.2 Pa

• was conducted at 200 °C. The second kind of dielectric layer was TiO2. It was prepared by radio frequency (RF) reactive magnetron sputtering using an Omicron Nanotechnology four targets sputter system. A Ti target (99.9%) was sputtered in an argon–oxygen atmosphere (Ar/O2 flow ratio: 5 sccm:30 sccm

• about 50 min in argon–oxygen atmosphere (Ar/O2 flow ratio: 5 sccm:30 sccm) at a power of 40 W. This resulted in deposited films with a thickness of ca. 300 nm (deposition rate ca. 0.1 Å/s). The deposition process of TeO2:Eu films was described in our previous work [27]. The preparation of all TiO2, TeO2

The effect of cobalt on morphology, structure, and ORR activity of electrospun carbon fibre mats in aqueous alkaline environments

• Markus Gehring,
• Tobias Kutsch,
• Osmane Camara,
• Alexandre Merlen,
• Hermann Tempel,
• Hans Kungl and
• Rüdiger-A. Eichel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1173–1186, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.87

• cobalt-containing samples and 21 kV for the samples without cobalt additive. The samples were stabilised in air and subsequently carbonised in argon atmosphere for 3 h at temperatures between 600 and 1100 °C. Electrodes were prepared from the carbonised mats by applying a PTFE membrane by means of hot

Revealing the formation mechanism and band gap tuning of Sb₂S₃ nanoparticles

• Maximilian Joschko,
• Franck Yvan Fotue Wafo,
• Christina Malsi,
• Danilo Kisić,
• Ivana Validžić and
• Christina Graf

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1021–1033, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.76

• KGaA, and 1,2-dichlorobenzene (>98%) from Fisher Scientific. All chemicals were used without further purification. Synthesis Undoped Sb2S3 nanoparticles All reaction steps were performed under an argon atmosphere. Prior to the reaction, two precursor solutions were freshly prepared. First, the sulfur

Is the Ne operation of the helium ion microscope suitable for electron backscatter diffraction sample preparation?

• Annalena Wolff

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 965–983, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.73

• determine the resulting interaction volume of the ions for the various conditions as well as vacancy formation and implanted impurity concentration. In addition, the achieved results are compared to those achieved by the conventionally used argon ion polishing (PIPS) and electropolishing approaches. Results

• values throughout the work against which the ion-irradiation-induced effects are evaluated. All values can be found in Table 1. Non-irradiated copper: electropolishing and Ar ion polishing To evaluate the effect of electropolishing and argon ion polishing on EBSD measurements, the Cu sample was polished

• electropolishing protocol not feasible for stress and strain analysis of the Cu sample. Argon ion polishing of the Cu sample produced better results than electropolishing. The FSD image (Figure 4j) reveals grains and does not show obvious sample surface alterations in comparison to the electropolishing approaches

Modification of a SERS-active Ag surface to promote adsorption of charged analytes: effect of Cu²⁺ ions

• Bahdan V. Ranishenka,
• Andrei Yu. Panarin,
• Irina A. Chelnokova,
• Sergei N. Terekhov,
• Peter Mojzes and
• Vadim V. Shmanai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 902–912, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.67

• microscope in PeakForceQNM mode with recording the adhesion force maps and topographic images. SERS measurements were carried out by using a scanning probe Raman microscope “NanoFlex” (Solar LS, Belarus). The source of excitation at 488.0 nm was an argon ion laser (Melles Griot, USA). Excitation and

Comprehensive review on ultrasound-responsive theranostic nanomaterials: mechanisms, structures and medical applications

• Sepand Tehrani Fateh,
• Lida Moradi,
• Elmira Kohan,
• Michael R. Hamblin and
• Amin Shiralizadeh Dezfuli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 808–862, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.64