Density functional theory study of Au-fcc/Ge and Au-hcp/Ge interfaces

• Olga Sikora,
• Małgorzata Sternik,
• Benedykt R. Jany,
• Franciszek Krok,
• Przemysław Piekarz and
• Andrzej M. Oleś

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1093–1105, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.90

• interlayer distance compared to variant T2. The Ge–Au bond lengths obtained for the T1 structure, 2.50 Å, are in good agreement with the experimental values for amorphous GeAu alloys, 2.66 Å, [33] and thin films of Au covering a Ge(111) surface, 2.5 Å, [34]. In variant T2 the Au–Ge distance between Au atoms

Properties of tin oxide films grown by atomic layer deposition from tin tetraiodide and ozone

• Kristjan Kalam,
• Peeter Ritslaid,
• Tanel Käämbre,
• Aile Tamm and
• Kaupo Kukli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1085–1092, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.89

• Kristjan Kalam Peeter Ritslaid Tanel Kaambre Aile Tamm Kaupo Kukli Institute of Physics, University of Tartu, W. Ostwaldi 1, 50411 Tartu, Estonia 10.3762/bjnano.14.89 Abstract Polycrystalline SnO2 thin films were grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on SiO2/Si(100) substrates from SnI4 and O3

• from a film deposited at 300 °C is presented in Figure 9. The refractive index values in the range of 2.04–2.06 can be regarded as appreciably high for SnO2 thin films. Refractive index values of approx. 2.0 were measured by ellipsometry for SnO2 films grown by ALD from bis(1-dimethylamino-2-methyl-2

• outmost surface of the film. Conclusion SnO2 thin films were deposited from SnI4 and O3 via ALD in the temperature range of 100–600 °C. The resulting films formed in the crystalline tetragonal phase of SnO2 when the deposition temperature was over 225 °C, and the proportion of crystallised material in the

Dual-heterodyne Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Fatima Husainy,
• Dmitry Aldakov and
• Cyril Aumaître

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1068–1084, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.88

• latter configuration is used in the case of organic BHJ thin films (processed on transparent substrates, i.e., glass coated with indium thin oxide). The light intensity is adjusted using the laser power control and optical density filters. In the following, for each measurement, the optical power Popt

• again confirm the (positive) SPV polarity. To conclude this part of the work, it is important to check whether the data obtained for this PTB7:PC71BM sample are consistent with the results of our previous investigations on BHJ thin films based on the same donor–acceptor tandem. Considering only the SPV

Spatial mapping of photovoltage and light-induced displacement of on-chip coupled piezo/photodiodes by Kelvin probe force microscopy under modulated illumination

• Zeinab Eftekhari,
• Nasim Rezaei,
• Hidde Stokkel,
• Jian-Yao Zheng,
• Andrea Cerreta,
• Ilka Hermes,
• Minh Nguyen,
• Guus Rijnders and
• Rebecca Saive

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1059–1067, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.87

• effect of gravity on the displacement is taken into account. The voltage excitation signal is introduced to the LNO terminals as shown in the inset of Figure 2. The material properties of PZT and LNO thin films were derived from the literature and are summarized in Table 1. The strain-charge form is

N-Heterocyclic carbene-based gold etchants

• Robert B. Chevalier,
• Justin Pantano,
• Matthew K. Kiesewetter and
• Jason R. Dwyer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 865–871, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.71

• but also the potential for deliberate etching, with the outcome determined by choice of chemically synthesized organic species and solvent. Keywords: gold etchant; microfabrication; N-heterocyclic carbenes; self-assembled monolayer (SAM); thin films; Introduction Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) are

• reported the use of a benzimidazolium gold complex in dichloromethane (DCM) that readily functionalizes gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) in aqueous solution [15][19]. In our work using solution-based approaches to form NHC monolayers on gold thin films, we observed a loss of gold from our substrates. It is

• after only 30 min, that was at a substantially higher concentration of 2 in THF. In terms of generalizability, though, we are able to clearly show that etching of gold occurs from both thin films and nanoparticles, and in a single organic phase and a mixed organic and aqueous phase. Conclusion The

The microstrain-accompanied structural phase transition from h-MoO₃ to α-MoO₃ investigated by in situ X-ray diffraction

• Zeqian Zhang,
• Honglong Shi,
• Boxiang Zhuang,
• Minting Luo and
• Zhenfei Hu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 692–700, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.55

• some question regarding the h-MoO3 phase: (1) The location of the intercalated molecules inside the h-MoO3 structure is unknown. (2) The reason of the mismatch in h-MoO3 thin films and the failure of microdevices is not understood. (3) The structural phase transition at the atomic scale from h-MoO3 to

• transition from h-MoO3 to α-MoO3 Anisotropic thermal expansion and first-order phase transition The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is an important mechanical parameter for the application of MoO3 thin films, as it can increase the mismatch between thin films and the substrate, causing microdevices to

Nanoarchitectonics to entrap living cells in silica-based systems: encapsulations with yolk–shell and sepiolite nanomaterials

• Celia Martín-Morales,
• Jorge Fernández-Méndez,
• Pilar Aranda and
• Eduardo Ruiz-Hitzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 522–534, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.43

• to be tested as immobilization matrices of microalgae. Sepiolite–alginate beads, sepiolite–chitosan/alginate thin films, and sepiolite–chitosan foams were produced (Figure 1). Sepiolite and biopolymer concentration, synthesis temperature, and microorganism concentration were modified to study their

• precursor could be cast and gelled as thin films or hollow tubular monoliths with thin walls, improving the interaction between the encapsulated cells and a liquid medium in which the material could be placed. In addition to the optimisation of the sol–gel synthesis, the conditions for yolk–shell

The origin of black and white coloration of the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae)

• Manuela Rebora,
• Gianandrea Salerno,
• Silvana Piersanti,
• Alexander Kovalev and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 496–508, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.41

• (and also the black) appearance and demonstrates the importance of multiple reflections for the appearance of the white scales (Figure 6c). Thin film interference In the microscopic areas on the scales with relatively constant cuticle thickness, the effect of interference in thin films can be observed

Plasmonic nanotechnology for photothermal applications – an evaluation

• A. R. Indhu,
• L. Keerthana and
• Gnanaprakash Dharmalingam

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 380–419, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.33

Formation of nanoflowers: Au and Ni silicide cores surrounded by SiO_x branches

• Feitao Li,
• Siyao Wan,
• Dong Wang and
• Peter Schaaf

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 133–140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.14

• also been obtained by depositing Au thin films on Si substrates with a thick silicon dioxide (SiO2) layer and subsequent rapid heating in reducing atmosphere. Here, the Si vapor source is silicon monoxide (SiO) gas produced by the decomposition of the SiO2 layer or the active oxidation of the Si

• ][24][25]. Apart from Au, both Ni and Ag can also catalyze the growth of NWs based on the VLS mechanism [26][27][28], and Si NWs have been grown using alloyed AuAg nanoparticles [29]. Au–SiOx nanoflowers have been fabricated by combining the dewetting of Au thin films and the growth of NWs based on the

• . It has been reported after the annealing of Au thin films deposited on SiO2/Si substrates with different thicknesses of the SiO2 layer [3][4][36]. The active oxidation of Si also occurs once the Si substrate is exposed [2][3][37], which can be proved by the calculated oxygen partial pressure

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

• Nanostructured noble metal thin films are highly studied for their interesting plasmonic properties. The latter can be effectively used for the detection of small and highly diluted molecules by the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effect. Regardless of impressive detection limits achieved, synthesis

• suspension [15]. However, NPs suspensions are hard to handle, suffer from poor stability, and can hardly be reused [6]. In this perspective, major interest has been devoted to developing solid SERS platforms made of nanostructured thin films [15][16]. Among them, nanoporous materials show superior properties

• . This approach allows for the synthesis of structured alloy thin films constituted of dispersed alloy columns. The dealloying of these films was implemented in three different media (i.e., hydrochloric acid (HCl), sodium hydroxide (NaOH), and phosphoric acid (H3PO4)) to highlight their impact on the

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

• rotation and relaxation studies [13] and large values of the upper critical magnetic fields [11][14], which are above the Pauli paramagnetic limit [15][16]. In the case of thin films, the structure of NbRe is polycrystalline with grains of small dimensions, typically of the order of 2–3 nm [7][8][17

The influence of structure and local structural defects on the magnetic properties of cobalt nanofilms

• Alexander Vakhrushev,
• Aleksey Fedotov,
• Olesya Severyukhina and
• Anatolie Sidorenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 23–33, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.3

• performance improvement can be solved with the help of spintronics devices, which are currently presented in a fairly wide variety of valuable effects: spin valves and valves in thin films and heterostructures [19][20], sensors based on the anomalous Hall effect [21], spin injection and magnetism detection

• defects and their influence on the magnetic properties of thin films. Therefore, in our studies, a small volume in the cobalt nanofilm is cut out and the simulation results were compared to that of the corresponding volume with an ideal structure. In addition, the periodic boundary conditions used in

Electrical and optical enhancement of ITO/Mo bilayer thin films via laser annealing

• Abdelbaki Hacini,
• Ahmad Hadi Ali,
• Nurul Nadia Adnan and
• Nafarizal Nayan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1589–1595, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.133

• Microelectronic and Nanotechnology Shamsuddin Research Centre (MiNT-SRC), Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 86400 Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia 10.3762/bjnano.13.133 Abstract ITO/Mo bilayer thin films were sputtered on n-type silicon and glass substrates and annealed with a Nd:YAG pulsed laser. The

• structural results show that both the as-deposited and the annealed ITO/Mo thin films have a polycrystalline structure, and that the annealing treatment enhanced the crystallinity of samples. Moreover, the XRD patterns exhibited a cubic structure preferentially oriented along the (222) and (400) planes. The

• significantly improve the electrical properties without affecting the optical transmission [9]. Several metals have been used for such thin layers, including silver [10], aluminium [11], copper [12], and gold [13]. Molybdenum thin films are another choice for the application in solar cells because of good

Induced electric conductivity in organic polymers

• Konstantin Y. Arutyunov,
• Anatoli S. Gurski,
• Vladimir V. Artemov,
• Alexander L. Vasiliev,
• Azat R. Yusupov,
• Danfis D. Karamov and
• Alexei N. Lachinov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1551–1557, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.128

• ; thin films; Introduction Most polymers can be classified as organic dielectrics. However, there exists a specific class of polymers, typically characterized by the existence of conjugated π-bonds, which enable delocalization of electrons leading to electric conductivity in the ground state of the

Role of titanium and organic precursors in molecular layer deposition of “titanicone” hybrid materials

• Arbresha Muriqi and
• Michael Nolan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1240–1255, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.103

• [43], TiCl4 was coupled with 4-aminophenol (AP) to deposit Ti–(O–C6H4–N=) thin films with an essentially ideal growth rate of 10–11 Å/cycle at a temperature range of 120–160 °C. The deposited films were of high quality and stable in air. The high growth rates are attributed to the rigid structure of

• with 4,4′-oxydianiline (ODA) to deposit the (–Ti–N–C6H4–O–C6H4–N–)n thin films. Films were deposited on an Si surface in two temperature ranges, 160–230 °C and 250–490 °C. The growth rate increases with increasing temperature, from 0.3 Å/cycle at 160 °C to 1.1 Å/cycle at 490 °C. Films deposited at a

Design of surface nanostructures for chirality sensing based on quartz crystal microbalance

• Yinglin Ma,
• Xiangyun Xiao and
• Qingmin Ji

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1201–1219, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.100

• -alanine was 307.97% more enantioselective than ᴅ-alanine. Similar enantioselectivity could also be achieved by Al/ʟ-Cys MLD films [123]. The methodology is also versatile and promising for the deposition of chiral thin films over any substrates or membranes of interest, which may promote the exploration

Nonlinear features of the superconductor–ferromagnet–superconductor φ₀ Josephson junction in the ferromagnetic resonance region

• Aliasghar Janalizadeh,
• Ilhom R. Rahmonov,
• Sara A. Abdelmoneim,
• Yury M. Shukrinov and
• Mohammad R. Kolahchi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1155–1166, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.97

• that describes the magnetodynamics in thin films or heterostructures to form the Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert–Josephson model (LLGJ) [14][15][16]. It is shown that, for a particular set of parameters, the coupled equations reduce to the dynamics of a Duffing oscillator [14]. The cubic nonlinearity in this

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

• profiling SIMS to resolve thin films in multilayered samples [14]. Another example is TEM sample preparation, where the achievement of the highest lateral resolutions in the subsequent TEM analysis requires lamellae thicknesses between 10 and 20 nm, but goes along with a typical amorphous layer of 2 to 4 nm

Theoretical investigations of oxygen vacancy effects in nickel-doped zirconia from ab initio XANES spectroscopy at the oxygen K-edge

• Dick Hartmann Douma,
• Lodvert Tchibota Poaty,
• Alessio Lamperti,
• Stéphane Kenmoe,
• Abdulrafiu Tunde Raji,
• Alberto Debernardi and
• Bernard M’Passi-Mabiala

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 975–985, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.85

• semiconducting or insulating materials doped randomly or uniformly with magnetic impurities in the oxide matrix. A typical example are thin films of uniformly Fe-doped ZrO2 where dopant concentrations, x, from the diluted regime (i.e., x = 1–5 atom % [2]) to very high concentrations (up to x ≈ 25 atom %) have

• that of the monoclinic structure) [35]. Thus, our structural phase of reference in this work is cubic distorted fluorite zirconia since we are doping it and also due to the fact that actual experiments involving atomic layer deposition of TM-doped zirconia thin films revealed the cubic phase [26]. In

Ultrafast signatures of magnetic inhomogeneity in Pd_1−xFe_x (x ≤ 0.08) epitaxial thin films

• Andrey V. Petrov,
• Sergey I. Nikitin,
• Lenar R. Tagirov,
• Amir I. Gumarov,
• Igor V. Yanilkin and
• Roman V. Yusupov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 836–844, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.74

• iron at which the alloy would become magnetically homogeneous. This requires a method for detecting magnetic inhomogeneities, preferably with the possibility of being applied to thin films. We propose the use of ultrafast, time-resolved optical and magneto-optical spectroscopy methods for probing

• magnetic inhomogeneities in thin films. Individual constituents can be characterized by specific relaxation components that can be used to detect magnetic inhomogeneities and track their evolution. In addition, the peculiarities of the magnetization dynamics in magnetically inhomogeneous systems themselves

• magneto-optical Kerr angle transients for the Pd0.962Fe0.038 (a) and Pd0.92Fe0.08 (b) epitaxial thin films at T < TC; red solid lines are the results of fits with Equation 2. Temperature dependences of the amplitudes (a) and the lifetimes (b) of the slow relaxation components of the reflectivity

Experimental and theoretical study of field-dependent spin splitting at ferromagnetic insulator–superconductor interfaces

• Peter Machon,
• Michael J. Wolf,
• Detlef Beckmann and
• Wolfgang Belzig

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 682–688, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.60

• the inner peak is broadened, and finally becomes a wide and flat band. Besides this, the self-consistency relation for thin films produces the typical step-like first-order phase transition at the critical δφ (here always plotted for the upper branch of Figure 2), while especially in the case ε’ = 1 a

Reliable fabrication of transparent conducting films by cascade centrifugation and Langmuir–Blodgett deposition of electrochemically exfoliated graphene

• Teodora Vićentić,
• Stevan Andrić,
• Vladimir Rajić and
• Marko Spasenović

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 666–674, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.58

• typically polydisperse, containing particles of various sizes, which is not optimal for applications. We employed cascade centrifugation to select specific particle sizes in solution and prepared thin films from those graphene particles using the Langmuir–Blodgett assembly. Employing centrifugation speeds

• electrochemically exfoliated graphene, nor have thin films made from dispersions following size selection through centrifugation been studied for their optoelectronic properties. Here, we present size selection through cascade centrifugation of commercially obtained electrochemically exfoliated graphene. We follow

• the Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) method to deposit graphene flakes from solution as uniform thin films. LB has proven to be a method that yields reliable graphene films that have been used as transparent conductors [27][32][33][34] and gas sensors [35][36]. By measuring optical transmittance and electrical

Revealing local structural properties of an atomically thin MoSe₂ surface using optical microscopy

• Lin Pan,
• Peng Miao,
• Anke Horneber,
• Alfred J. Meixner,
• Pierre-Michel Adam and
• Dai Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 572–581, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.49

• deposited on a MoS2 crystal surface. Using near-edge X-ray absorption (NEXAFS), it was observed a strong dichroism in FePc thin films thicker than 4.5 nm. The strongest intensity of the N 1s→π* orbital transition at grazing incidence implies that the molecules are predominantly flat-lying with respect to

Influence of thickness and morphology of MoS₂ on the performance of counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells

• Lam Thuy Thi Mai,
• Hai Viet Le,
• Ngan Kim Thi Nguyen,
• Van La Tran Pham,
• Thu Anh Thi Nguyen,
• Nguyen Thanh Le Huynh and
• Hoang Thai Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 528–537, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.44

• disulfide (MoS2) was prepared on substrates coated with fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) to substitute the platinum counter electrode (CE) for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Herein, we synthesized layered and honeycomb-like MoS2 thin films via the cyclic voltammetry (CV) route. Thickness and morphology

• of the MoS2 thin films were controlled via the concentration of precursor solution. The obtained results showed that MoS2 thin films formed at a low precursor concentration had a layered morphology while a honeycomb-like MoS2 thin film was formed at a high precursor concentration. Both types of MoS2

• allows for the direct deposition of MoS2 thin films from liquid precursors onto various conducting substrates with easily controlled thickness and morphology. Several reports have already been published that describe the control of structure and morphology of electrodeposited MoS2 to maximize its