Mapping of integrated PIN diodes with a 3D architecture by scanning microwave impedance microscopy and dynamic spectroscopy

• Rosine Coq Germanicus,
• Peter De Wolf,
• Florent Lallemand,
• Catherine Bunel,
• Serge Bardy,
• Hugues Murray and
• Ulrike Lüders

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1764–1775, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.159

• diode components need to be electrically isolated. In our case, in order to electrically isolate the devices from one another, deep trenches were integrated in the process. For RF switching applications, a circular topology was chosen to avoid any right-angled corners that may induce edge effects in RF

Functional nanostructures for electronics, spintronics and sensors

• Anatolie S. Sidorenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1704–1706, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.152

• consumption, and at the same time, limits the clock frequency of semiconductor computers to 4–5 GHz. This frequency limit occurs due to temperature limitations posed at the integration level and the switching rate of transistors. It is important to realize that cryogenic cooling of semiconductor chips will

• superconductor digital technology (SDT) [4]. The switching energy of the SDT basic element is on the order of 10−19 J (including the power for cryogenic cooling of superconducting circuits), which demonstrates an energy efficiency of up to seven orders of magnitude as compared to the semiconductor analog [5

Amorphized length and variability in phase-change memory line cells

• Nafisa Noor,
• Sadid Muneer,
• Raihan Sayeed Khan,
• Anna Gorbenko and
• Helena Silva

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1644–1654, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.147

• read DC sweeps was applied. When a post-reset voltage pulse with sufficient amplitude was applied to a given cell, the measured current and the post-pulse resistance increased drastically, indicating that the cell re-amorphized after threshold switching, melting, and quenching. The amorphized length

• was calculated using the measured voltage at which the threshold switching occurred and the expected drifted threshold field at that time. The measured threshold voltage values and, hence, the extracted amorphized length, generally increase linearly with the programmed resistance levels. However

• unpredictable programming feature in phase-change memory devices can be utilized in hardware security applications. Keywords: amorphous materials; drift; electrical breakdown; electrical resistivity; phase-change memory; pulse measurement; stochastic processes; threshold switching; Introduction Phase-change

Optically and electrically driven nanoantennas

• Monika Fleischer,
• Dai Zhang and
• Alfred J. Meixner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1542–1545, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.136

• a TERS setup, which has been rarely pursued so far. In the hot topic area of active plasmonics, reversible changes in the refractive index of the environment of a plasmonic system, for example, by liquid crystals or thermosensitive polymers, allow for actively switching the plasmonic properties [50

Controlling the proximity effect in a Co/Nb multilayer: the properties of electronic transport

• Sergey Bakurskiy,
• Mikhail Kupriyanov,
• Nikolay V. Klenov,
• Igor Soloviev,
• Andrey Schegolev,
• Roman Morari,
• Yury Khaydukov and
• Anatoli S. Sidorenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1336–1345, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.118

• the conditions at which switching from the parallel to the antiparallel alignment of the neighboring F-layers leads to a significant change of the superconducting order parameter in superconductive thin films. We experimentally study the transport properties of a lithographically patterned Nb/Co

• ferromagnetic (F) layers separated by thin superconducting layers, in which the superconducting order parameter is maintained due to the proximity to a thick superconducting bank (S-bank). Switching from the antiparallel (AP) to the parallel (P) alignment of neighboring F1 and F2 layers leads to a significant

• parameter regions where the aforementioned switching between the P and AP orientations of the F1 and F2 layers is possible were found experimentally. In this work, we perform theoretical and experimental analyses of electronic properties of Nb/Co multilayers with different F1 and F2 thicknesses and several

Effect of localized helium ion irradiation on the performance of synthetic monolayer MoS₂ field-effect transistors

• Jakub Jadwiszczak,
• Pierce Maguire,
• Conor P. Cullen,
• Georg S. Duesberg and
• Hongzhou Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1329–1335, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.117

• exploration of nanometer-scale structural modifications of TMD devices [6][7][8]. The localized formation of defects by focused ion beam irradiation has been shown to induce unusual electronic properties in monolayer TMDs, such as pseudo-metallic phase transitions in MoS2 and WSe2 [9][10], resistive switching

Thermophoretic tweezers for single nanoparticle manipulation

• Jošt Stergar and
• Natan Osterman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1126–1133, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.97

• multiple heating spots by time-sharing (switching frequency 100 kHz) of the beam. Behind the AODs, the laser beam is directed by mirrors and an afocal system towards a custom-built fluorescence microscope. Finally, it is focused with a long working distance IR objective (Mitutoyo M Plan Apo NIR, 50×, NA

Gas-sensing features of nanostructured tellurium thin films

• Dumitru Tsiulyanu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1010–1018, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.85

• acquisition board (National Instruments Inc., USA). Characteristic transient current response curves were collected at a constant applied voltage (5 V), using different NO2 concentrations at different temperatures. The switching between the mixture of NO2 vapor and reference gases was computer-controlled. The

• shows the current flow through a ≈100 nm thick nanocrystalline film submitted to repeated switching on–off cycles of the NO2 gas mixture at a constant bias voltage and 22 °C operating temperature. Square pulses of NO2 vapor at concentrations of 0 ppm, 0.5 ppm, and 1.0 ppm were applied. The dashed green

• line shows the switching profile. It is seen that the current follows the same pattern but the baseline strongly increases with temperature, as depicted in Table 1. Table 1 also shows the film sensitivity, which is calculated from the response kinetics to 1.0 ppm NO2, as a relative percent increase in

Electrochemical nanostructuring of (111) oriented GaAs crystals: from porous structures to nanowires

• Elena I. Monaico,
• Eduard V. Monaico,
• Veaceslav V. Ursaki,
• Shashank Honnali,
• Vitalie Postolache,
• Karin Leistner,
• Kornelius Nielsch and
• Ion M. Tiginyanu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 966–975, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.81

• propagation of pores was observed for the potentiostatic mode of anodization (Figure 1C). Switching the anodization voltage to 1 V stops the formation of the porous layer, since this value is below the pore nucleation potential (1.8 V) established from the I–V characteristic, which is in agreement with the

Microwave photon detection by an Al Josephson junction

• Leonid S. Revin,
• Andrey L. Pankratov,
• Anna V. Gordeeva,
• Anton A. Yablokov,
• Igor V. Rakut,
• Victor O. Zbrozhek and
• Leonid S. Kuzmin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 960–965, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.80

• value calculated from the gap, is experimentally investigated for application as a threshold detector for microwave photons. We present the preliminary results of measurements of the lifetime of the superconducting state and the probability of switching by a 9 GHz external signal. We found an

• anomalously large lifetime, not described by the Kramers’ theory for the escape time over a barrier under the influence of fluctuations. We explain it by the phase diffusion regime, which is evident from the temperature dependence of the switching current histograms. Therefore, phase diffusion allows for a

• significant improvement of the noise immunity of a device, radically decreasing the dark count rate, but it will also decrease the single-photon sensitivity of the considered threshold detector. Quantization of the switching probability tilt as a function of the signal attenuation for various bias currents

Transition from freestanding SnO₂ nanowires to laterally aligned nanowires with a simulation-based experimental design

• Jasmin-Clara Bürger,
• Sebastian Gutsch and
• Margit Zacharias

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 843–853, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.69

• , independent of the respective process time. Therefore, we conclude that the growth of the laterally aligned NWs happens within the first 8 min of growth and then stops (Figure 6). In order to understand this behavior, the gas switching at the beginning of the process was simulated. In Figure 7, the gas

• switching – the change from 100% Ar to the O2/Ar mixture (5% O2 in Ar) – is shown with a total volumetric flow rate of 25 sccm, an inner quartz tube diameter of 5 cm and a pressure of 20 mbar at process temperature (850 °C). Again, the gas flow was simulated from the right side of the furnace. As expected

Adsorption behavior of tin phthalocyanine onto the (110) face of rutile TiO₂

• Lukasz Bodek,
• Mads Engelund,
• Aleksandra Cebrat and
• Bartosz Such

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 821–828, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.67

• measurements of single molecules reveal the coexistence of two conformations of molecules on the TiO2 surface. Density functional theory-based simulations (DFT) indicate that the difference originates from the position of the tin atom protruding from the molecule plane. The irreversible switching of Sn-up

• the position of a tin atom protruding from the macrocycle: “Sn-up” and “Sn-down”. Switching from the Sn-up to the Sn-down geometry can be realized by annealing the sample at 200 °C or by tip-induced manipulation (bias pulse). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements reveal a lack of strong

• that the switching of the molecular geometry is not accompanied by the formation of a new chemical bond between the molecule and the substrate. Additionally, the XPS results allow one to exclude demetalation [19] as a possible explanation for the observed changes. In a SnPc molecule, a tin atom

Hexagonal boron nitride: a review of the emerging material platform for single-photon sources and the spin–photon interface

• Stefania Castelletto,
• Faraz A. Inam,
• Shin-ichiro Sato and
• Alberto Boretti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 740–769, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.61

Effect of substitutional defects on resonant tunneling diodes based on armchair graphene and boron nitride nanoribbons lateral heterojunctions

• Majid Sanaeepur

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 688–694, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.56

• of applications including ultra-fast switching devices, oscillators, frequency multipliers, one-transistor static memories and multi-valued memory circuits [12][17][18][19][20]. In a RTD, a material with low bandgap energy is sandwiched between two materials with larger bandgaps, i.e., a quantum well

Identification of physicochemical properties that modulate nanoparticle aggregation in blood

• Ludovica Soddu,
• Duong N. Trinh,
• Eimear Dunne,
• Dermot Kenny,
• Giorgia Bernardini,
• Ida Kokalari,
• Arianna Marucco,
• Marco P. Monopoli and
• Ivana Fenoglio

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 550–567, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.44

• volume was 5 μL. The mass spectrometer was operated in data dependent mode, automatically switching between MS and MS2 acquisition. Survey full scan MS spectra (m/z 300–1600) were acquired in the Orbitrap with a resolution of 70,000. MS2 spectra had a resolution of 17,500. The twelve most intense ions

Multilayer capsules made of weak polyelectrolytes: a review on the preparation, functionalization and applications in drug delivery

• Varsha Sharma and
• Anandhakumar Sundaramurthy

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 508–532, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.41

• study. Block copolymers such as PMA and PAAm-dimethyldiallylammonium chloride (PAAm-DMDAAC) were used to combine the electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interactions, making them stable over a broader pH range by switching the interactions between the electrostatic and hydrogen binding state [89]. While

Evolution of Ag nanostructures created from thin films: UV–vis absorption and its theoretical predictions

• Robert Kozioł,
• Marcin Łapiński,
• Paweł Syty,
• Damian Koszelow,
• Wojciech Sadowski,
• Józef E. Sienkiewicz and
• Barbara Kościelska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 494–507, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.40

• pulse duration was set to 2.5 fs, thus it contained all frequencies within the visible light range. This allowed for the use of discrete Fourier transformation for switching from the time domain to the frequency domain and calculating the spectral response of the sample. Also, the Mie theory [18] was

Interfacial charge transfer processes in 2D and 3D semiconducting hybrid perovskites: azobenzene as photoswitchable ligand

• Nicole Fillafer,
• Tobias Seewald,
• Lukas Schmidt-Mende and
• Sebastian Polarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 466–479, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.38

• only by a length variation but also by a significant change of the dipole moment [33][34]. Azobenzenes were used in various materials namely as liquid crystals, optical switches or for data storage [35][36]. Because of the chemical and physical changes associated with the switching process, the

• carriers from the excited perovskite are transferred to the azobenzene and induce a further switching. How is this possible, considering that the CB is below the S1 level? An energy of approximately 4.0 eV (313 nm) is more than sufficient for the perovskite to be excited. Electrons are lifted to a high

Synthesis and enhanced photocatalytic performance of 0D/2D CuO/tourmaline composite photocatalysts

• Changqiang Yu,
• Min Wen,
• Zhen Tong,
• Shuhua Li,
• Yanhong Yin,
• Xianbin Liu,
• Yesheng Li,
• Tongxiang Liang,
• Ziping Wu and
• Dionysios D. Dionysiou

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 407–416, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.31

• transient photocurrent density of the CuO/tourmaline composite was higher than that of pristine CuO during the repeated switching on and off of light irradiation (Figure 5c), implying that tourmaline could facilitate the transfer of photoinduced e−, which was also confirmed by the PL spectra (Supporting

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

• alternative method that consists in operating the KPFM in standard mode (closed-loop z-regulation and sinusoidal bias modulation) for the topographic analysis and in switching the setup configuration to pp-KPFM with an open z-loop for the spectroscopic acquisition of VKPFM(Δt) curves (Figure 1b and Figure 2

• . 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

• this configuration, the KPFM potential probed during the topographic acquisition yields a time-averaged value of the SP since the pump signal is permanently applied to the sample. A further refinement, not shown in Figure 2, consists in switching also the pump signal to a cw level during the

Nanosecond resistive switching in Ag/AgI/PtIr nanojunctions

• Botond Sánta,
• Dániel Molnár,
• Patrick Haiber,
• Agnes Gubicza,
• Edit Szilágyi,
• Zsolt Zolnai,
• András Halbritter and
• Miklós Csontos

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 92–100, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.9

• Nanometer-scale resistive switching devices operated in the metallic conductance regime offer ultimately scalable and widely reconfigurable hardware elements for novel in-memory and neuromorphic computing architectures. Moreover, they exhibit high operation speed at low power arising from the ease of the

• electric-field-driven redistribution of only a small amount of highly mobile ionic species upon resistive switching. We investigate the memristive behavior of a so-far less explored representative of this class, the Ag/AgI material system in a point contact arrangement established by the conducting PtIr

• tip of a scanning probe microscope. We demonstrate stable resistive switching duty cycles and investigate the dynamical aspects of non-volatile operation in detail. The high-speed switching capabilities are explored by a custom-designed microwave setup that enables time-resolved studies of subsequent

pH-Controlled fluorescence switching in water-dispersed polymer brushes grafted to modified boron nitride nanotubes for cellular imaging

• Saban Kalay,
• Yurij Stetsyshyn,
• Volodymyr Donchak,
• Khrystyna Harhay,
• Ostap Lishchynskyi,
• Halyna Ohar,
• Yuriy Panchenko,
• Stanislav Voronov and
• Mustafa Çulha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2428–2439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.233

• (DU145) and are suitable for further evaluation in cellular imaging applications. Keywords: boron nitride nanotubes; cellular imaging; fluorescence; pH switching; polymer brushes; surface modification; Introduction In recent years, considerable effort has been devoted to the development of hybrid

• exhibited good dispersibility in water. pH-Controlled switching of fluorescence was demonstrated using LSCM and UV–vis. In addition, the potential of BNNTs as novel pH-switchable fluorescent water-dispersible materials for cellular imaging has been investigated. The developed hybrid structure can

• copolymer of hybrid P(AA-co-FA)-BNNT can be expected to show switching properties depending on pH. Figure 7 shows the UV–vis spectra of a water-dispersed P(AA-co-FA)-functionalized BNNTs at various pH values. All samples have the same concentration. It is known from the literature [51] that in acidic media

The role of Ag⁺, Ca²⁺, Pb²⁺ and Al³⁺ adions in the SERS turn-on effect of anionic analytes

• Stefania D. Iancu,
• Andrei Stefancu,
• Vlad Moisoiu,
• Loredana F. Leopold and
• Nicolae Leopold

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2338–2345, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.224

• : adsorbed cations such as Ag+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ promote the chemisorption of anionic species including Cl−, Br− and I− making possible their observation by SERS. Likewise, the Cl−, Br− and I− adions mediate the chemisorption of cationic analytes switching on their SERS spectrum [13][14]. This surface

• − will displace citrate from the surface of the nanoparticles, thereby switching-off the SERS signal of citrate [13][26]. Figure 3 shows the selectively recorded SERS spectra of the organic acid mixtures. To record these, fumaric acid, salicylic acid and uric acid were added sequentially to the Al3

Liquid crystal tunable claddings for polymer integrated optical waveguides

• José M. Otón,
• Manuel Caño-García,
• Fernando Gordo,
• Eva Otón,
• Morten A. Geday and
• Xabier Quintana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2163–2170, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.209

• explored. Tunable waveguides have been modeled and fabricated using polymers. Optical functions such as variable coupling and optical switching have been demonstrated. Keywords: liquid crystal; organic waveguide; photonic integrated circuit; polymer waveguide; tunable cladding; Introduction Photonic

• shows up is where N is the number of maxima in the pattern. Through modifying the characteristic length by switching the LC cladding, several tunable devices can be prepared. Since modes are characterized by a particular degree of confinement, every mode will be affected differently by a change in the

• channels, corresponding to the positions D and F in Figure 4. A refractive index change from 1.535 to 1.546 could lead to a single channel switching corresponding to positions B and D. The importance of targeting the lower refractive indices (as in the D-to-F transition) becomes evident when considering

Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond for nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging applications

• Alberto Boretti,
• Lorenzo Rosa,
• Jonathan Blackledge and
• Stefania Castelletto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2128–2151, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.207