Investigation of a memory effect in a Au/(Ti–Cu)Ox-gradient thin film/TiAlV structure

• Damian Wojcieszak,
• Jarosław Domaradzki,
• Michał Mazur,
• Tomasz Kotwica and
• Danuta Kaczmarek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 265–273, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.21

• requirements of the different characterization methods, thin gradient layers were deposited on silicon (Si), amorphous silica (SiO2) and conductive metallic substrates (Ti6Al4V). The resulting thickness of the prepared thin films was about 610 nm as measured using a Talysurf optical profiler (Tylor Hobson CCI

Relationship between corrosion and nanoscale friction on a metallic glass

• Haoran Ma and
• Roland Bennewitz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 236–244, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.18

• anodic polarization results in a net positive surface charge [36][37], caused by the accumulation of the dissolved metal cations on the inner layer and strengthens the adhesion of the negatively charged silicon AFM tip [38][39]. Figure 5d depicts schematically this charge buildup at the surface of the

Piezoelectric nanogenerator for bio-mechanical strain measurement

• Zafar Javed,
• Lybah Rafiq,
• Muhammad Anwaar Nazeer,
• Saqib Siddiqui,
• Muhammad Babar Ramzan,
• Muhammad Qamar Khan and
• Muhammad Salman Naeem

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 192–200, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.14

• presence of a large amount of polymer. To check the piezoelectric output of the developed sensor, a digital oscilloscope was used and the sensor was tapped with the fingers. Silicon gloves were used to avoid any possible static charges influence [42]. The sensor was placed on a smooth surface and the wires

Low-energy electron interaction and focused electron beam-induced deposition of molybdenum hexacarbonyl (Mo(CO)₆)

• Po-Yuan Shih,
• Maicol Cipriani,
• Christian Felix Hermanns,
• Jens Oster,
• Klaus Edinger,
• Armin Gölzhäuser and
• Oddur Ingólfsson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 182–191, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.13

• ®. Energy-dispersive X-ray analyses was done with a ZEISS Crossbeam system with an integrated Oxford EDX detector. Deposits for EDX analysis were prepared on a 100 nm thick polycrystalline gold substrate on a 4 inch silicon wafer, purchased from Georg Albert PVD. The Au-based substrate was chosen because of

• . Elemental composition of Mo(CO)6 FEBID deposits obtained by EDX measurement of a 1 μm2 pad deposited on a 100 nm thick polycrystalline gold substrate on a 4 inch silicon wafer. Funding This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie

Thermal oxidation process on Si(113)-(3 × 2) investigated using high-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy

• Hiroya Tanaka,
• Shinya Ohno,
• Kazushi Miki and
• Masatoshi Tanaka

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 172–181, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.12

• the literature. Initial oxidation processes were identified based on high-resolution STM images. Keywords: high-index Si surface; in situ measurement; oxidation; scanning tunneling microscopy (STM); Introduction High-index silicon surfaces have drawn considerable interest for their usefulness in

• understand thermal oxidation on silicon surfaces as well as metal-induced oxidation and silicidation [2]. Nevertheless, dynamic processes in oxidation have been studied scarcely so far, especially for high-index silicon surfaces. The study of the oxides grown on high-index silicon surfaces is of great

• ) shows protrusions formed inside the oxide. In the case of Si(001), it was reported that a silicon atom can be removed from the surface during thermal oxidation and expelled onto the surface [14]. The protrusion seen at site (d) may be such expelled silicon atoms. In contrast, protrusions seen inside the

Nanoscale friction and wear of a polymer coated with graphene

• Robin Vacher and
• Astrid S. de Wijn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 63–73, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.4

• challenging problem due to the complex viscoelastic properties and structure. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate how a graphene sheet on top of the semicrystalline polymer polyvinyl alcohol affects the friction and wear. Our setup is meant to resemble an AFM experiment with a silicon tip. We

• of depositing, indenting, and sliding on graphene. In the final section, we draw some conclusions. Simulation Setup We simulate a slab of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) coated with a single layer of graphene and a counterbody representing an AFM tip consisting of silicon. The simulations were performed

• implemented in LAMMPS: The interaction between PVA and graphene is modelled using a Lennard-Jones 12-6 potential and the Lorentz–Berlot mixing rule, so that σ1 = 4.025 Å, and ε1 = 0.015066 eV. We model the interaction between the silicon tip and graphene using a Lennard-Jones 12-6 with the same parameters

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

• (Figure 1). In 1974, Yatsuya et al. used a liquid as a substrate during a physical vapor deposition (PVD) experiment. They thermally evaporated metals in vacuum onto silicon oil for NP production [9]. After the pioneering experiments of Yatsuya et al., depositions onto liquids were not mentioned in

• research papers for almost 20 years until 1996 when two research groups reported SoL experiments. Ye et al. studied the formation of silver films on the surface of silicon oil [10] while Wagener et al. prepared silver and aluminium NPs by deposition onto silicon oil using various experimental conditions

Chemical vapor deposition of germanium-rich CrGe_x nanowires

• Vladislav Dřínek,
• Stanislav Tiagulskyi,
• Roman Yatskiv,
• Jan Grym,
• Radek Fajgar,
• Věra Jandová,
• Martin Koštejn and
• Jaroslav Kupčík

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1365–1371, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.100

• applications, as well as catalysis. Moreover, their compatibility with silicon technology is advantageous. The rising need for advanced technologies in IT, aerospace, chemical, and power supply industries has accelerated the search for novel materials that could be applied along with traditional materials or

• silicide in the chemical industry, the so-called “direct (Müller–Rochow) process” in which chloromethane and silicon are converted in various chlorosilanes [1]. In contrast, only few papers about CuGex have been published, in which a few possible applications were mentioned and tested. Another example is

• chromium silicide/germanide. CrSix has been described in tens of publications and at least some properties of it are known and classified. However, only few CrGex publications have been published so far. Although silicon and germanium as representatives of group-IV elements possess similar physicochemical

Identifying diverse metal oxide nanomaterials with lethal effects on embryonic zebrafish using machine learning

• Richard Liam Marchese Robinson,
• Haralambos Sarimveis,
• Philip Doganis,
• Xiaodong Jia,
• Marianna Kotzabasaki,
• Christiana Gousiadou,
• Stacey Lynn Harper and
• Terry Wilkins

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1297–1325, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.97

• non-toxic, according to two distinct categorisations based upon mortality data determined at 24 or 120 hpf for embryonic zebrafish continuously exposed to the ENMs via fish water test medium [31]. (One dataset entry corresponded to an ENM with a silicon dioxide core. Whilst silicon dioxide is

Cantilever signature of tip detachment during contact resonance AFM

• Devin Kalafut,
• Ryan Wagner,
• Maria Jose Cadena,
• Anil Bajaj and
• Arvind Raman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1286–1296, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.96

• probe a sample surface, as shown in Figure 5a. Measurements were conducted using a Cypher S AFM microscope (Asylum Research, an Oxford Instruments Company, Santa Barbara, CA, USA) with a NCLAu AFM cantilever (NANOSENSORS, Neuchatel, Switzerland) on a silicon sample. This AFM system is equipped with

• Asylum Research’s blueDrive photothermal excitation module for laser-based excitation of the cantilever. The optical lever sensitivity (OLS) corresponding to the static cantilever beam shape with a point load at the tip was calculated from a force displacement curve [32] on the silicon sample. The

• signature are provided in Supporting Information File 1. These were performed using the same Cypher S AFM microscope with an ACLA AFM cantilever (Applied NanoStructures, Inc., Mountain View, CA, USA) on a silicon sample, but driven by a piezoelectric actuator under the sample instead of via photothermal

Enhancement of the piezoelectric coefficient in PVDF-TrFe/CoFe₂O₄ nanocomposites through DC magnetic poling

• Marco Fortunato,
• Alessio Tamburrano,
• Maria Paola Bracciale,
• Maria Laura Santarelli and
• Maria Sabrina Sarto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1262–1270, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.93

• through PFM [1][5][27] using a commercial Bruker-Veeco Dimension Icon AFM with a Co/Cr-coated-tip silicon cantilever (MESP-RC-V2, Bruker). Following the procedure described in [2][3], we scanned three different areas, 5 × 5 μm2 in size, of each sample, with 256 × 256 acquisition points per scanning area

A review on slip boundary conditions at the nanoscale: recent development and applications

• Ruifei Wang,
• Jin Chai,
• Bobo Luo,
• Xiong Liu,
• Jianting Zhang,
• Min Wu,
• Mingdan Wei and
• Zhuanyue Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1237–1251, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.91

• ]. Furthermore, Rezaei et al. performed MD simulations to study the electro-osmotic flow of an aqueous NaCl solution on a charged silicon surface [23], and similar conclusions as the ones proposed by Joly et al. were drawn in terms of the relationship between slip length and surface charge density. On the other

Morphology-driven gas sensing by fabricated fractals: A review

• Vishal Kamathe and
• Rupali Nagar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1187–1208, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.88

• sample, exhibiting a combination of hillocks and pores, showed the maximum sensitivity (S = 0.29) towards NO2. Another study reported dendritic nanowires (DNWs) of SnO2 on a gold-coated silicon substrate for NO2 sensing [66]. The samples were prepared by evaporation–condensation. Figure 6a and Figure 6b

• . Gracheva and co-workers prepared gas-sensitive fractal structures based on SnO2 and silicon dioxide (SiO2) by a sol–gel technique [57][69][70]. The evolution of fractal aggregates of tin and silicon dioxides resulted in the formation of spherical, labyrinth, and percolation network structures. The

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

• , especially the lithium and silicon systems, on account of their different mechanism involving the cathode as an explicit reaction site of the metal redox chemistry [7][8][9]. From a scientific point of view, in aqueous systems, an air electrode needs to allow gas to diffuse in appropriate amounts towards the

• , samples of 1 cm2 were cut from the fibre mats and fixed on a silicon crystal in a rotating sample holder. The scan range was limited to 10° to 80°, scanned with a step width of 0.01°. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was performed with a Phi5000 VersaProbe II (ULVAC-Phi Inc., USA). Spectra were

An overview of microneedle applications, materials, and fabrication methods

• Zahra Faraji Rad,
• Philip D. Prewett and
• Graham J. Davies

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1034–1046, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.77

• feature sizes are fabricated using the tools of the microelectronics industry from metals, silicon, and polymers. Various types of subtractive and additive manufacturing processes have been used to manufacture microneedles, but the development of microneedle-based systems using conventional subtractive

• example using porous silicon, is one possible solution [39][40][41]. However, a hydrogel reservoir which could be much larger than the microneedle array seems a better option, since it can swell to achieve greater load which can be released under finger pressure in combination with microfluidic

• is not limited to biological fluid extraction or vaccine and drug delivery. For example, silicon microneedles with heights of 320 and 400 µm were fabricated for in vivo human gene therapy [35]. Microneedles have also been used for treatment of hypertension in hemodynamic and cardiovascular disorders

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

• , Abulikemu et al. reported a value of 2.15 eV, while Wang et al. reported 2.02 eV for nanoparticles received from a hot-injection synthesis using different solvents [17][19]. Variation in band gap values is also known to occur in other amorphous semiconductors, e.g., amorphous, hydrogenated silicon. This was

Progress and innovation of nanostructured sulfur cathodes and metal-free anodes for room-temperature Na–S batteries

• Marina Tabuyo-Martínez,
• Bernd Wicklein and
• Pilar Aranda

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 995–1020, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.75

• anode delivered 625 mAh·g−1 [26]. Also, silicon itself is also another promising material for sodium alloy anodes as its theoretical Na storage capacity of 954 mAh·g−1 (NaSi phase) even exceeds the one of tin (847 mAh·g−1) [26]. The low electrochemical reactivity and structural stability of crystalline

• bulk silicon during sodiation can be overcome by hybridation of nanosized Si with carbon fibers, after which Zhang et al. measured 200 mAh·g−1 after 2000 cycles [83]. The investigation into phosphorous as anode material for SiBs is motivated by the highest capacity value of P (2596 mAh·g−1), which is

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

Molecular assemblies on surfaces: towards physical and electronic decoupling of organic molecules

• Sabine Maier and
• Meike Stöhr

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 950–956, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.71

• ][30][31][32]. Additional concepts to weaken adsorbate–surface interactions involve the post-deposition intercalation of atomic species such as iodine [33]. For semiconductors, for example, bare silicon or germanium, electronic decoupling of molecules can be achieved by either the growth of ultrathin

• ][37][38][39], while also B deposition was shown to result in effective passivation of the Si surface [40][41]. In particular for electronic devices, oxidized semiconductor surfaces (e.g., silicon dioxide layers formed on bare silicon) are mostly used as substrates for fabricating devices [42]. Most of

Self-assembly of Eucalyptus gunnii wax tubules and pure ß-diketone on HOPG and glass

• Miriam Anna Huth,
• Axel Huth and
• Kerstin Koch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 939–949, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.70

• formation on polar and non-polar substrates was also carried out for nonacosanol tubules [27]. In that study it was shown that the polarity of the substrate had an influence on the formation and the orientation of the tubules: On polar silicon wafers, randomly orientated tubules grew on top of thick crusts

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

• were analyzed from SEM and TEM images. To achieve a better resolution during SEM, we utilized a conductive silicon support and excluded the metal coating of the sample; Ag NPs were placed on the silicon surface by adsorptive immobilization to avoid aggregation during solvent evaporation. Figure 1 shows

• surface coverage of the glass SERS substrates, we used SEM images of the PEI-modified silicon support with analogous NP treatment supposing equal packing density (Figure 3). The surface coverage degree obtained was 58%, that is, 74% of the theoretical value for spherical particles with equal sizes and

• silicon surface functionalization Standard optical microscope glass slides of 1.0 mm thickness were used as base substrates. As a silicon support, 5 mm square-shaped polished chips of Sb-doped electrically conductive silicon were used. The modification was performed in a similar way as described in [36

Silver nanoparticles nucleated in NaOH-treated halloysite: a potential antimicrobial material

• Yuri B. Matos,
• Rodrigo S. Romanus,
• Mattheus Torquato,
• Edgar H. de Souza,
• Rodrigo L. Villanova,
• Marlene Soares and
• Emilson R. Viana

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 798–807, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.63

• seen in HNT-8 TEM image (Figure 4d). It is known that the initial nanotubular morphology of HNT is a consequence of internal torque in the crystalline structure of the clay [25]. This torque arises from the fact that, while the silicon and aluminol phases of HNT share apical oxygen atoms, the “natural

Reducing molecular simulation time for AFM images based on super-resolution methods

• Zhipeng Dou,
• Jianqiang Qian,
• Yingzi Li,
• Rui Lin,
• Jianhai Wang,
• Peng Cheng and
• Zeyu Xu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 775–785, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.61

• are key tools for nanoscale imaging and characterization with unparalleled resolution [1]. The first atomic-resolution image by AFM of the (001) surface of NaCl was reported in ultrahigh vacuum [2]. Later, in noncontact mode, the reconstructed silicon (111)-(7×7) surface was imaged with 6 Å lateral

• carried out. The simulation protocol for computing tip–sample interactions is similar to our previous work [54]. In the simulations, the tip consists of silicon atoms and it changes among different shapes, including cone, hemisphere, and single silicon atom. The conical tip height is 13 Å, the opening

9.1% efficient zinc oxide/silicon solar cells on a 50 μm thick Si absorber

• Rafal Pietruszka,
• Bartlomiej S. Witkowski,
• Monika Ozga,
• Katarzyna Gwozdz,
• Ewa Placzek-Popko and
• Marek Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 766–774, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.60

• University of Science and Technology, Wybrzeze Wyspianskiego 27, 50-370 Wroclaw, Poland 10.3762/bjnano.12.60 Abstract Today, silicon solar cells (amorphous films and wafer-based) are a main source of green energy. These cells and their components are produced by employing various technologies. Unfortunately

• using zinc oxide nanorods. The efficiency of a textured solar cell structure is compared with the one obtained for a planar zinc oxide/silicon structure. The present results show the possibility to produce efficient solar cells on a relatively thin 50 μm thick silicon substrate. Solar cells with

• % for planar structures, respectively. The work, therefore, describes an environmentally friendly technology for PV architecture with surface textures increasing the efficiency of PV cells. Keywords: atomic layer deposition; hydrothermal method; photovoltaics; silicon; solar cell; zinc oxide

Recent progress in actuation technologies of micro/nanorobots

• Ke Xu and
• Bing Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 756–765, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.59

• controlled, so as to make the robot move along the surface of a graphene film in a desired trajectory. This study provided a lot of useful insight in the design of nanorobots. In the future, such designed nanorobots could be integrated into a silicon-based chip to perform specific actions. Also they could be

• in future research. Miskin et al. [33] researched a new type of electrochemical actuator, which is compatible with existing silicon electronic devices, has a controllable voltage, and can wake up a robot to move. For a long time, the lack of micro/nanoscale actuators has limited the development of