Dependence of lattice strain relaxation, absorbance, and sheet resistance on thickness in textured ZnO@B transparent conductive oxide for thin-film solar cell applications

• Kuang-Yang Kou,
• Yu-En Huang,
• Chien-Hsun Chen and
• Shih-Wei Feng

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 75–80, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.9

• Research Labs, Industrial Technology Research Institute, Hsinchu, Taiwan 10.3762/bjnano.7.9 Abstract The interplay of surface texture, strain relaxation, absorbance, grain size, and sheet resistance in textured, boron-doped ZnO (ZnO@B), transparent conductive oxide (TCO) materials of different thicknesses

• used for thin film, solar cell applications is investigated. The residual strain induced by the lattice mismatch and the difference in the thermal expansion coefficient for thicker ZnO@B is relaxed, leading to an increased surface texture, stronger absorbance, larger grain size, and lower sheet

• increased surface texture, stronger absorbance, larger grain size, and lower sheet resistance. The optimization of the TCO layer could be useful for enhancing the performance of solar cells. Results and Discussion Structural characterization Four ZnO@B samples with 20-, 40-, 60-, and 70-minute growth times

Nanostructured surfaces by supramolecular self-assembly of linear oligosilsesquioxanes with biocompatible side groups

• Maria Nowacka,
• Anna Kowalewska and
• Tomasz Makowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2377–2387, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.244

• observed due to the donor–acceptor character of the functional groups. The texture of supramolecular nanostructures formed by the studied materials on mica was analysed with atomic force microscopy and their specific surface energy was estimated by contact angle measurements. Significant differences in the

Surfactant-controlled composition and crystal structure of manganese(II) sulfide nanocrystals prepared by solvothermal synthesis

• Elena Capetti,
• Anna M. Ferretti,
• Vladimiro Dal Santo and
• Alessandro Ponti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2319–2329, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.238

• . The octahedral shape of the α-MnS NCs obtained using L = DdTh is confirmed by the anomalous intensity of the electron diffraction rings (Figure 4b). Indeed, the outstanding {220} ring is signature of the highly crystalline texture induced by the octahedral NC shape [23]. Role of stearate ligand in the

Morphology control of zinc oxide films via polysaccharide-mediated, low temperature, chemical bath deposition

• Florian Waltz,
• Hans-Christoph Schwarz,
• Andreas M. Schneider,
• Stefanie Eiden and
• Peter Behrens

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 799–808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.83

• for 1 h. In X-ray diffraction experiments, arrays of this kind display only the (002) reflection of zincite due to the strong texture of the crystals with their c axis perpendicular to the support (Figure 3). As previously demonstrated, the addition of natural polysaccharides affects the morphology of

Self-assembled anchor layers/polysaccharide coatings on titanium surfaces: a study of functionalization and stability

• Ognen Pop-Georgievski,
• Dana Kubies,
• Josef Zemek,
• Neda Neykova,
• Roman Demianchuk,
• Eliška Mázl Chánová,
• Miroslav Šlouf,
• Milan Houska and
• František Rypáček

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 617–631, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.63

• surfaces [4][44]. In addition to an increase in the number of surface sites available for binding, SEM (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1) and stylus profilometry (Supporting Information File 1, Table S2) analysis showed an increased microscale texture for all treated surfaces (alkaline piranha, 0.5

• roughness and the creation of a specific microscale texture due to oxidative treatments as observed in our study have been shown to enhance the rate of bone formation [12][45][46]. The decreased organic contamination and increased surface density of hydroxy groups on the activated surfaces is further

Boosting the local anodic oxidation of silicon through carbon nanofiber atomic force microscopy probes

• Gemma Rius,
• Matteo Lorenzoni,
• Soichiro Matsui,
• Masaki Tanemura and
• Francesc Perez-Murano

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 215–222, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.20

• positively biased [9]. Typical anodic currents are of the order of nanoamperes [10] and their efficiency depends on various conditions, which concern the tip, (e.g., conductance and shape) the tip–sample interplay, (e.g., distance and wetting), and other factors such as sample surface texture or wetting. All

Aquatic versus terrestrial attachment: Water makes a difference

• Petra Ditsche and
• Adam P. Summers

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2424–2439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.252

• surface texture, from smooth to very rough and smooth to hairy or covered with waxes [18][19]. Also the surface energy and with it the wettability of surfaces as well as the elasticity of the substrates are important properties, which can influence attachment [17]. Another important point needs to be

Experimental techniques for the characterization of carbon nanoparticles – a brief overview

• Wojciech Kempiński,
• Szymon Łoś,
• Mateusz Kempiński and
• Damian Markowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1760–1766, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.186

• several other experiments and theoretical approaches, as presented below [40][41][42][43][44][45]. XRD measurements show that guest molecules cause a strong change in the distance between graphene layers comprising the CNs in the ACF texture. Here, the lattice constant decreases from 3.78 Å (recorded for

• effect”, which was reported for CN texture of ACFs [36][45]. An external electric field causes the sudden increase of the resistivity of ACFs filled with dipolar guest molecules. It confirms that the value of the T0 parameter is influenced by the local electric fields created in the vicinity of

Current state of laser synthesis of metal and alloy nanoparticles as ligand-free reference materials for nano-toxicological assays

• Christoph Rehbock,
• Jurij Jakobi,
• Lisa Gamrad,
• Selina van der Meer,
• Daniela Tiedemann,
• Ulrike Taylor,
• Wilfried Kues,
• Detlef Rath and
• Stephan Barcikowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1523–1541, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.165

• cytocompatibility of implants due to their surface texture [125]. As titania nanoparticles are generally considered to possess a relatively low toxicity [126][127], possible adverse effects of NiTi alloys are prone to originate from nickel. So in order to evaluate toxic effects from these particles, TEM-EDX and

Review of nanostructured devices for thermoelectric applications

• Giovanni Pennelli

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1268–1284, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.141

Nanoporous composites prepared by a combination of SBA-15 with Mg–Al mixed oxides. Water vapor sorption properties

• Amaury Pérez-Verdejo,
• Alvaro Sampieri,
• Heriberto Pfeiffer,
• Mayra Ruiz-Reyes,
• Juana-Deisy Santamaría and
• Geolar Fetter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1226–1234, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.136

• composite materials. For example, basic and acidic materials such as hydrotalcite and hydroxyapatite can be combined to produce composite materials whose structure, texture and morphology are unique and determined by the interaction between them [6][7]. More specifically, these interactions determine the

Insect attachment on crystalline bioinspired wax surfaces formed by alkanes of varying chain lengths

• Elena Gorb,
• Sandro Böhm,
• Nadine Jacky,
• Louis-Philippe Maier,
• Kirstin Dening,
• Sasha Pechook,
• Boaz Pokroy and
• Stanislav Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1031–1041, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.116

• , insects use different structures for attachment, depending on the texture of the substrate. They usually apply their claws to interlock with surface irregularities on rough surfaces, when the diameter of the claw tip is smaller than the dimensions of typical surface asperities or cavities [1]. On smooth

Biomolecule-assisted synthesis of carbon nitride and sulfur-doped carbon nitride heterojunction nanosheets: An efficient heterojunction photocatalyst for photoelectrochemical applications

• Hua Bing Tao,
• Hong Bin Yang,
• Jiazang Chen,
• Jianwei Miao and
• Bin Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 770–777, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.89

• -doped graphitic carbon nitride (CNS) nanosheets. During the synthesis, sulfur could be introduced as a dopant into the lattice of carbon nitride (CN). Sulfur doping changed the texture as well as relative band positions of CN. By growing CN on preformed sulfur-doped CN nanosheets, composite CN/CNS

• adsorption–desorption analysis in Figure 4c confirmed the significant change of the CN texture after sulfur doping. The specific surface area for CN and CNS are 21 and 118 cm2·mg−1, respectively. The surface area of the CN/CNS heterostructure (about 56 cm2·mg−1) is reduced to about half of that of CNS due to

• developed a biomolecule-assisted pyrolysis method to synthesize sulfur doped carbon nitride nanosheets (CNS), which offers an effective way to modify the texture and energy band positions of carbon nitride (CN). By growing CN on preformed sulfur-doped CN nanosheets, composite CN/CNS heterojunction

Evolution of microstructure and related optical properties of ZnO grown by atomic layer deposition

• Adib Abou Chaaya,
• Roman Viter,
• Mikhael Bechelany,
• Zanda Alute,
• Donats Erts,
• Anastasiya Zalesskaya,
• Kristaps Kovalevskis,
• Vincent Rouessac,
• Valentyn Smyntyna and
• Philippe Miele

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 690–698, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.78

• innovative deposition technique which allows depositing ultrathin metal oxide films with preferred thickness, grain size, chemical composition, texture, surface morphology, and defect concentration [26]. The mentioned structural parameters make a strong impact on optical, electrical and additional properties

• [16][17]. In this paper results of a study on tuning the optical properties (absorption and photoluminescence) along with impacts on grain size, texture, and strain at varying thickness of ultrathin ZnO films are reported. We also discuss our findings with regard to their potential usefuleness for

• film thickness. The maximum values of the texture coefficients (TC) of 49.8, 124, and 250 nm thick ZnO films calculated according to Rivera et al. [33] (1.2, 1.66 and 2.12, respectively) match the preferred growth in the [100] direction. Calculations of the average grain size and lattice strain by the

Mapping of plasmonic resonances in nanotriangles

• Simon Dickreuter,
• Julia Gleixner,
• Andreas Kolloch,
• Johannes Boneberg,
• Elke Scheer and
• Paul Leiderer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 588–602, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.66

• near-field enhancement have not been altered. Additionally, the surface texture of the triangles in the modified region has changed. While the unmodified regions have a roughness comparable to the deposited gold film, the surface structure in the regions, which show a change due to the laser radiation

Deformation-induced grain growth and twinning in nanocrystalline palladium thin films

• Aaron Kobler,
• Jochen Lohmiller,
• Jonathan Schäfer,
• Michael Kerber,
• Anna Castrup,
• Ankush Kashiwar,
• Patric A. Gruber,
• Karsten Albe,
• Horst Hahn and
• Christian Kübel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 554–566, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.64

• isotropic palladium powder (Figure 3a). This indicates a <111> texture component in growth direction, which was also observed in the ACOM orientation density function in growth direction for both ncPd sample sets (Figure 3b). Grain size evolution Different characterization techniques result in slightly

Ferromagnetic behaviour of Fe-doped ZnO nanograined films

• Boris B. Straumal,
• Svetlana G. Protasova,
• Andrei A. Mazilkin,
• Thomas Tietze,
• Eberhard Goering,
• Gisela Schütz,
• Petr B. Straumal and
• Brigitte Baretzky

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 361–369, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.42

• with 31 and 40 atom % Fe. No visible texture can be observed in the deposited thin films, namely the diffraction rings shown in Figure 1b are uniform without any preferred orientations of ZnO grains. The observed FM behaviour in doped nanocrystalline as well as in dense ZnO films with 0.1 atom % Fe is

• previously that the texture or the amount of intergranular amorphous phase in the nanograined pure ZnO films drastically influences the FM properties even at the same grain size [68][69][70]. The GB structure also changes with increasing dopant content [71]. Moreover, by varying the synthesis conditions one

• structure; no texture is visible. Bright spots originate from the sapphire substrate. Magnetization (calibrated in units of Bohr magnetons per formula unit of ZnO) at RT for ZnO thin films doped with 0.1 atom % Fe deposited on the sapphire substrate. The curve was obtained after subtracting the magnetic

Characterization and properties of micro- and nanowires of controlled size, composition, and geometry fabricated by electrodeposition and ion-track technology

• Maria Eugenia Toimil-Molares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 860–883, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.97

• anode. XRD and TEM revealed that the nanowires deposited potentiostatically are <110> textured. At higher temperatures and smaller overpotentials, the texture increases. At T = 60 °C and low overpotentials (e.g., Uc = −17 mV), single-crystalline wires are produced (Figure 9a). In contrast, wires

• deposited with reverse pulses exhibit a <100> texture and are polycrystalline with grain sizes of ca. 0.5 µm (Figure 9b). Bi nanowires with other preferred orientations have been synthesized by other techniques, such as low-temperature solvothermal process and high-pressure injection in alumina [89][90

Channeling in helium ion microscopy: Mapping of crystal orientation

• Vasilisa Veligura,
• Gregor Hlawacek,
• Raoul van Gastel,
• Harold J. W. Zandvliet and
• Bene Poelsema

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 501–506, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.57

• developed to obtain texture data or crystallographic information systematically in HIM. Especially the latter is an important issue in materials characterization. An important phenomenon that can be exploited in HIM for this purpose is channeling. This well-known process has been studied extensively in the

• microscopy In Figure 1 SE images of a polycrystalline gold film with a {111} texture are shown. The images with a field of view (FoV) of 10 µm were recorded by using a sample tilt (polar angle) of 35°, a PE of 15 keV and an ion dose of 4.9 × 1014 cm−2. In Figure 1a individual grains with an average size of 1

• which a <110> direction in this gold grain is parallel to the beam. For the marked grain the stage rotation angle for this condition is 24°. Conclusion We have demonstrated the importance of channeling in HIM using polycrystalline gold films with a <111> texture. To quantitatively explain the

Distribution of functional groups in periodic mesoporous organosilica materials studied by small-angle neutron scattering with in situ adsorption of nitrogen

• Monir Sharifi,
• Dirk Wallacher and
• Michael Wark

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 428–437, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.49

• . If grafting is performed at the silanol groups as well as the benzene rings, resulting in a total loading of 1.65 mmol SO3H per gram as determined by measuring the ion exchange capacity (IEC), the changes in the texture properties for modified benzene-PMO are even more pronounced, as documented by a

qPlus magnetic force microscopy in frequency-modulation mode with millihertz resolution

• Maximilian Schneiderbauer,
• Daniel Wastl and
• Franz J. Giessibl

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 174–178, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.18

• this tip, and with an amplitude of 20 nm in both paths and a lift height of 45 nm, we imaged the bit structure of the hard-disc sample. The topographic image shows the typical surface texture of a hard disc (Figure 2a). The sizeable drift in both images is due to long measuring times, which were

Surface functionalization of aluminosilicate nanotubes with organic molecules

• Wei Ma,
• Weng On Yah,
• Hideyuki Otsuka and
• Atsushi Takahara

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 82–100, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.10

• organic molecules and determine both the individual morphology and the texture of the obtained nanohybrids [5][6]. Among various nanostructures with different shapes, nanotubes attract special research interest, not only because of their high mechanical strength, but also because of their large aspect

X-ray spectroscopy characterization of self-assembled monolayers of nitrile-substituted oligo(phenylene ethynylene)s with variable chain length

• Hicham Hamoudi,
• Ping Kao,
• Alexei Nefedov,
• David L. Allara and
• Michael Zharnikov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 12–24, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.2

• evaporated films were polycrystalline, with a predominant (111) texture [40][70] and grain sizes of 20–50 nm. To prepare the SAMs, these substrates were immersed into a 1 mmol solution of the NC-OPEn compounds in toluene or in methylene chloride for 24 h at room temperature, with identical results in either

The effect of surface anisotropy in the slippery zone of Nepenthes alata pitchers on beetle attachment

• Elena V. Gorb and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 302–310, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.35

• pitchers (de-waxed pitcher upward versus replica upward: W = −116.000, T+ = 2.000, T− = −118.000, p < 0.001, Wilcoxon signed rank test; de-waxed pitcher downward versus replica downward: t = 4.966, p < 0.001, d.f. = 14, paired t-test). Discussion Texture of natural and artificial pitcher surfaces As in

Sorting of droplets by migration on structured surfaces

• Wilfried Konrad and
• Anita Roth-Nebelsick

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 215–221, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.25

• about 60 mm/s. This effect can be obtained by varying 1) chemical contact angle, 2) surface texture, or 3) both parameters. In this contribution we describe how a controlled droplet movement can be achieved by a surface pattern consisting of cones and funnels whose length scales are comparable to the