Atomic-resolution imaging of rutile TiO₂(110)-(1 × 2) reconstructed surface by non-contact atomic force microscopy

• Daiki Katsube,
• Shoki Ojima,
• Eiichi Inami and
• Masayuki Abe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 443–449, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.35

• .) were used. A rutile TiO2(110)-(1 × 2) reconstructed surface was prepared by iterating a surface cleaning process of Ar+ sputtering (2 keV, Ar partial pressure of 3.0 × 10−4 Pa, ion current of ca. 1.1 µA, 10 min) and annealing (substrate temperature of ca. 1000 °C, 30 min). STM and NC-AFM imaging was

• performed using Pt-coated Si cantilevers (Budget Sensors, ElectriTAP190G). All cantilevers were cleaned by Ar+ sputtering (0.6 keV, Ar partial pressure of 1.0 × 10−5 Pa, ion current of 0.05 µA, 5 min) before scanning. STM imaging was performed in constant-current mode without cantilever oscillation. NC-AFM

Formation of nanoripples on ZnO flat substrates and nanorods by gas cluster ion bombardment

• Xiaomei Zeng,
• Vasiliy Pelenovich,
• Bin Xing,
• Rakhim Rakhimov,
• Wenbin Zuo,
• Alexander Tolstogouzov,
• Chuansheng Liu,
• Dejun Fu and
• Xiangheng Xiao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 383–390, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.29

• was discovered by Navez et al. [7] and studied in details by Carter and co-workers [8]. Later, a theoretical explanation of the ripple formation was given by Bradley and Harper (BH) and Bradley and Shipman (BS) using Sigmund’s sputtering theory [9][10]. These models consider both erosion of the

• material than atomic beams, the high energy density when a cluster interacts with a surface, and nonlinear sputtering effects [13]. One of the most prominent properties of cluster beams is the smoothing effect on moderately rough surfaces [14]. The smoothing effect takes place at normal incidence of the

• lower than that for monoatomic beams [1][8][15]. The fast ripple formation by cluster irradiation can be a result of the more effective sputtering (excavation) processes by cluster ions described above. An influence of the accelerating voltage on the ripple formation is also revealed. Experiments have

Rational design of block copolymer self-assemblies in photodynamic therapy

• Maxime Demazeau,
• Laure Gibot,
• Anne-Françoise Mingotaud,
• Patricia Vicendo,
• Clément Roux and
• Barbara Lonetti

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 180–212, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.15

Advanced hybrid nanomaterials

• Andreas Taubert,
• Fabrice Leroux,
• Pierre Rabu and
• Verónica de Zea Bermudez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2563–2567, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.247

• electronic devices” [29]. A combination of deposition techniques was used, chemical vapor deposition for parylene and RF-magnetron sputtering for silver nanoparticles. The content and size of the latter influences the dielectric characteristics of the resulting hybrid films. Such devices may find application

Multiwalled carbon nanotube based aromatic volatile organic compound sensor: sensitivity enhancement through 1-hexadecanethiol functionalisation

• Nadra Bohli,
• Meryem Belkilani,
• Juan Casanova-Chafer,
• Eduard Llobet and
• Adnane Abdelghani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2364–2373, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.227

• substrates. They were then decorated with gold nanoparticles via a sputtering technique with a Sputtering ATC Orion 8-HV-AJA International machine [19]. This technique consists of bombarding the surface of a gold disc by a plasma beam, enabling the nanoparticles to cling to the walls of the MWCNTs under the

• characterisation Transmission electron microscopy characterisation In order to carry out high-resolution transmission electron microscope characterisation, MWCNTs were deposited onto a silicon substrate. Then, a sputtering process was conducted to deposit the Au nanoparticles. Afterwards, Au-decorated MWCNTs were

• distribution. We must point out though, that as the sputtering deposition technique only applies to the most exposed surfaces, a shadowing effect is also observed. This effect is generally observed for porous substrates, where sputtering only reaches the outermost surface and the topmost areas of the pore

Integration of sharp silicon nitride tips into high-speed SU8 cantilevers in a batch fabrication process

• Nahid Hosseini,
• Matthias Neuenschwander,
• Oliver Peric,
• Santiago H. Andany,
• Jonathan D. Adams and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2357–2363, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.226

• separate the SU8 cantilevers from the wafer. The silicon oxide layer on the tips is then stripped using buffered hydrofluoric acid. The process is completed by titanium–gold (5–20 nm) sputtering on the chip-body side of the cantilevers. This layer serves as the reflective metal coating required for the

Synthesis of highly active ETS-10-based titanosilicate for heterogeneously catalyzed transesterification of triglycerides

• Muhammad A. Zaheer,
• David Poppitz,
• Khavar Feyzullayeva,
• Marianne Wenzel,
• Jörg Matysik,
• Radomir Ljupkovic,
• Aleksandra Zarubica,
• Alexander A. Karavaev,
• Andreas Pöppl,
• Roger Gläser and
• Muslim Dvoyashkin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2039–2061, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.200

Facile synthesis of carbon nanotube-supported NiO//Fe₂O₃ for all-solid-state supercapacitors

• Shengming Zhang,
• Xuhui Wang,
• Yan Li,
• Xuemei Mu,
• Yaxiong Zhang,
• Jingwei Du,
• Guo Liu,
• Xiaohui Hua,
• Yingzhuo Sheng,
• Erqing Xie and
• Zhenxing Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1923–1932, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.188

• . deposited iron oxide on CNTs by atomic layer deposition (ALD) and the obtained CNTs@Fe2O3 presented a specific capacitance of 580.6 F·g−1 at 5 A·g−1 [21]. Zhang et al. used magnetron sputtering to prepare sandwich-like CNT@Fe2O3@C structures, and the composite exhibited a specific capacitance of 787.5 F·g−1

Oblique angle deposition of nickel thin films by high-power impulse magnetron sputtering

• Hamidreza Hajihoseini,
• Movaffaq Kateb,
• Snorri Þorgeir Ingvarsson and
• Jon Tomas Gudmundsson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1914–1921, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.186

• -100 44, Stockholm, Sweden 10.3762/bjnano.10.186 Abstract Background: Oblique angle deposition is known for yielding the growth of columnar grains that are tilted in the direction of the deposition flux. Using this technique combined with high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) can induce

• unique properties in ferromagnetic thin films. Earlier we have explored the properties of polycrystalline and epitaxially deposited permalloy thin films deposited under 35° tilt using HiPIMS and compared it with films deposited by dc magnetron sputtering (dcMS). The films prepared by HiPIMS present lower

• properties for some important technological applications in addition to the ability to fill high aspect ratio trenches and coating on cutting tools with complex geometries. Keywords: glancing angle deposition (GLAD); high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS); oblique angle deposition; magnetron

Fabrication and characterization of Si_1−xGe_x nanocrystals in as-grown and annealed structures: a comparative study

• Muhammad Taha Sultan,
• Adrian Valentin Maraloiu,
• Ionel Stavarache,
• Jón Tómas Gudmundsson,
• Andrei Manolescu,
• Valentin Serban Teodorescu,
• Magdalena Lidia Ciurea and
• Halldór Gudfinnur Svavarsson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1873–1882, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.182

• , 050094 Bucharest, Romania 10.3762/bjnano.10.182 Abstract Multilayer structures comprising of SiO2/SiGe/SiO2 and containing SiGe nanoparticles were obtained by depositing SiO2 layers using reactive direct current magnetron sputtering (dcMS), whereas, Si and Ge were co-sputtered using dcMS and high-power

• impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS). The as-grown structures subsequently underwent rapid thermal annealing (550–900 °C for 1 min) in N2 ambient atmosphere. The structures were investigated using X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy together with spectral photocurrent

• consequential interface characteristics and its effect on the photocurrent spectra. Keywords: grazing incidence XRD (GIXRD); high-power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS); HRTEM; magnetron sputtering; photocurrent spectra; SiGe nanocrystals in SiO2/SiGe/SiO2 multilayers; STEM-HAADF; TEM; Introduction

Subsurface imaging of flexible circuits via contact resonance atomic force microscopy

• Wenting Wang,
• Chengfu Ma,
• Yuhang Chen,
• Lei Zheng,
• Huarong Liu and
• Jiaru Chu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1636–1647, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.159

• 11 wt % PMMA in anisole solvent at 1500 rpm for 5 min, resulting in a thickness of approximately 3.5 µm. Then, a 300 nm thick Au film was sputtered on the PMMA substrate by using magnetron sputtering. The Au film was subsequently patterned by focused ion beam (FIB) milling (FEI, Helios NanoLab 650

Rapid thermal annealing for high-quality ITO thin films deposited by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering

• Petronela Prepelita,
• Ionel Stavarache,
• Doina Craciun,
• Florin Garoi,
• Catalin Negrila,
• Beatrice Gabriela Sbarcea and
• Valentin Craciun

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1511–1522, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.149

• temperature by radio-frequency magnetron sputtering (rfMS). After deposition, the films were subjected to a RTA process at 575 °C (heating rate 20 °C/s), maintained at this temperature for 10 minutes, then cooled down to room temperature at a rate of 20 °C/s. The film structure was modified by changing the

• treatment in an open atmosphere. Such films could be used to manufacture transparent contact electrodes for solar cells. Keywords: conductive transparent electrodes; indium tin oxide (ITO) films; optical properties; radio-frequency magnetron sputtering (rfMS); rapid thermal annealing (RTA); Introduction

• sputtering [20][21][22], and pulsed laser deposition (PLD) [23]. Various changes in the optical, electrical and structural qualities are known to occur depending on the type of deposition and thermal treatment process [24][25][26][27][28][29][30] applied to the ITO films. For instance, an improvement in the

Superconducting switching due to a triplet component in the Pb/Cu/Ni/Cu/Co₂Cr_1−xFe_xAl_y spin-valve structure

• Andrey Andreevich Kamashev,
• Nadir Nurgayazovich Garif’yanov,
• Aidar Azatovich Validov,
• Joachim Schumann,
• Vladislav Kataev,
• Bernd Büchner,
• Yakov Victorovich Fominov and
• Ilgiz Abdulsamatovich Garifullin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1458–1463, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.144

• . The Ni, Cu and Pb layers were prepared using e-beam techniques. For the fabrication of the HA and the Si3N4 layers dc sputtering was used. We used deposition rates of 0.4 Å/s for HA and Si3N4, 0.5 Å/s for Cu and Ni, and 10 Å/s for Pb. At first, when evaporating HA, the substrate temperature was kept

Growth of lithium hydride thin films from solutions: Towards solution atomic layer deposition of lithiated films

• Ivan Kundrata,
• Karol Fröhlich,
• Lubomír Vančo,
• Matej Mičušík and
• Julien Bachmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1443–1451, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.142

• LIPON battery in which the solid electrolyte consists of nitrogen-doped lithium phosphate, present several shortcomings. One of them is the use of sputtering [1] for the deposition of the thin layers. Inherently, sputtering does not yield coatings with high conformity on non-planar substrates. Low

• , LiH is not only suitable as an electrode material, where in fact it boasts the highest lithium concentration after elemental Li, it is also extremely useful as a hydrogen-torage layer. Since sputtering of LiH is possible [23][24], but not conformal, the sALD growth of LiH enables research regarding

• Li2O on the surface, acquired at two different areas of the sample (red and blue), shown together with the internal reference for Li2O (black). XPS spectra before Ar sputtering of a) Li 1s region, b) C 1s and c) O 1s region. In situ QCM results, showing approximately 18 sALD cycles. The maxima and

Direct observation of oxygen-vacancy formation and structural changes in Bi₂WO₆ nanoflakes induced by electron irradiation

• Hong-long Shi,
• Bin Zou,
• Zi-an Li,
• Min-ting Luo and
• Wen-zhong Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1434–1442, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.141

• transformed into WO3. These features indicate bond breaking within Bi–O layers and the reconstruction of WO6 octahedra predominantly occur at the surfaces of the irradiated nanoflake. In general, electron irradiation of materials results in three major effects: heating, sputtering and radiolysis. The maximum

• irradiation, in this case, is far too low to decompose Bi2WO6 nanoflakes. Besides, loops or defect clusters were not observed during the whole irradiation process suggesting that the knock-off or sputtering effects can be neglected. When a high-energy electron beam passes through the sample, an electric field

Kelvin probe force microscopy of the nanoscale electrical surface potential barrier of metal/semiconductor interfaces in ambient atmosphere

• Petr Knotek,
• Tomáš Plecháček,
• Jan Smolík,
• Petr Kutálek,
• Filip Dvořák,
• Milan Vlček,
• Jiří Navrátil and
• Čestmír Drašar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1401–1411, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.138

• crystals of 10–20 mm in length, 3–6 mm in width and up to 3 mm in thickness [31]. The surface of freshly cleaved layered Bi2Se3 single crystals was used as a substrate. The samples for the AFM measurement, Au nanoparticles (NPs) and thin films of gold or molybdenum, were prepared via DC sputtering in a SEM

• Coating System (Bio-Rad) in Ar atmosphere (p ≈ 20 Pa, I = 18 mA, U = 1.4 kV) from pure metal sheets (Mo 4N, Au 4N). For preparing separated Au nanoparticles under the same sputtering conditions, however, a stainless steel mask (system of 100 × 500 μm2 holes, 200 holes/cm2) between the substrate and target

• beam source in order to remove surface contaminants. A monoatomic argon ion source was utilized with energy of 2 keV, ion current 10 µA, raster area 1 × 1 mm2 and sputtering time 30 s. Results and Discussion Separated metal nanoparticles on the substrate In TE materials the NIs applicable for an

Gas sensing properties of individual SnO₂ nanowires and SnO₂ sol–gel nanocomposites

• Alexey V. Shaposhnik,
• Dmitry A. Shaposhnik,
• Sergey Yu. Turishchev,
• Olga A. Chuvenkova,
• Stanislav V. Ryabtsev,
• Alexey A. Vasiliev,
• Xavier Vilanova,
• Francisco Hernandez-Ramirez and
• Joan R. Morante

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1380–1390, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.136

• and high surface-to-volume ratio, obtained by sintering, are traditionally used as sensing materials. By means of preparation methods such as magnetron sputtering, laser ablation, and pulverization, layer-by-layer nanoparticle deposition can be achieved with adhesion to the substrate and to previously

• intensity of the 533.6 eV component (Figure 6) of the O 1s line [51]. Previously, this component was observed on polycrystalline nanolayers formed by magnetron sputtering of tin and ambient air oxidation afterwards [47]. Figure 7 compares XANES Sn M4,5 spectra of the samples with those obtained on the SnO2

Janus-micromotor-based on–off luminescence sensor for active TNT detection

• Ye Yuan,
• Changyong Gao,
• Daolin Wang,
• Chang Zhou,
• Baohua Zhu and
• Qiang He

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1324–1331, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.131

• capsule motors were fabricated by layer-by-layer assembly of UCNP-functionalized polyelectrolyte microcapsules, followed by sputtering of a platinum layer onto one half of the capsule. By catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to oxygen bubbles, the Janus UCNP capsule motors are rapidly propelled

• dispersed on a glass slide to form a monolayer. After sputtering of a 20 nm thin film of Pt, the Janus UCNP-functionalized capsule motors were obtained by removing the silica cores with hydrofluoric acid. To prepare the Janus UCNP capsule motors, NaYF4:Yb3+/Er3+ UCNPs were firstly synthesized following a

• uniformly dispersed on the surface of the microcapsule. After Pt sputtering and removal of the silica core, the Janus UCNP capsule motors were obtained. As shown in Figure 1g, the as-prepared APTES-UCNPs were partially covered with a Pt cap, displaying a Janus structure. The scanning electron microscopy

Fabrication of phase masks from amorphous carbon thin films for electron-beam shaping

• Lukas Grünewald,
• Dagmar Gerthsen and
• Simon Hettler

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1290–1302, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.128

• sudden increase in sputter yield due to additional sputtering from the PM back side. At this point, fine control over the milling process is lost due to the increased sputter yield. Accordingly, the offset thickness can only be controllably reduced to a minimum thickness that lies in the range of the

• penetration depth of the Ga ions in the material of the thin film. The thickness amplitude is smaller than expected, because even though the FIB is only scanned azimuthally along the minima, sputtering also takes place near the maxima of the sinusoidal structure and decreases the total thickness of the thin

Imaging the surface potential at the steps on the rutile TiO₂(110) surface by Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Masato Miyazaki,
• Huan Fei Wen,
• Quanzhen Zhang,
• Yuuki Adachi,
• Jan Brndiar,
• Ivan Štich,
• Yan Jun Li and
• Yasuhiro Sugawara

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1228–1236, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.122

• cantilever deflection was measured using an optical beam deflection method [45]. The images were obtained using a commercial Ir-coated Si cantilever (NANOSENSORS) with a resonant frequency of 804 kHz and 808 kHz and a spring constant of 1500 N/m. Before the experiments, the tip was cleaned by Ar+ sputtering

• (1 keV, 6.7 × 10−7 mbar, 5 min) and annealing (600 K, less than 2.7 × 10−10 mbar, 20 min) to remove the native oxide layer and other contaminants. A clean rutile TiO2(110) crystal (provided by Furuuchi Chemical Corporation) was prepared by dozens of cycles of Ar+ sputtering (1 keV, 1.3 × 10−6 mbar

Pure and mixed ordered monolayers of tetracyano-2,6-naphthoquinodimethane and hexathiapentacene on the Ag(100) surface

• Robert Harbers,
• Timo Heepenstrick,
• Dmitrii F. Perepichka and
• Moritz Sokolowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1188–1199, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.118

• Metrology, Denmark). The correction was done such that the unit cell of the periodic structures fitted to the unit cell determined by LEED. All experiments were performed on the same Ag(100) single crystal, which was prepared by cycles of Ar+ ion sputtering at 800 eV for 30 min and annealing at 800–900 K

Quantitative analysis of annealing-induced instabilities of photo-leakage current and negative-bias-illumination-stress in a-InGaZnO thin-film transistors

• Dapeng Wang and
• Mamoru Furuta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1125–1130, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.112

• sputtering techniques, the sample suffers from the plasma bombardment in the chamber. In addition, the deposited films are inevitably irradiated by UV light in the process of patterning, inducing the increase in the concentration of oxygen-related defects, which further degrade the initial electrical

Direct growth of few-layer graphene on AlN-based resonators for high-sensitivity gravimetric biosensors

• Jimena Olivares,
• Teona Mirea,
• Lorena Gordillo-Dagallier,
• Bruno Marco,
• José Miguel Escolano,
• Marta Clement and
• Enrique Iborra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 975–984, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.98

• the films involved in the SMR structure were deposited by sputtering, except the Ir bottom electrode and the Ni catalyst that were e-beam evaporated. The deposition conditions of the AlN and SiO2 layers in the reflector were carefully adjusted to minimize residual stresses in each film. The final

Fabrication of silver nanoisland films by pulsed laser deposition for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

• Bogusław Budner,
• Mariusz Kuźma,
• Barbara Nasiłowska,
• Bartosz Bartosewicz,
• Malwina Liszewska and
• Bartłomiej J. Jankiewicz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 882–893, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.89

• physical methods include fabrication of nanostructured silver films by electron-beam evaporation [16], gas aggregation [17] and radio-frequency sputtering [18]. The advantages of certain physical methods over chemical methods include that there is no reagent contamination and that the monodispersity of

On the transformation of “zincone”-like into porous ZnO thin films from sub-saturated plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition

• Alberto Perrotta,
• Julian Pilz,
• Stefan Pachmajer,
• Antonella Milella and
• Anna Maria Coclite

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 746–759, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.74

• deposited at room temperature [40]. The O/Zn ratio is also reported in Table 1. All values are below unity, due to the preferential sputtering occurring when atomic masses of the measured elements are very different, which is the case of Zn and O. In the literature [61], the O/Zn ratios are generally

• stretching of carbonate/bidentate/carboxyl groups (νOCO) (1300–1660 cm−1) are highlighted in the image. High-resolution XPS spectra of the pristine (a–c) and annealed (d,e) zincone-like layers acquired after 60 s Ar+ sputtering. Pristine: a) C 1s HR spectrum and b) O 1s HR spectrum as a function of the