Study of mesoporous CdS-quantum-dot-sensitized TiO₂ films by using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and AFM

• Mohamed N. Ghazzal,
• Robert Wojcieszak,
• Gijo Raj and
• Eric M. Gaigneaux

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 68–76, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.6

• spectral range of interest 200–550 nm. XPS analysis was performed on Kratos Axis-ultra spectrometer. Similarly as described in [10], the analysis chamber was operated under ultrahigh vacuum conditions with an approximate pressure of 5 × 10−7 Pa and the sample was irradiated with a monochromatic Al Kα

Noise performance of frequency modulation Kelvin force microscopy

• Heinrich Diesinger,
• Dominique Deresmes and
• Thierry Mélin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1–18, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.1

• and optimizing around randomly chosen key values. Keywords: dynamic; frequency noise; Kelvin force microscopy; noise performance; phase noise; thermal excitation; Introduction Surface potential imaging in combination with atomic force microscopy in ultrahigh vacuum is based on the measurement of

• modeled for a system with characteristics typically obtained in ultrahigh vacuum implementations. It has been shown that in a PLL based setup, the two main noise sources, thermal excitation and detector noise, transform into frequency noise exactly the same way as in a free-running oscillator, and that

• deteriorating one noise source when improving the other, ultimately merging into the uncertainty relation governing that a system cannot be measured without changing it by whatever kind of sensor back-action. Experimental The KFM is based on an Omicron ultrahigh vacuum variable temperature atomic force

Adsorption of the ionic liquid [BMP][TFSA] on Au(111) and Ag(111): substrate effects on the structure formation investigated by STM

• Benedikt Uhl,
• Florian Buchner,
• Dorothea Alwast,
• Nadja Wagner and
• R. Jürgen Behm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 903–918, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.102

• , but also by other techniques such as in situ scanning tunnelling microscopy [12][13][14]. More detailed insight, on a molecular scale, may be gained in model studies investigating the interface between the respective solid surface and thin films of the IL under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. These

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

• homogeneous deformation up to very high total strain. Directly after rinsing, the samples were clamped onto special sample holders and transferred into ultrahigh vacuum of 2.0 · 10−8 mbar within the sputtering chamber. Mechanical testing and microstructural characterization Ex-situ uniaxial tensile tests were

Digging gold: keV He⁺ ion interaction with Au

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

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 453–460, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.53

• formation, as a function of ion fluence and energy. Experimental The experiments were performed with an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) Orion® Plus Helium Ion Microscope from Carl Zeiss NTS [15] at room temperature. As a result of the interaction of the He+ beam with the target, secondary electrons (SE

Kelvin probe force microscopy of nanocrystalline TiO₂ photoelectrodes

• Alex Henning,
• Gino Günzburger,
• Res Jöhr,
• Yossi Rosenwaks,
• Biljana Bozic-Weber,
• Catherine E. Housecroft,
• Edwin C. Constable,
• Ernst Meyer and
• Thilo Glatzel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 418–428, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.49

• rutile TiO2 in ultrahigh vacuum [42]. Using Equation 4 with θ = 0° and measured work-function shifts of ΔΦ = −180 ± 40 mV for the Cu(I) dye and ΔΦ = 150 ± 40 mV for N719 results in 6.3 ± 1.5 D and 5.3 ± 2 D with opposite directions, respectively. The latter value is in the same range as predicted by DFT

Ni nanocrystals on HOPG(0001): A scanning tunnelling microscope study

• Michael Marz,
• Keisuke Sagisaka and
• Daisuke Fujita

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 406–417, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.48

• important role for the aforementioned applications. Therefore, in this study we focus on the initial growing process of Ni clusters by evaporating Ni on the HOPG surface in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV). A quantitative characterization of the cluster properties, e.g., size, shape and distribution, for different

Determining cantilever stiffness from thermal noise

• Jannis Lübbe,
• Matthias Temmen,
• Philipp Rahe,
• Angelika Kühnle and
• Michael Reichling

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 227–233, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.23

• force microscopy (NC-AFM) based on cantilever or tuning fork force sensors. We recently demonstrated how Equation 1 defines the ultimate limit of signal detection for an NC-AFM measurement performed under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions [6]. Although most NC-AFM systems are operated with cantilevers

Catalytic activity of nanostructured Au: Scale effects versus bimetallic/bifunctional effects in low-temperature CO oxidation on nanoporous Au

• Lu-Cun Wang,
• Yi Zhong,
• Haijun Jin,
• Daniel Widmann,
• Jörg Weissmüller and
• R. Jürgen Behm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 111–128, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.13

• products (TAP) reactor under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. Further information on similarities and differences of the two different types of NPG catalysts in the reaction mechanism was obtained from multipulse TAP reactor measurements, which give access to the ability of the NPG catalysts to activate

• after surface saturation, which is equivalent to the initial intensity. The formation of CO2 could be determined directly from the CO2 pulse intensity. Additionally, (pre)treatment of the catalysts at higher (atmospheric) pressure is possible by separating the reactor from the ultrahigh vacuum (UHV

Thermal noise limit for ultra-high vacuum noncontact atomic force microscopy

• Jannis Lübbe,
• Matthias Temmen,
• Sebastian Rode,
• Philipp Rahe,
• Angelika Kühnle and
• Michael Reichling

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 32–44, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.4

• at the demodulator output in dependence of cantilever properties and settings of the signal processing electronics in the limit of a negligible tip–surface interaction and a measurement under ultrahigh-vacuum conditions. For a quantification of the noise figures, we calibrate the cantilever

• systems based on other force sensors and detection schemes. Under ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) conditions, the thermal noise of the cantilever is usually small compared to the noise of the detection system due to the high Q-factor of the cantilever in vacuum [6]. The instrumental noise sources in an optical

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

• mechanically stable Cu cones of about 28 μm length, 1.2 μm base radius, and 190 nm tip radius [115]. The field-emission properties of similar Cu-nanocone cathodes were investigated by using a field emission scanning microscope (FESM) under ultrahigh vacuum conditions [116]. The improved mechanical stability

Pure hydrogen low-temperature plasma exposure of HOPG and graphene: Graphane formation?

• Baran Eren,
• Dorothée Hug,
• Laurent Marot,
• Rémy Pawlak,
• Marcin Kisiel,
• Roland Steiner,
• Dominik M. Zumbühl and
• Ernst Meyer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 852–859, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.96

• were performed under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. The latter value is around 200 °C lower than the theoretical calculations [27], which predicts a full transformation from graphane back to graphene. In contrast to [5], we did not observe a significant change of the Raman spectrum of LTP-exposed

Tuning the properties of magnetic thin films by interaction with periodic nanostructures

• Ulf Wiedwald,
• Felix Haering,
• Stefan Nau,
• Carsten Schulze,
• Herbert Schletter,
• Denys Makarov,
• Alfred Plettl,
• Karsten Kuepper,
• Manfred Albrecht,
• Johannes Boneberg and
• Paul Ziemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 831–842, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.93

• . After the preparation of the non-close-packed PS nanostructure, subsequent growth of magnetic films can be carried out in standard deposition chambers under ultrahigh-vacuum conditions. The percolated magnetic films discussed below were deposited either by pulsed laser ablation (Fe films) or e-beam

• -beam evaporation under ultrahigh vacuum conditions at ambient temperature. For integral characterization polar magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) magnetometry with a spot size of about 100 µm was used to investigate magnetic switching (details are given in reference [25]). For this sample, with

Current–voltage characteristics of single-molecule diarylethene junctions measured with adjustable gold electrodes in solution

• Bernd M. Briechle,
• Youngsang Kim,
• Philipp Ehrenreich,
• Artur Erbe,
• Dmytro Sysoiev,
• Thomas Huhn,
• Ulrich Groth and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 798–808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.89

• -coating on the wafer. After developing, the patterned samples were mounted in an electron-beam evaporator under ultrahigh vacuum (10−9 mbar), and gold of about 80 nm thickness was deposited at a rate of 1 Å/s. After lift-off, the polyimide layer was partially etched away (thickness reduction ≈700 nm) by

Effect of spherical Au nanoparticles on nanofriction and wear reduction in dry and liquid environments

• Dave Maharaj and
• Bharat Bhushan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 759–772, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.85

• ]. In the study by Mougin and co-workers [32], it was found that Au nanoparticles could not be moved in an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) as compared to an ambient environment under otherwise identical manipulating conditions. Palacio and Bhushan [31] found that for larger nanoparticles, the friction force was

Focused electron beam induced deposition: A perspective

• Michael Huth,
• Fabrizio Porrati,
• Christian Schwalb,
• Marcel Winhold,
• Roland Sachser,
• Maja Dukic,
• Jonathan Adams and
• Georg Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 597–619, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.70

• surface-science-oriented experiments that try to get an understanding of the deposition process on the molecular level have been performed under well-controlled conditions, such as ultrahigh vacuum. A recent brief overview of this research can be found in Wnuk et al. [17]. Also, initial steps in the

• experimental conditions, in particular ultrahigh vacuum, to allow for a detailed analysis of the reaction mechanisms. For selected examples this has already started [17]. Although the predictive power of the multicomponent continuum model of FEBID is limited, it can nevertheless provide useful information with

Spontaneous dissociation of Co₂(CO)₈ and autocatalytic growth of Co on SiO₂: A combined experimental and theoretical investigation

• Kaliappan Muthukumar,
• Harald O. Jeschke,
• Roser Valentí,
• Evgeniya Begun,
• Johannes Schwenk,
• Fabrizio Porrati and
• Michael Huth

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 546–555, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.63

• reported in previous works [13][18], we are led to assume that this surface activation process depends on both a modified surface termination and trapped charges. Presently it is not clear whether the activation process observed on silica layers under ultrahigh vacuum conditions in conjunction with the

Low-temperature synthesis of carbon nanotubes on indium tin oxide electrodes for organic solar cells

• Andrea Capasso,
• Luigi Salamandra,
• Aldo Di Carlo,
• John M. Bell and
• Nunzio Motta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 524–532, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.60

• millimetric probe and the sample, which can undergo surface reactions with species adsorbed from the environment. Conversely, UPS measures, in ultrahigh vacuum, the lowest WF of a small portion of the surface, usually a few microns in diameter. WF values measured by the Kelvin probe method are often higher

Imaging ultra thin layers with helium ion microscopy: Utilizing the channeling contrast mechanism

• Gregor Hlawacek,
• Vasilisa Veligura,
• Stefan Lorbek,
• Tijs F. Mocking,
• Antony George,
• Raoul van Gastel,
• Harold J. W. Zandvliet and
• Bene Poelsema

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 507–512, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.58

• recorded on an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) Orion Plus helium ion microscope from Zeiss [5]. The microscope is equipped with an Everhardt–Thornley (ET) detector to record SE images, and a microchannel plate situated in the beam path below the final lens to record BSHe images. A silicon drift detector to measure

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

• considerations are in fact sufficient. Experimental All images were recorded on an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) Orion Plus helium ion microscope from Carl Zeiss [4]. The microscope is equipped with an Everhardt–Thornley (ET) detector to record SE images. A micro channel plate, which is placed in the beam path below

Functionalised zinc oxide nanowire gas sensors: Enhanced NO₂ gas sensor response by chemical modification of nanowire surfaces

• Eric R. Waclawik,
• Jin Chang,
• Andrea Ponzoni,
• Isabella Concina,
• Dario Zappa,
• Elisabetta Comini,
• Nunzio Motta,
• Guido Faglia and
• Giorgio Sberveglieri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 368–377, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.43

• ultrahigh vacuum rather than in dry air. Taking the TG results into account, a sensor operating temperature of 190 °C was chosen for all gas-response tests. Gas sensing measurements for the various ZnO samples with different morphologies and compositions were performed for the gases ammonia, nitrous oxide

Structural, electronic and photovoltaic characterization of multiwalled carbon nanotubes grown directly on stainless steel

• Luca Camilli,
• Manuela Scarselli,
• Silvano Del Gobbo,
• Paola Castrucci,
• Eric Gautron and
• Maurizio De Crescenzi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 360–367, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.42

• was performed in air by using a nonconductive Si tip in tapping mode. After the synthesis process, a piece of SS substrate covered by the as-grown MWCNTs was inserted into an ultrahigh vacuum chamber (base pressure 10−10 torr) for Auger and electron energy-loss measurements. An electron gun as

Drive-amplitude-modulation atomic force microscopy: From vacuum to liquids

• Miriam Jaafar,
• David Martínez-Martín,
• Mariano Cuenca,
• John Melcher,
• Arvind Raman and
• Julio Gómez-Herrero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 336–344, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.38

• modulation; noncontact; Introduction Dynamic atomic force microscopy (dAFM) [1][2] is a powerful yet versatile tool capable of operating in environments ranging from ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) to liquids [3][4], and imaging samples ranging from stiff inorganic materials [5] to soft biological matter [6], with

Models of the interaction of metal tips with insulating surfaces

• Thomas Trevethan,
• Matthew Watkins and
• Alexander L. Shluger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 329–335, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.37

• contaminants. This layer can be removed in situ inside the ultrahigh vacuum chamber, by sputtering and/or annealing. However there is no guarantee that the tip apex is pure silicon, and contaminant atoms or molecules may remain. The tip can also be contaminated by material from the surface during imaging; in

Graphite, graphene on SiC, and graphene nanoribbons: Calculated images with a numerical FM-AFM

• Fabien Castanié,
• Laurent Nony,
• Sébastien Gauthier and
• Xavier Bouju

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 301–311, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.34

• ultrahigh-vacuum environment. The probe oscillates at or close to its fundamental resonance frequency . In this mode, the amplitude of oscillation is kept constant. When the oscillator is far enough from the sample, it can be considered as a free oscillator with f0 = . Upon approach toward the sample, an