Junction formation of Cu₃BiS₃ investigated by Kelvin probe force microscopy and surface photovoltage measurements

• Fredy Mesa,
• William Chamorro,
• William Vallejo,
• Robert Baier,
• Thomas Dittrich,
• Alexander Grimm,
• Martha C. Lux-Steiner and
• Sascha Sadewasser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 277–284, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.31

• is important to know the state of the surface of the examined sample. Surface oxidation can modify the work function of the sample and complicate data analysis. To clean the surface of Cu3BiS3 samples, we used an NH3 treatment prior to introduction into the ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) system of the KPFM

• thickness of the films was ~150 nm. Both, the ZnS and the In2S3 buffer layers were deposited on NH3-etched Cu3BiS3 films. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy The chemical surface condition of the as-prepared Cu3BiS3 and Cu3BiS3 etched with NH3 was analyzed in an ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) chamber (“CISSY” at

Modeling noncontact atomic force microscopy resolution on corrugated surfaces

• Kristen M. Burson,
• Mahito Yamamoto and
• William G. Cullen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 230–237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.26

• complete and quantitatively accurate understanding of the factors limiting the resolution of corrugated surfaces. Experimental All NC-AFM images were collected with a JEOL ultrahigh-vacuum atomic force microscope with a base pressure of 4 × 10−8 Pa. SiO2 samples (Figure 1a and Figure 1b) were cleaved in

• air to the proper size then quickly transferred into the ultrahigh-vacuum JEOL AFM system (4500A, Nanonis controller). SiO2 samples were baked at 130 °C for cleaning. In order to replicate the experimental substrate preparation often used for graphene exfoliation, no additional cleaning procedures

An NC-AFM and KPFM study of the adsorption of a triphenylene derivative on KBr(001)

• Antoine Hinaut,
• Adeline Pujol,
• Florian Chaumeton,
• David Martrou,
• André Gourdon and
• Sébastien Gauthier

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 221–229, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.25

• designed molecule, consisting of a flat aromatic triphenylene core equipped with six flexible propyl chains ending with polar cyano groups, is investigated by using atomic force microscopy in the noncontact mode (NC-AFM) coupled to Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) in ultrahigh vacuum at room

• ) ultrahigh vacuum STM/AFM (Omicron NanoTechnology GmbH, Taunusstein, Germany). The original optical beam-deflection system was improved by replacing the LED by a superluminescent laser diode (Superlum, Moscow, Russia) coupled to the system by an optical fiber. The control electronics were from Nanonis (SPECS

A measurement of the hysteresis loop in force-spectroscopy curves using a tuning-fork atomic force microscope

• Manfred Lange,
• Dennis van Vörden and
• Rolf Möller

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 207–212, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.23

• 77 K under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions. Measurements were performed using a home-built LT-TF-AFM [9], which is able to operate both as an STM and as an FM-AFM. The tuning fork is used in the qPlus configuration [22]. The oscillation amplitude of the tuning fork can be chosen in the subnanometer

Theoretical study of the frequency shift in bimodal FM-AFM by fractional calculus

• Elena T. Herruzo and
• Ricardo Garcia

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 198–206, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.22

• and dissipation of the second mode in bimodal FM-AFM. Experimental measurements have shown the ability of bimodal AFM to measure a variety of interactions, from electrostatic to magnetic or mechanical, both in ultrahigh vacuum [36][37][38], air [33][34][39][40][41] and liquids [15][18][19

Noncontact atomic force microscopy study of the spinel MgAl₂O₄(111) surface

• Morten K. Rasmussen,
• Kristoffer Meinander,
• Flemming Besenbacher and
• Jeppe V. Lauritsen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 192–197, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.21

• of flat surfaces regardless of the conductivity of the material, including many of the important insulating metal oxides [2][3][4]. The NC-AFM, applied to metal-oxide single-crystal surfaces under ultrahigh vacuum, thus allows the first detailed characterization of surface morphology down to the

• atomic scale of this important group of materials. In this work, a new surface-structure model of the MgAl2O4(111) surface, based on experimental NC-AFM data obtained on this surface, prepared under well-controlled ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions, is presented. MgAl2O4 is a prototypical material with

• explained by the underlying Kagomé Al lattice, which is shown to facilitate the removal of oxygen in line vacancies with a triangular symmetry. Experimental The experiments were performed in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) with a base pressure better than 1 × 10−10 mbar. The UHV system is equipped with a combined

Molecular-resolution imaging of pentacene on KCl(001)

• Julia L. Neff,
• Jan Götzen,
• Enhui Li,
• Michael Marz and
• Regina Hoffmann-Vogel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 186–191, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.20

• observed. Furthermore, the high-resolution images show domain boundaries and a defect resulting from a molecular vacancy. Experimental Experiments were carried out in an ultrahigh-vacuum (UHV) variable-temperature SFM (Omicron NanoTechnology GmbH, Taunusstein, Germany) with a base pressure below 3 × 10−10

Quantitative multichannel NC-AFM data analysis of graphene growth on SiC(0001)

• Christian Held,
• Thomas Seyller and
• Roland Bennewitz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 179–185, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.19

• representation of multichannel NC-AFM data sets in a quantitative fashion. Presentation and analysis are exemplified for topography and contact-potential data for graphene grown epitaxially on 6H-SiC(0001), as recorded by Kelvin probe force microscopy in ultrahigh vacuum. Sample preparations by thermal

• decomposition in ultrahigh vacuum and in an argon atmosphere are compared and the respective growth mechanisms discussed. Keywords: FM-AFM; graphene; 6H-SiC(0001); KPFM; SPM; Introduction Graphene grows epitaxially on the Si face of 6H-SiC(0001) by thermal decomposition in vacuum or an inert atmosphere

• temperatures these processes lead to the growth of graphene. A high homogeneity of the graphene coverage was obtained in ultrahigh vacuum by cyclic heating to 1200 °C [2] and in an argon atmosphere by prolonged heating to 1650 °C [1]. On the Si face of the 6H-SiC(0001) wafers the thickness of the graphene

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

• acquisition times. To benchmark our setup, we reduced the magnetic moment of the tip by attaching a commercial MFM cantilever tip (NanoWorld Pointprobe MFMR, coated with approx. 40 nm cobalt alloy) onto a qPlus sensor. This has been done before in tuning-fork setups in room-temperature ultrahigh-vacuum

Noncontact atomic force microscopy

• Udo D. Schwarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 172–173, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.17

• microscopy (AFM), on the other hand, was quickly developed into a versatile tool with applications ranging from materials characterization in ultrahigh vacuum and nanofabrication under ambient conditions, to biological studies in liquids, but its resolution was limited to the nanometer scale. The reason for

• conference from this series was held in Lindau, Germany, from September 18–22, 2011. Once again, substantial progress was presented; NC-AFM is now able to quantitatively map three-dimensional force fields of surfaces with atomic resolution in ultrahigh vacuum as well as in liquids, and methodological

Generation and agglomeration behaviour of size-selected sub-nm iron clusters as catalysts for the growth of carbon nanotubes

• Ravi Joshi,
• Benjamin Waldschmidt,
• Jörg Engstler,
• Rolf Schäfer and
• Jörg J. Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 734–739, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.80

• , mass-selected and surface-implanted at room temperature under ultrahigh vacuum [10] at a surface coverage in the range of a few thousandths up to a few hundredths of a monolayer on standard substrate grids for transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The kinetic energy of the as deposited iron clusters

• was rapidly cooled down by collisions with He atoms, thereby forming clusters. The cluster–helium mixture was then injected through a nozzle (5) into an ultrahigh vacuum apparatus. Passing a skimmer (6), positive ions in the molecular beam were accelerated by a Wiley–McLaren time-of-flight (TOF) unit

Femtosecond time-resolved photodissociation dynamics of methyl halide molecules on ultrathin gold films

• Mihai E. Vaida,
• Robert Tchitnga and
• Thorsten M. Bernhardt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 618–627, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.65

• found to be unlikely to be responsible for the observed dynamics of both molecules. Methyl chloride did not yield any detectable photofragments. Experimental The experiments were performed in an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) chamber equipped with standard tools for surface preparation and characterization [15

Nanostructured, mesoporous Au/TiO₂ model catalysts – structure, stability and catalytic properties

• Matthias Roos,
• Dominique Böcking,
• Kwabena Offeh Gyimah,
• Gabriela Kucerova,
• Joachim Bansmann,
• Johannes Biskupek,
• Ute Kaiser,
• Nicola Hüsing and
• R. Jürgen Behm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 593–606, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.63

• single crystal surfaces under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions [1]. It was soon realized, however, that because of the tremendous differences in the materials and reaction conditions between the idealized and realistic cases, the conclusions and results obtained from these model studies could not be

Nanoscaled alloy formation from self-assembled elemental Co nanoparticles on top of Pt films

• Luyang Han,
• Ulf Wiedwald,
• Johannes Biskupek,
• Kai Fauth,
• Ute Kaiser and
• Paul Ziemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 473–485, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.51

• all steps of the specimen investigation, ultrahigh vacuum conditions were maintained, except for the annealing steps carried out in a H2 atmosphere at 10−4 mbar. All XMCD measurements were taken at low temperature (T ≈ 12 K) and at normal incidence of the circularly polarized X-rays (p ≈ 0.93), by

Towards a scalable and accurate quantum approach for describing vibrations of molecule–metal interfaces

• David M. Benoit,
• Bruno Madebene,
• Inga Ulusoy,
• Luis Mancera,
• Yohann Scribano and
• Sergey Chulkov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 427–447, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.48

• the description of low temperature vibrational spectra, such as those obtained in supersonic jet expansions or in ultrahigh-vacuum environments. In most implementations of VSCF-based approaches, the required resolution of the vibrational Schrödinger equation means that it remains a time-consuming

Intermolecular vs molecule–substrate interactions: A combined STM and theoretical study of supramolecular phases on graphene/Ru(0001)

• Michael Roos,
• Benedikt Uhl,
• Daniela Künzel,
• Harry E. Hoster,
• Axel Groß and
• R. Jürgen Behm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 365–373, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.42

• of the adsorption potential on the graphene/Ru(0001) substrate, is of similar magnitude for both molecules. Experimental Experiments The experiments were performed in a standard ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) system (base pressure 2 × 10−10 mbar), equipped with a commercial variable temperature scanning

Switching adhesion forces by crossing the metal–insulator transition in Magnéli-type vanadium oxide crystals

• Bert Stegemann,
• Matthias Klemm,
• Siegfried Horn and
• Mathias Woydt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 59–65, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.8

• between the cleavage planes of various vanadium oxide Magnéli phases (n = 3 … 7) and spherical titanium atomic force microscope (AFM) tips by systematic force–distance measurements with a variable-temperature AFM under ultrahigh vacuum conditions (UHV). The results show, for all investigated samples, that

• , is thus better suited for quantitative and comparative adhesion force measurements [22][23][24]. Previously, the applicability and the sensitivity of the AFM in the spherical probe configuration (i.e., with a microsphere as a probe tip) operated under ultrahigh vacuum conditions for the

Structure, morphology, and magnetic properties of Fe nanoparticles deposited onto single-crystalline surfaces

• Armin Kleibert,
• Wolfgang Rosellen,
• Mathias Getzlaff and
• Joachim Bansmann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 47–56, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.6

• Experiments on exposed mass-filtered Fe nanoparticles on (ferromagnetic) supports require in situ cluster deposition as well as surface sensitive analysis techniques performed under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. To motivate the need of our combined approach, we first introduce the arc cluster ion source (ACIS

• other pulsed light sources [26]. For the present experiments the PACIS design has been modified to allow a high and continuous flux of mass-filtered nanoparticles (size regime: 4 nm to 25 nm) with a moderate size distribution in surface science experiments [27][28]. The resulting ACIS is ultrahigh

• vacuum compatible, small in size to allow easy transportation and can be flexibly attached to different experimental stations, e.g., laboratory-based STM experiments, different end stations at synchrotron light sources such as BESSY (Berlin, Germany) and more recently, the Elmitech PEEM at the SIM

Oriented growth of porphyrin-based molecular wires on ionic crystals analysed by nc-AFM

• Thilo Glatzel,
• Lars Zimmerli,
• Shigeki Kawai,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Leslie-Anne Fendt and
• Francois Diederich

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 34–39, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.4

• their intermolecular π–π stacking. Experimental Experiments were performed under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions with a base pressure below 10−10 mbar using a home built non-contact atomic force microscope operated at rt [39]. In the nc-AFM mode, the tip-sample distance is usually controlled by

Defects in oxide surfaces studied by atomic force and scanning tunneling microscopy

• Thomas König,
• Georg H. Simon,
• Lars Heinke,
• Leonid Lichtenstein and
• Markus Heyde

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 1–14, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.1

• atomic force microscopy (FM-AFM) or dynamic force microscopy (DFM). For the stability of tip and sample as well as for the reduction of piezo creep, piezo hysteresis, thermal drift and noise level, the setup was operated in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) at low temperature (5 K). The resulting high stability