Silicon microgrooves for contact guidance of human aortic endothelial cells

• Sara Fernández-Castillejo,
• Pilar Formentín,
• Úrsula Catalán,
• Josep Pallarès,
• Lluís F. Marsal and
• Rosa Solà

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 675–681, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.72

• adhesion, morphology (alignment, circularity and filopodia presence) and proliferation. Moreover, these structures exerted no cytotoxic effect. Conclusion: The results suggest that topographical patterning influences cell response. Silicon groove substrates can be used in developing medical devices with

• -shaped features that consist of repeated ridges and grooves pattern. Surfaces with these geometries have been used to demonstrate the influence on cell adhesion, alignment and organization [18][19][20][21]. Differences in cytoskeleton elongation have been demonstrated between cells elongated on these

• the topography modifies cell tendency to adhere, although these differences were not found to be statistical significant. Cell morphology Cell morphology was defined as the combination of circularity, alignment to the substrate structures and presence of filopodia. Figure 5a–d shows the confocal

Optimizing qPlus sensor assemblies for simultaneous scanning tunneling and noncontact atomic force microscopy operation based on finite element method analysis

• Omur E. Dagdeviren and
• Udo D. Schwarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 657–666, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.70

• finite element models of completely assembled qPlus sensors that include attached tips. Our numerical calculations reveal that a non-symmetric alignment of the tip attachment causes the spring constant to decrease and the perturbation of the ideal vertical oscillation behavior to increase while the

Impact of air exposure and annealing on the chemical and electronic properties of the surface of SnO₂ nanolayers deposited by rheotaxial growth and vacuum oxidation

• Monika Kwoka and
• Maciej Krzywiecki

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 514–521, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.55

• samples was within the error of the measurement. Although the resolution of evaluating the valence band region is significantly lower than that of the most accurate photoemission yield spectroscopy [39][40][41], the magnitude of change is indisputable. This is of importance for the energy level alignment

Multimodal cantilevers with novel piezoelectric layer topology for sensitivity enhancement

• Steven Ian Moore,
• Michael G. Ruppert and
• Yuen Kuan Yong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 358–371, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.38

• piezoelectric layer [29] have been devised. In order to measure the cantilever deflection, the optical beam deflection (OBD) method [30] is still the widely used standard. However, the measurement setup for the OBD method has limitations, such that it requires frequent laser alignment, a cantilever with a

Ordering of Zn-centered porphyrin and phthalocyanine on TiO₂(011): STM studies

• Piotr Olszowski,
• Lukasz Zajac,
• Szymon Godlewski,
• Bartosz Such,
• Rémy Pawlak,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Res Jöhr,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Ernst Meyer and
• Marek Szymonski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 99–107, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.11

• the apparent geometrical arrangement of the molecules is governed by the alignment of protruding oxygen reconstruction rows (i.e., a [01−1] crystallographic direction. The contrast is rather unclear, already indicating relatively weak binding of the molecules to the substrate. Such apparent linear

Grazing-incidence optical magnetic recording with super-resolution

• Gunther Scheunert,
• Sidney. R. Cohen,
• René Kullock,
• Ryan McCarron,
• Katya Rechev,
• Ifat Kaplan-Ashiri,
• Ora Bitton,
• Paul Dawson,
• Bert Hecht and
• Dan Oron

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 28–37, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.4

• on a rough sample) and by following the AIST TERS tip alignment routine (performing an objective scan around the tip and recording the phase signal). This is in agreement with theoretical predictions for the optical setup in use (focal length of focusing objective = 20.3 mm, aperture diameter = 6 mm

When the going gets rough – studying the effect of surface roughness on the adhesive abilities of tree frogs

• Niall Crawford,
• Thomas Endlein,
• Jonathan T. Pham,
• Mathis Riehle and
• W. Jon P. Barnes

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2116–2131, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.201

• forces was negligible. The frog was restrained in a petri dish by a foam cushion which surrounded the body, with one leg extending out from the dish. Light suction on the dorsal side of the toe allowed alignment of the pad with the force plate surface. The frog was then positioned so that the pad rested

Annealing-induced recovery of indents in thin Au(Fe) bilayer films

• Anna Kosinova,
• Ruth Schwaiger,
• Leonid Klinger and
• Eugen Rabkin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2088–2099, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.199

• ; Rigaku SmartLab) using Cu Kα radiation in a parallel beam configuration. HRSEM micrographs were taken using a secondary electron detector, at an acceleration voltage of 3 kV. Pole figures were measured using slit collimation. Precise alignment of the samples was performed using rocking curves (ω scans

Nanostructured SnO₂–ZnO composite gas sensors for selective detection of carbon monoxide

• Paul Chesler,
• Cristian Hornoiu,
• Susana Mihaiu,
• Cristina Vladut,
• Jose Maria Calderon Moreno,
• Mihai Anastasescu,
• Carmen Moldovan,
• Bogdan Firtat,
• Costin Brasoveanu,
• George Muscalu,
• Ion Stan and
• Mariuca Gartner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2045–2056, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.195

• the optimum design of the transducer’s Pt heater, and b) fabrication of the transducer using mask technology and laser lithography on dedicated equipment, namely the Heidelberg DWL66FS, and wafer processing using photolithographic process with double-side alignment, metal etching and lift-off process

Low temperature co-fired ceramic packaging of CMOS capacitive sensor chip towards cell viability monitoring

• Niina Halonen,
• Joni Kilpijärvi,
• Maciej Sobocinski,
• Timir Datta-Chaudhuri,
• Antti Hassinen,
• Someshekar B. Prakash,
• Peter Möller,
• Pamela Abshire,
• Sakari Kellokumpu and
• Anita Lloyd Spetz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1871–1877, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.179

• plate. For alignment a flip-chip bonder was used. An epoxy underfill (EPO-TEK, 302-3M) was applied around the bumps and cured at 65 °C, to provide a seal between the chip and the LTCC against the liquid as well as additional attachment strength. To hold the fluid over the sensor surface, the same

Cubic chemically ordered FeRh and FeCo nanomagnets prepared by mass-selected low-energy cluster-beam deposition: a comparative study

• Veronique Dupuis,
• Anthony Robert,
• Arnaud Hillion,
• Ghassan Khadra,
• Nils Blanc,
• Damien Le Roy,
• Florent Tournus,
• Clement Albin,
• Olivier Boisron and
• Alexandre Tamion

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1850–1860, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.177

• obtained the experimental persistence of high ferromagnetic magnetization down to 3 K for size-selected chemically ordered B2-like FeRh nanocrystals up to 5 nm in diameter. In particular, magnetic measurements on annealed 3.3 nm FeRh samples, have demonstrated ferromagnetic alignment of Fe and Rh at low

Morphology of SiO₂ films as a key factor in alignment of liquid crystals with negative dielectric anisotropy

• Volodymyr Tkachenko,
• Antigone Marino,
• Eva Otón,
• Noureddine Bennis and
• Josè Manuel Otón

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1743–1748, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.167

• Madrid, Spain, Institute of Applied Physics, Military University of Technology, 00-908 Warsaw, Poland 10.3762/bjnano.7.167 Abstract Control of liquid crystal (LC) orientation using a proper SiO2 alignment layer is essential for the optimization of vertically aligned nematic (VAN) displays. With this aim

• , we studied the optical anisotropy of thin SiO2 films by generalized ellipsometry as a function of deposition angle. The columnar SiO2 structure orientation measured by a noninvasive ellipsometry technique is reported for the first time, and its morphology influence on the LC alignment is demonstrated

• for large deposition angles. Keywords: anisotropy; ellipsometry; liquid crystal alignment; morphology; thin film; Introduction Thin films of SiO2 and SiOx obtained by oblique deposition are commonly used as alignment layers for liquid crystal (LC) displays [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Several alignments

Analysis of self-heating of thermally assisted spin-transfer torque magnetic random access memory

• Austin Deschenes,
• Sadid Muneer,
• Mustafa Akbulut,
• Ali Gokirmak and
• Helena Silva

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1676–1683, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.160

• of the appropriate direction through the MTJ allowing the rotational spin of tunneling carriers to “torque” the free magnetic domain into the desired alignment. STT-MRAM exhibits desirable endurance, speed, and scaling properties. The write process of STT-MRAM has been shown to be highly reactive to

• are extrapolated via nearest-function method for 0.6 V simulations. Insets show the flow of carriers, and implied material properties, for a given initial free and fixed magnetic layer alignment. Simulations with initially parallel (ON) free/fixed layers use parallel properties, whereas simulations

Scanning probe microscopy studies on the adsorption of selected molecular dyes on titania

• Jakub S. Prauzner-Bechcicki,
• Lukasz Zajac,
• Piotr Olszowski,
• Res Jöhr,
• Antoine Hinaut,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Bartosz Such,
• Ernst Meyer and
• Marek Szymonski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1642–1653, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.156

• context, the knowledge of properties of the titania–sensitizer junction is essential for designing efficient devices. Consequently, studies on the adsorption of organic dyes on titania surfaces and on the influence of the adsorption geometry on the energy level alignment between the substrate and an

• [27]. More detailed analyses of the electronic structure, molecular orientations, energy level alignment and charge transfer dynamics have been provided by Cao et al. [29][30]. The authors showed that strong coupling between the PTCDA molecules and the TiO2 substrate results in charge transfer time

• . For completeness, we recall here the latest results obtained for ZnTPP molecules deposited onto the TiO2(110)-(1 × 1) surface [58]. The authors studied the formation, structure and energy level alignment of the first monolayer. To increase the chances of forming an ordered layer, Rangan et al

Nano- and microstructured materials for in vitro studies of the physiology of vascular cells

• Alexandra M. Greiner,
• Adria Sales,
• Hao Chen,
• Sarah A. Biela,
• Dieter Kaufmann and
• Ralf Kemkemer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1620–1641, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.155

• sensing, by filopodia, so far has been reported to be 10 nm-high nano-islands [226]. Furthermore, cell alignment to the direction of grooves was predicted with an automatic controller model [227]. This model concluded that cell alignment along the direction of grooves is proportional to the square of the

• microgrooved PDMS substrates an enhanced aspect ratio (cell length to width ratio) and a parallel alignment of the cell body with respect to the groove axis (Figure 4C) [21][24]. Rat-derived SMCs aligned stronger along the direction of microgrooves, the narrower these grooves were [21]. Moreover, cells also

• signaling of several different mechano-sensors is combined and finally summed up. Thus, to be able to control cell adhesion and alignment in a cell-specific manner it is important to ask how a cell senses surface topography. The ECM physical signals can be transmitted through focal adhesions and the

Nonlinear thermoelectric effects in high-field superconductor-ferromagnet tunnel junctions

• Stefan Kolenda,
• Peter Machon,
• Detlef Beckmann and
• Wolfgang Belzig

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1579–1585, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.152

• . Keywords: spintronics, superconductor-ferromagnet hybrids, thermoelectricity; Introduction Electrons in classical superconductors are bound in spin-singlet Cooper pairs, whereas ferromagnetic materials prefer parallel spin alignment. In nanoscale hybrid structures made of superconductors and ferromagnets

Filled and empty states of Zn-TPP films deposited on Fe(001)-p(1×1)O

• Gianlorenzo Bussetti,
• Alberto Calloni,
• Rossella Yivlialin,
• Andrea Picone,
• Federico Bottegoni and
• Marco Finazzi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1527–1531, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.146

• alignment between molecular levels and substrate bands plays a key role in the transport properties. Results and Discussion From a technological point of view, the 1 monolayer (ML) thick sample is the most interesting and appealing, due to its ordered (5 × 5) reconstruction [10] that can be exploited (i) as

• about 300 meV smaller with respect to the Zn-Pc film (0.76 eV, as reported in [14]), suggesting a different (lower) molecule–substrate interaction. The sample belongs to the large organic/metal interface group at which the vacuum level alignment rule breaks down [15] and chemical bonds play a key role

• the molecular packing could influence the energy levels of the film. However, the band alignment at the molecule/substrate interface is mainly due to a charge transfer between the organic layers and the substrate and a consequent modification of the electron density, as reported in the literature [18

The effect of dry shear aligning of nanotube thin films on the photovoltaic performance of carbon nanotube–silicon solar cells

• Benedikt W. Stolz,
• Daniel D. Tune and
• Benjamin S. Flavel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1486–1491, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.141

• important factor in many devices is the degree of coverage of the films on the silicon surface, itself dependent on the films’ porosity. Jung et al. [17], Li et al. [28] and Tune et al. [42] have shown that alignment of the nanotubes by solution shearing (as known as slide casting, liquid film shearing

• films as captured on the filtration membranes, and the same films after DSA. As well as the obvious alignment of the nanotubes in the direction of shear, the porosity of the film has also been reduced due to better packing of the nanotubes in their aligned configuration. The films are now also visibly

• absorbance spectra were unchanged by DSA however, Figure 2b shows the variation in the degree of alignment of the nanotubes in the films after DSA, where the 2D order parameter is calculated from polarised optical transmittance measurements as in Equation 1 [44] and reveals that the degree of alignment

Dealloying of gold–copper alloy nanowires: From hillocks to ring-shaped nanopores

• Adrien Chauvin,
• Cyril Delacôte,
• Mohammed Boujtita,
• Benoit Angleraud,
• Junjun Ding,
• Chang-Hwan Choi,
• Pierre-Yves Tessier and
• Abdel-Aziz El Mel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1361–1367, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.127

• size and shape coupled to the alignment and periodic organization of the nanowires is expected to promote the SERS effect originating from such gold nanostructures. Experimental Nanopatterned substrates The nanopatterned silicon substrates used as a template to grow the nanowires were prepared using a

On the pathway of cellular uptake: new insight into the interaction between the cell membrane and very small nanoparticles

• Claudia Messerschmidt,
• Daniel Hofmann,
• Anja Kroeger,
• Katharina Landfester,
• Volker Mailänder and
• Ingo Lieberwirth

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1296–1311, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.121

• hence reduces the repulsive forces between the particles. The separation of the particles cannot be completed but instead the repulsive forces only cause the observed row-like alignment. This explanation is exclusively based on the physical principles of membrane – particle interaction without any

Tunable longitudinal modes in extended silver nanoparticle assemblies

• Serene S. Bayram,
• Klas Lindfors and
• Amy Szuchmacher Blum

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1219–1228, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.113

• [5], DNA [6], and proteins [7], including virus coat proteins [8][9] as well as rigid templates such as carbon nanotubes [10] have been extensively implemented and programmed for desired assemblies. In addition, assisted organization and alignment of nanoparticles via external directing magnetic [11

Reasons and remedies for the agglomeration of multilayered graphene and carbon nanotubes in polymers

• Rasheed Atif and
• Fawad Inam

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1174–1196, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.109

• and CNTs or to improve the degree of alignment and dispersion complicates the manufacturing process making it less probable to scale up industrially [132]. In 2014, 2009 research papers were published with “graphene” and “epoxy” in their title (Thomson Reuters). Out of 2009 articles, about 830

• alignment of fibers in a polymer matrix [35]. Some other methods include wet lay-up method [132], injection molding, electrospinning, coagulation, spinning of coagulant, densification, layer-by-layer deposition and evaporation [2][40]. Filler alignment The mechanical properties of CNT–polymer composites are

• strongly influenced by the alignment of the CNTs in the matrix [134]. An increase of the modulus of the composite up to a factor of five for perfectly aligned fibers has been observed [2]. The maximum enhancement of mechanical properties can be achieved by aligning the reinforcement, i.e., making the

Experimental and simulation-based investigation of He, Ne and Ar irradiation of polymers for ion microscopy

• Lukasz Rzeznik,
• Yves Fleming,
• Tom Wirtz and
• Patrick Philipp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1113–1128, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.104

• accessible to the latter to relatively small voids in which they are somehow imprisoned and oscillate around their equilibrium position. The size of the voids depends on the polymer type and density, and the alignment of the molecules. The size of the rare gas atoms also matters. For Ar the amplitude of

Role of solvents in the electronic transport properties of single-molecule junctions

• Katharina Luka-Guth,
• Sebastian Hambsch,
• Andreas Bloch,
• Philipp Ehrenreich,
• Bernd Michael Briechle,
• Filip Kilibarda,
• Torsten Sendler,
• Dmytro Sysoiev,
• Thomas Huhn,
• Artur Erbe and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1055–1067, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.99

• level alignment [9][10][13][21]. In general, a molecular junction is not formed in all of the breaking curves, but the majority of curves show smooth or noisy distance dependence. These curves are interpreted as tunnelling through the solvent that has no influence on the apparent conductance values of

• , where we plot two I–V curves calculated with the SLM and the SM with the level alignment equalling the barrier height. We have chosen here the typical value |E0| = Φ = 0.8 eV. The other parameters, Γ, d and A were adapted such that the linear conductance of both models is the same and lies in the order

• alignment |E0| on the conductance, however, the variation of the best-fit results increases with conductance. This means that the onset of the non-linear contribution in the I–Vs is independent of the transmission and justifies the recording of opening traces under constant voltage bias, as usually done in

Phenalenyl-based mononuclear dysprosium complexes

• Yanhua Lan,
• Andrea Magri,
• Olaf Fuhr and
• Mario Ruben

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 995–1009, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.92

• regime. Discussion The program Magellan [53] was used to extract information about the magnetic easy axis in complexes 1–3 (Figure 6). On the basis of the Magellan output, we found that in all three cases the axis of preferred alignment extends along with the planes of deprotonated phenalenyls defined by