Deterministic placement of ultra-bright near-infrared color centers in arrays of silicon carbide micropillars

• Stefania Castelletto,
• Abdul Salam Al Atem,
• Faraz Ahmed Inam,
• Hans Jürgen von Bardeleben,
• Sophie Hameau,
• Ahmed Fahad Almutairi,
• Gérard Guillot,
• Shin-ichiro Sato,
• Alberto Boretti and
• Jean Marie Bluet

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2383–2395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.229

• micro-PL was performed using the Micro-Raman spectrometer LabRAM HR Evolution from HORIBA, equipped with a 785 nm laser. The laser is focused via a 100× 0.9 NA objective on the pillars and on the area with no pillars (gap) at the irradiation depth. The emitted photoluminescence is collected with the

• . The low-temperature macroscopic PL spectra show the ZPLs of VSi and VSiVC and an important enhancement of the VSi and VSiVC PL lines in the region where the pillars are present. It is to be noted that the gap region has also been ion-irradiated, because the irradiation was carried out without mask

• using confocal microscopy is compared to the emission spectra in the gap and the background arising from the deeper implanted areas. Fluorescence photostability, PL enhancement, lifetime Photostability measurements showed a photostable emission for all color centers. The inset of Figure 6c shows the

Polyvinylpyrrolidone as additive for perovskite solar cells with water and isopropanol as solvents

• Chen Du,
• Shuo Wang,
• Xu Miao,
• Wenhai Sun,
• Yu Zhu,
• Chengyan Wang and
• Ruixin Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2374–2382, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.228

• remarkable light absorption capacity [5] and the tunable band gap [6] of inorganic–organic lead halide perovskite crystals make them suitable for the production of organic semiconductors [7], photodetectors [8], and photovoltaics [5]. In 2009, Kojima et al. achieved a breakthrough in using mesoporous TiO2 as

Nontoxic pyrite iron sulfide nanocrystals as second electron acceptor in PTB7:PC₇₁BM-based organic photovoltaic cells

• Olivia Amargós-Reyes,
• José-Luis Maldonado,
• Omar Martínez-Alvarez,
• María-Elena Nicho,
• José Santos-Cruz,
• Juan Nicasio-Collazo,
• Irving Caballero-Quintana and
• Concepción Arenas-Arrocena

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2238–2250, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.216

• ]. According to the analysis carried out by Wadia et al. [3], among 23 semiconducting materials, FeS2 is the best candidate for the development of large-scale solar cells at low cost (<2 × 10−6 ¢/W). Furthermore, FeS2 exhibits excellent optoelectronic properties such as a band gap of 0.8 to 1.38 eV [4][5][6][7

• electrochemical band gap energy, the valence and conduction band energies (EVB and ECB) were calculated using the following Equation 1 and Equation 2: and where E[onset,ox] and E[onset,red] are the onset potentials of the oxidation and the reduction relative to ferrocene/ferrocenium (Fc+/Fc), E[½(Fc)] is the half

• -wave ferrocene potential of 0.20 V, and the additional energy of 4.8 eV represents the difference to the vacuum level potential of the normal hydrogen electrode. Thus, we determine an EVB of −4.99 eV and an ECB of −4.20 eV, resulting in a reasonable band gap energy of 0.79 eV, which is in line with the

Ultrathin Ni_1−xCo_xS₂ nanoflakes as high energy density electrode materials for asymmetric supercapacitors

• Xiaoxiang Wang,
• Teng Wang,
• Rusen Zhou,
• Lijuan Fan,
• Shengli Zhang,
• Feng Yu,
• Tuquabo Tesfamichael,
• Liwei Su and
• Hongxia Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2207–2216, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.213

• 2p1/2 and Ni 2p3/2 (Figure 2b) with binding energies of 855.9 eV and 873.3 eV are observed, respectively, with an energy gap of 17.4 eV. Two satellite (indicated as “Sat.”) peaks are also observed at 859.9 eV and 878.4 eV. Thus, the existence of Ni2+ is confirmed in the sulfurised resultants [30][31

BergaCare SmartLipids: commercial lipophilic active concentrates for improved performance of dermal products

• Florence Olechowski,
• Rainer H. Müller and
• Sung Min Pyo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2152–2162, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.208

• then passed through a high-pressure homogenizer, and typically one or two homogenization cycles are applied. Homogenizers used are typically piston–gap homogenizers, e.g., the APV Gaulin 5.5. homogenizer with a production capacity of up to 150 L/h (medium scale) [7], and the GEA Niro Soavi homogenizer

Improved adsorption and degradation performance by S-doping of (001)-TiO₂

• Xiao-Yu Sun,
• Xian Zhang,
• Xiao Sun,
• Ni-Xian Qian,
• Min Wang and
• Yong-Qing Ma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2116–2127, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.206

• mainly comprises the O 2p states, with a band gap energy (Eg) of 3.2 eV. Therefore, the photo-excitation of electron–hole pairs requires photon energies hν ≥ 3.2 eV (wavelength λ < 387 nm). This means that the photo-response range of TiO2 lies in the ultraviolet region, and it can only absorb less than 5

• study on C/F-codoped (001)-TiO2 concluded that C/F atoms preferentially replaced O atoms on the (001) face, resulting in a surface conduction layer that could promote the migration of photo-generated carriers [19]. N/P-codoping of (001)-TiO2 resulted in a reduction of the band gap from 3.20 to 2.48 eV

• above the valence band maximum, we measured the valence-band XP spectra of the 2-S0, 2-S0.5, 2-S1, 2-S3 and 2-S5 samples as shown in Figure 5. For all the samples, the valence band maximum is located around 2.4 eV, so S-doping does not shift the valence band maximum towards the forbidden band. Mid-gap

Improvement of the thermoelectric properties of a MoO₃ monolayer through oxygen vacancies

• Wenwen Zheng,
• Wei Cao,
• Ziyu Wang,
• Huixiong Deng,
• Jing Shi and
• Rui Xiong

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2031–2038, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.199

• [7] and Li-ion batteries [8][9][10][11]. Like most TMOs, bulk MoO3 has a wide band gap (about 3.0 eV) and low electrical conductivity, which seems inappropriate for thermoelectric devices. However, the electrical properties (including band gap and conductivity) of MoO3 are strongly dependent on the

• –Ernzerhof (PBE) [20] pseudopotentials without spin–orbit interaction. Since the PBE functional fails to capture the electrical and optical properties of bulk MoO3 by a large margin (band gap of less than half of the experimental value), we also employ the Heyd–Scuseria–Ernzerhof (HSE06) hybrid functional

• the Γ point, while the maximum of the first valence band (VBM) appears at the S point. The indirect bandgap of the MoO3 monolayer is computed as 1.79 eV for PBE and 2.85 eV for HSE06, which is consistent with previous studies [17][31]. Since the MoO3 monolayer is a wide-gap semiconductor, it is likely

Synthesis and potent cytotoxic activity of a novel diosgenin derivative and its phytosomes against lung cancer cells

• Liang Xu,
• Dekang Xu,
• Ziying Li,
• Yu Gao and
• Haijun Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1933–1942, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.189

• antiproliferative activity against A549 and PC9 cells than Di. Cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induced by P2 The cell cycle is the series of events that take place in cells for their propagation and multiplication. The phases consist of the gap-1 phase (G1), synthesis phase (S), mitosis phase (M), and gap-2 phase

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

• columnar self-assembly of NCs. The analysis showed a well-defined mapping of Si, Ge and Ti (/TiO2) with a small fraction of oxygen observed in the SiGe layer. The NCs columns are arranged periodically, having a width of NCs of 10–15 nm, with a gap of 5–6 nm amorphous SiGeO. We note that the small SiGe

• ° divergence slit and a 0.27° parallel plate collimator was used. The measurement run was made over 0.005 °/s scan speed. For photoconductive measurement, Al contacts (1 × 4 mm2) in co-planar geometry with a gap of 4 mm between them were deposited by evaporation. A schematic of the photocurrent setup and the

Precise local control of liquid crystal pretilt on polymer layers by focused ion beam nanopatterning

• Maxim V. Gorkunov,
• Irina V. Kasyanova,
• Vladimir V. Artemov,
• Alena V. Mamonova and
• Serguei P. Palto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1691–1697, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.164

• LC orientation upon the patterned PI surface. Finally, the gap between the substrates fixed with Sekisui Micropearl spherical spacers is filled with a nematic liquid crystal material E7 (Merck). After being optically studied, the cells are repeatedly reassembled with spacers of different sizes

Giant magnetoresistance ratio in a current-perpendicular-to-plane spin valve based on an inverse Heusler alloy Ti₂NiAl

• Yu Feng,
• Zhou Cui,
• Bo Wu,
• Jianwei Li,
• Hongkuan Yuan and
• Hong Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1658–1665, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.161

• metallicity, while minority spin bands possess an energy gap around the Fermi level. Such a novel band structure results in a theoretical 100% spin polarization, which is one of the most crucial parameters for CPP-SV according to the Valet–Fert model [5]. As one of the subfamilies of Heusler alloys

• electronic structure in spin up and spin down channels, respectively. It was observed that the spin down half-metallic energy gap in bulk Ti2NiAl is destroyed completely in various kinds of atomic-terminated interfaces of the Ti2NiAl/Ag/Ti2NiAl device, which could be attributed to the appearance of interface

Stationary beam full-field transmission helium ion microscopy using sub-50 keV He⁺: Projected images and intensity patterns

• Michael Mousley,
• Santhana Eswara,
• Olivier De Castro,
• Olivier Bouton,
• Nico Klingner,
• Christoph T. Koch,
• Gregor Hlawacek and
• Tom Wirtz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1648–1657, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.160

• image formed by projection of the beam through the 1 mm aperture when the beam is focused onto the sample in the gap between BN particles at the point indicated by a green cross in Figure 2A. The intensity comes from a small area in the sample plane and the MCP intensity distribution reflects the

• voltage on Lens 2 to bring the focal point closer to the sample plane, going from underfocus closer to focus. This increases the intensity on the particle, increases the magnification and spreads out the deflected areas. When doing this, a triangular gap appears in the intensity distribution as shown in

• compared to Figure 2E. For both of these lens settings, the beam passes through a gap in the sample and the final image is not influenced by the structure of the sample. For both overfocus and underfocus, only a shadow image is produced. Throughout the series there are no deflection spot patterns like the

Kelvin probe force microscopy work function characterization of transition metal oxide crystals under ongoing reduction and oxidation

• Dominik Wrana,
• Karol Cieślik,
• Wojciech Belza,
• Christian Rodenbücher,
• Krzysztof Szot and
• Franciszek Krok

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1596–1607, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.155

• ideal case, when the CPD reaches the value of STO in the gap between parallel nanowires, this measure adopts 1, and 0 if there is no drop in CPD. The dependence of this value on the TiO nanowire separation (plotted in Figure 4d) provides information on the resolution limit. It follows an asymptotic

Unipolar magnetic field pulses as an advantageous tool for ultrafast operations in superconducting Josephson “atoms”

• Daria V. Popolitova,
• Nikolay V. Klenov,
• Igor I. Soloviev,
• Sergey V. Bakurskiy and
• Olga V. Tikhonova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1548–1558, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.152

• transition. It should be noticed that the increase of the magnetic field strength (or the coupling between levels) does not influence the characteristic time of the gate at all. With the increase of the energy gap Δ the maximal possible value of the population of the upper qubit state starts to decrease

• adjust the magnitude of the energy gap and even make it negligible. In addition, we can control the selection rules. There is a range of parameters in which, for example, the transition between the lowest energy levels is prohibited. For small sizes of the potential barrier between the minima (for

High-temperature resistive gas sensors based on ZnO/SiC nanocomposites

• Vadim B. Platonov,
• Marina N. Rumyantseva,
• Alexander S. Frolov,
• Alexey D. Yapryntsev and
• Alexander M. Gaskov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1537–1547, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.151

• composite nanomaterials using highly dispersed silicon carbide (SiC). The unique physical and chemical properties of silicon carbide – wide band gap (Eg = 2.4–3.2 eV), high Debye temperature 1400 K, high thermal conductivity of 4.9 W/cm·K, low reactivity to oxygen and water vapor – ensure the stability of

• ]. Taking into account the difference in the band gap (Eg) of 2H-SiC (Eg = 3.3 eV [39]) and 3C-SiC (Eg = 2.36 eV [40]) polytypes, and assuming that the position of the valence band for these polytypes does not vary significantly, we constructed a diagram of the band alignment for ZnO and 3C-SiC phases

• alumina micro-hotplates provided with vapor-deposited Pt contacts (0.3 × 0.2 mm2) separated by a 0.2 mm gap and with embedded Pt-meanders. The paste was dried at room temperature in ambient air and then calcined at 250 °C in purified air for 20 h to remove the binder. The thick sensing layer was about 1

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

• treatment on the ITO chemical composition. Using a Tauc plot, values of the optical band gap ranging from 3.17 to 3.67 eV were estimated. These values depend on the heat treatment and the thickness of the sample. Highly conductive indium tin oxide thin films (ρ = 7.4 × 10−5 Ω cm) were obtained after RTA

Energy distribution in an ensemble of nanoparticles and its consequences

• Dieter Vollath

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1452–1457, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.143

• temperature range, fluctuations are possible [1][2]. However, while these studies give the temperature range where fluctuations may be expected, data about the probability distribution of fluctuations are not presented. This gap needs to be closed. Furthermore, given that the temperature distribution is

BiOCl/TiO₂/diatomite composites with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of rhodamine B

• Minlin Ao,
• Kun Liu,
• Xuekun Tang,
• Zishun Li,
• Qian Peng and
• Jing Huang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1412–1422, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.139

• have been studied and successfully applied as the photocatalytic carrier. As a result, well-dispersed, nanometer-sized TiO2 immobilized on diatomite is obtained in the present paper. Even when TiO2 is well-dispersed, the problem of the band gap is yet another impediment to overcome. The value of the

• band gap of TiO2 is determined to be 3.20 eV [20], which means the photocatalytic process can just occur under UV-light irradiation. As we all know, it is more meaningful to make full use of the visible light spectrum in photocatalysis. To solve this problem, many effective methods have been studied

• such as doping [21], sensitization [22], modification [23], coupled and supported semiconductors [24]. As an important bismuth oxyhalide semiconductor material, bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) has gained extensive attention in photocatalysis [25][26]. BiOCl has a band gap of 3.05–3.55 eV [27], which allows

Construction of a 0D/1D composite based on Au nanoparticles/CuBi₂O₄ microrods for efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

• Weilong Shi,
• Mingyang Li,
• Hongji Ren,
• Feng Guo,
• Xiliu Huang,
• Yu Shi and
• Yubin Tang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1360–1367, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.134

• 700 nm, and according to the Kubelka–Munk function [29] and the plot of (αhν)2 as a function of hν (Figure S1, Supporting Information File 1), the band gap (Eg) of CBO could be estimated to be 1.76 eV, which is consistent with the value reported in [30]. All of the Au/CBO composites exhibited a better

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

• diameter in order to create a small gap between the structure and the aperture edge. This choice was made because we noticed that holes preferentially form at the edge (Figure 5b) due to a smaller effective thickness by film sagging near the aperture edge and redeposition effects (see Figure 3c,d). The gap

Molecular attachment to a microscope tip: inelastic tunneling, Kondo screening, and thermopower

• Rouzhaji Tuerhong,
• Mauro Boero and
• Jean-Pierre Bucher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1243–1250, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.124

• in the gap of the STM is investigated by probing the differential conductance through the junction. The STS spectrum of a MnPc molecule flat-lying on Au(111) is taken with a bare metallic tip and used as a reference spectrum to be compared with the STS result obtained with a MnPc-terminated tip

• . After attachment of a single MnPc molecule to the tip apex, an STM image of the Au(111) is first taken with this tip (Figure 2d). This image shows a characteristic signature of the presence of MnPc in the STM gap, namely a fuzzy vertical stripe, about 1.5 nm wide, on the left-hand side of the STM image

• the gap, originates from the interaction of the injected electrons with the various molecular excitations during the tunneling process, not present in Figure 2b. Most importantly, the two IETS side peaks and the conductance step observed for MnPc on the tip are absent when the MnPc molecule is lying

Playing with covalent triazine framework tiles for improved CO₂ adsorption properties and catalytic performance

• Giulia Tuci,
• Andree Iemhoff,
• Housseinou Ba,
• Lapo Luconi,
• Andrea Rossin,
• Vasiliki Papaefthimiou,
• Regina Palkovits,
• Jens Artz,
• Cuong Pham-Huu and
• Giuliano Giambastiani

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1217–1227, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.121

• ; Table 2, entry 27) [58]. CTF1 presents the highest CO2 adsorption capacity at 1 bar pressure among the samples of this series when analyses are carried out at the lower temperature (273 K). Under these conditions, the adsorption gap with related samples from the literature (Table 2, entry 1 vs entries 6

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

• seen from a stable and smooth tunneling current without spikes due to molecules diffusing in and out of the tunnel gap. This indicates the presence of strong intermolecular attractions that lead to the formation of two-dimensional islands surrounded by a two-dimensional gas phase of molecules with only

• by the fact that there are no, or only very few, mobile molecules on the surface which could otherwise cause variations in the tunnel current by moving in and out of the tunnel gap. A significant contrast in the apparent height between the rows of the two types of molecules is found (Figure 6c). We

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

• carriers are driven by the electric field and drift to the interfaces (Figure 5b). In virtue of the relative high quality of the IGZO bulk as well as its adjacent interfaces, the transfer curves show only a small hump and a small gap-shift without SS distortion in the forward and reverse scanning. When the

Synthesis and characterization of quaternary La(Sr)S–TaS₂ misfit-layered nanotubes

• Marco Serra,
• Erumpukuthickal Ashokkumar Anumol,
• Dalit Stolovas,
• Iddo Pinkas,
• Ernesto Joselevich,
• Reshef Tenne,
• Andrey Enyashin and
• Francis Leonard Deepak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1112–1124, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.111

• many years later [33][34]. Importantly also, the hexagonal CrS2 (VS2) is not a stable polymorph unless it is intercalated in the galleries of the van der Waals gap by an electron donor (Lewis base). Incidentally, in [32] the authors mention that: “Another type of crystals with a "hollow-rod" shape