Tailoring of physical properties of RF-sputtered ZnTe films: role of substrate temperature

• Kafi Devi,
• Usha Rani,
• Arun Kumar,
• Divya Gupta and
• Sanjeev Aggarwal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 333–348, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.25

• crystallinity, high transmittance, and high conductivity of the ZnTe film produced at 600 °C make it a suitable candidate for use as a buffer layer in solar cell applications. Keywords: bandgap; physical properties; RF sputtering; substrate temperature; ZnTe; Introduction The industrialization and burning of

• carrier transport, ZnTe can be used as a buffer layer in CdTe-based solar cells for back contact. Moreover, n-type zinc telluride films can be used in the window layer as a substitute for CdS [6]. Zinc telluride films are highly resistive with a resistivity of about several megaohm·centimetres [7]. The

• × 10−4 Ω−1·cm−1) with the increase in substrate temperature (300–600 °C). The observed large bandgap (3.11 eV), high transmittance, large crystallite size (68.88 Å) and high conductivity of the ZnTe film produced at 600 °C indicate a possible application of such films as a buffer layer in solar cells

The role of a tantalum interlayer in enhancing the properties of Fe₃O₄ thin films

• Hai Dang Ngo,
• Vo Doan Thanh Truong,
• Van Qui Le,
• Hoai Phuong Pham and
• Thi Kim Hang Pham

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1253–1259, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.101

• . More importantly, changes in grain size and structure due to the effect of the MgO/Ta buffering layers have a strong impact on saturation magnetization and coercivity of Fe3O4 thin films compared to cases of no or just a single buffering layer. Keywords: buffer layer; Fe3O4; magnetite; RF magnetron

• films on three different types of substrates, namely an amorphous SiO2/Si(100) substrate, a single crystal MgO(100) substrate, and a buffer layer consisting of MgO/Ta/SiO2/Si(100). The properties of Fe3O4 thin films were analyzed using atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and

• the Fe3O4 thin films causes a shift in the peak observed in sample 3 [32]. Our results reveal that the growth orientation of the Fe3O4 thin film depends on the lattice mismatch between the Fe3O4 thin film and the substrate or buffer layer. When the Fe3O4 thin film is deposited on the amorphous SiO2

Measurements of dichroic bow-tie antenna arrays with integrated cold-electron bolometers using YBCO oscillators

• Leonid S. Revin,
• Dmitry A. Pimanov,
• Alexander V. Chiginev,
• Anton V. Blagodatkin,
• Viktor O. Zbrozhek,
• Andrey V. Samartsev,
• Anastasia N. Orlova,
• Dmitry V. Masterov,
• Alexey E. Parafin,
• Victoria Yu. Safonova,
• Anna V. Gordeeva,
• Andrey L. Pankratov,
• Leonid S. Kuzmin,
• Anatolie S. Sidorenko,
• Silvia Masi and
• Paolo de Bernardis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 26–36, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.3

• deposition of cerium dioxide CeO2 on the heated substrate as a buffer layer. The dimensions of the obtained Josephson junctions were 50 µm in length and 0.3 µm in thickness. At a temperature T ~ 2.7 K, the value of the critical current density was ~400 kA/cm2 with the ICRN product of ~1.6 mV. The junctions

TEM sample preparation of lithographically patterned permalloy nanostructures on silicon nitride membranes

• Joshua Williams,
• Michael I. Faley,
• Joseph Vimal Vas,
• Peng-Han Lu and
• Rafal E. Dunin-Borkowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1–12, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.1

• submicrometer apertures were milled on SiN membranes using a focused ion beam. Furthermore, we have developed a new TEM sample preparation method, where we fabricated Py nanostructures on a bulk substrate with a SiN buffer layer and etched the substrate to create a thin SiN membrane under the Py nanostructure

• -off or IBE methods on the bulk substrate. Then we protected the nanostructure with a resist and patterned AZ®5214E resist on the back side of the substrate using the image reversal technique. A window in the SiN buffer layer was prepared by ion beam etching through the aperture in the mask of AZ®5214E

Cross-sectional Kelvin probe force microscopy on III–V epitaxial multilayer stacks: challenges and perspectives

• Mattia da Lisca,
• José Alvarez,
• James P. Connolly,
• Nicolas Vaissiere,
• Karim Mekhazni,
• Jean Decobert and
• Jean-Paul Kleider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 725–737, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.59

• variation along the structure. The progression of the VCPD profile shows that four different slopes are present considering the region from the last InP:nid buffer layer to the GaInAs:Zn contact layer (from 0.86 to 3.09 μm). In particular, the first is located between the last InP:nid buffer layer and the

• present in the InP:nid buffer, the space charge region is expected to be located almost exclusively in the buffer layer. Similarly, two Zn doping concentration gradients are present from the last InP:Zn layer to the GaInAsP:Zn transition layer (from 1 × 1018 to 6 × 1018 cm−3) and from the GaInAsP:Zn

• in the VCPD image [28]. In particular, one reason can be found in the aforementioned tip-averaging effect: The tip still senses parts of the space charge in the InP:nid buffer layer and in the GaInAsP:Zn transition layer although being already on the first InP:Zn layer and on the GaInAs:Zn contact

Self-assembly of C₆₀ on a ZnTPP/Fe(001)–p(1 × 1)O substrate: observation of a quasi-freestanding C₆₀ monolayer

• Guglielmo Albani,
• Michele Capra,
• Alessandro Lodesani,
• Alberto Calloni,
• Gianlorenzo Bussetti,
• Marco Finazzi,
• Franco Ciccacci,
• Alberto Brambilla,
• Lamberto Duò and
• Andrea Picone

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 857–864, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.76

• tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy. C60 nucleates compact and well-ordered hexagonal domains on top of the ZnTPP buffer layer, suggesting a high surface diffusivity of C60 and a weak coupling between the overlayer and the substrate. Accordingly, work function

• the cell efficiency [21]. It has been shown that a buffer layer interposed between the substrate and the molecular film can improve the crystallinity of the latter and reduce the electronic coupling with the support [22]. The buffer layer can either be a thin oxide film [23][24][25][26] or a single

• structure [36][37][38]. In this paper, we investigate the effects induced by a ZnTPP buffer layer covering the Fe(001)–p(1 × 1)O surface on the electronic and structural properties of a C60 ultrathin film. The Fe(001)–p(1 × 1)O surface is characterized by a single layer of oxygen atoms, adsorbed in the

Topographic signatures and manipulations of Fe atoms, CO molecules and NaCl islands on superconducting Pb(111)

• Carl Drechsel,
• Philipp D’Astolfo,
• Jung-Ching Liu,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Rémy Pawlak and
• Ernst Meyer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1–9, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.1

• from the underlying superconductors. With this prospect, we emphasize that, in addition to tip manipulations, the use of alkali halide islands, adsorbed on a superconducting surface and acting as a buffer layer, is another interesting field for research on topological superconductors [41][42][43][44

Plasmon-enhanced photoluminescence from TiO₂ and TeO₂ thin films doped by Eu³⁺ for optoelectronic applications

• Marcin Łapiński,
• Jakub Czubek,
• Katarzyna Drozdowska,
• Anna Synak,
• Wojciech Sadowski and
• Barbara Kościelska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1271–1278, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.94

• were annealed at 550 °C for 15 min in air atmosphere. The formation of metallic nanostructures has been described in detail in our previous works [24][25][26]. On the prepared plasmonic platforms a dielectric buffer layer was deposited. We chose two kinds of layers. The first one, Al2O3, with different

Progress and innovation of nanostructured sulfur cathodes and metal-free anodes for room-temperature Na–S batteries

• Marina Tabuyo-Martínez,
• Bernd Wicklein and
• Pilar Aranda

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 995–1020, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.75

Molecular assemblies on surfaces: towards physical and electronic decoupling of organic molecules

• Sabine Maier and
• Meike Stöhr

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 950–956, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.71

• of the same polymorphs for 4-tetradecyloxybenzoic acid assemblies in the presence and absence of the long-chain alkane buffer layer indicated that the influence of the substrate could not solely explain the self-assembled structures. However, the alkane buffer layer provided the possibility to

• , or metals [83]. Rothe et al. [84] demonstrated that semimetallic graphene is an appropriate buffer layer for the physical and chemical decoupling of rubrene from Pt(111). The strong molecule–surface interaction on Pt(111) is expressed by hit-and-stick adsorption due to a substantial diffusion barrier

Spontaneous shape transition of Mn_xGe_1−x islands to long nanowires

• S. Javad Rezvani,
• Luc Favre,
• Gabriele Giuli,
• Yiming Wubulikasimu,
• Isabelle Berbezier,
• Augusto Marcelli,
• Luca Boarino and
• Nicola Pinto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 366–374, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.30

• deposition, Ge wafers were annealed at 400 °C for 30 min to remove the overgrown oxide. Then, a Ge buffer layer of 80 nm was deposited at 350 °C, using a Knudsen cell, and let to cool down to 60 °C for Mn deposition. Two to nine monolayers of Mn were deposited at 60 °C. The films were annealed immediately

• , and Ge + Mn in the NW and in the buffer layer. In all panels the dashed lines highlight the NW region. Cross-section image of the NW along its length. (a) TEM image of a 1.15 μm long NW capped with a Pt layer. (b) HRTEM image along [110] zone axis. The dashed lines highlight the height of the NW of

Extended iron phthalocyanine islands self-assembled on a Ge(001):H surface

• Rafal Zuzak,
• Marek Szymonski and
• Szymon Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 232–241, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.19

• van der Waals interactions [7], but the lack of a gap results in broadening and shifting of the molecular resonances. In recent years, it has been proposed to add a buffer layer between the metallic substrate and the molecules of interest [8][9]. This approach allows for the decoupling of the

Piezotronic effect in AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterojunction nanowires used as a flexible strain sensor

• Jianqi Dong,
• Liang Chen,
• Yuqing Yang and
• Xingfu Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1847–1853, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.166

• by MOCVD (Thomas Swan). Trimethylgallium (TMGa), trimethylaluminum (TMAl), and ammonia (NH3) were used as Ga, Al, and N sources, respectively. N2 and H2 were used as carrier gases in the growth process. A 1 μm layer of unintentionally doped GaN was deposited as the buffer layer on a sapphire

Absorption and photoconductivity spectra of amorphous multilayer structures

• Oxana Iaseniuc and
• Mihail Iovu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1757–1763, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.158

• the buffer layer, and can thus not be attributed to space-charge-limited current (SCLC). We thank for fruitful discussion and we suggest that for more detailed information regarding the origin of SCLC in our investigated structures, additional investigations of the I–V characteristics at different

Growth of a self-assembled monolayer decoupled from the substrate: nucleation on-command using buffer layers

• Robby Reynaerts,
• Kunal S. Mali and
• Steven De Feyter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1291–1302, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.113

• typical building block, namely 4-tetradecyloxybenzoic acid at the 1-phenyloctane–graphite interface in the presence and in the absence of a buffer layer formed by a long chain alkane, namely n-pentacontane. Using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), three different structural polymorphs were identified

• for 4-tetradecyloxybenzoic acid at the 1-phenyloctane–graphite interface. Surprisingly, the same three structures were formed on top of the buffer layer, albeit at different concentrations. Systematic variation of experimental parameters did not lead to any new network in the presence of the buffer

• layer. We discovered that the self-assembly on top of the buffer layer allows better control over the nanoscale manipulation of the self-assembled networks. Using the influence of the STM tip, we could initiate the nucleation of small isolated domains of the benzoic acid on-command in a reproducible

Proximity effect in [Nb(1.5 nm)/Fe(x)]₁₀/Nb(50 nm) superconductor/ferromagnet heterostructures

• Yury Khaydukov,
• Sabine Pütter,
• Laura Guasco,
• Roman Morari,
• Gideok Kim,
• Thomas Keller,
• Anatolie Sidorenko and
• Bernhard Keimer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1254–1263, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.109

• . Black arrows show the direction of the neutron beam. RHEED patterns of (a) the Al2O3() substrate, (b) the Pt cap layer, and the Nb buffer layer grown at (c) 800 °C and (d) 30 °C. (e, f) Growth stages of sample s6: (e) the 6th Fe layer, (f) the 6th Nb layer. X-ray diffraction patterns of (a) sample s3

Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy of rubrene on clean and graphene-covered metal surfaces

• Karl Rothe,
• Alexander Mehler,
• Nicolas Néel and
• Jörg Kröger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1157–1167, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.100

• progressive reduction of the molecule–surface hybridization can be achieved by using inert metal substrates, Au rather than Pt, and by introducing a two-dimensional material, e.g., graphene, as a buffer layer between the adsorbed molecule and the metal. The degree of decoupling can be judged by the molecule

• both frontier orbitals, induced by different molecular vibrational quanta and with different Huang–Rhys factors. Consequently, graphene represents an appropriate buffer layer for exploring electronic and vibronic properties at the single-molecule level. (a) Skeletal formula of C42H28 including

Band tail state related photoluminescence and photoresponse of ZnMgO solid solution nanostructured films

• Vadim Morari,
• Aida Pantazi,
• Nicolai Curmei,
• Vitalie Postolache,
• Emil V. Rusu,
• Marius Enachescu,
• Ion M. Tiginyanu and
• Veaceslav V. Ursaki

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 899–910, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.75

• demonstrated on p-type Si [2][4] because p-type doping is still a big challenge to ZnO-based semiconductors. Liang et al. demonstrated a ZnMgO/p-Si heterojunction solar-blind UV photodetector with a BeO buffer layer [35]. In terms of the crystal structure of ZnMgO films used in photodetectors, three types of

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

• : MgO/Ta(5 nm)/HA(20 nm)/Cu(4 nm)/Ni(dNi)/Cu(1.5 nm)/Pb(105 nm)/Si3N4 with the variable Ni layer thickness, dNi, in the range from 0.6 to 2.5 nm. In this construction MgO(001) is a high-quality single crystalline substrate, Ta(5 nm) is a buffer layer necessary for the optimal growth of the whole

• structure, HA and Ni play the roles of the ferromagnetic F1 and F2 layer, respectively, Cu(4 nm) decouples the magnetization of the F1 and the F2 layer, Pb(105 nm) is an S layer, Si3N4 is a protective layer against oxidation, and Cu(1.5 nm) is a buffer layer necessary for the optimal growth of the Pb layer

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

• semiconductor active layer with appropriate stoichiometry during the fabrication should be controlled. Also, the interface engineering in high-performance TFTs, including surface treatment and buffer layer introduction [14][15], should be carefully considered. Conclusion The influence of annealing temperature

Femtosecond laser-assisted fabrication of chalcopyrite micro-concentrator photovoltaics

• Franziska Ringleb,
• Stefan Andree,
• Berit Heidmann,
• Jörn Bonse,
• Katharina Eylers,
• Owen Ernst,
• Torsten Boeck,
• Martina Schmid and
• Jörg Krüger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 3025–3038, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.281

• state of the art. The electric back contact (molybdenum) covered with the highly-efficient light-absorber (CIGSe) on top is deposited on a carrier material (glass). A buffer layer (CdS), a window layer consisting of an intrinsic ZnO layer (ZnO) and an aluminum-doped ZnO layer (Al:ZnO) as transparent

Variation of the photoluminescence spectrum of InAs/GaAs heterostructures grown by ion-beam deposition

• Alexander S. Pashchenko,
• Leonid S. Lunin,
• Eleonora M. Danilina and
• Sergei N. Chebotarev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2794–2801, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.261

• : the top with a GaAs strain-reducing layer; the bottom with a strained buffer layer (wetting layer) [15][16][17][18][19]. Thus, the simplified energy band diagram of the active region of an InAs/GaAs heterostructure is an InAs quantum dot built into a GaAs matrix in the form of a quantum well. It

• type of samples (ST#2) contained three QD layers that were separated by GaAs barriers of 15, 20 and 30 nm. During the growth process, pressure in the vacuum chamber was 3.7 × 10−7 Pa. The 500 nm thick n+-GaAs buffer layer at T = 610 °C was grown first. The accelerating voltage of the ion beam was 450 V

Optimization of Mo/Cr bilayer back contacts for thin-film solar cells

• Nima Khoshsirat,
• Fawad Ali,
• Vincent Tiing Tiong,
• Mojtaba Amjadipour,
• Hongxia Wang,
• Mahnaz Shafiei and
• Nunzio Motta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2700–2707, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.252

• of the film to the substrate and the Mo back contact layer could peel off from the substrate during the absorber layer growth at high temperatures or during the deposition of the buffer layer, which most commonly involves a wet chemical process. Moreover, the thickness of the bilayer Mo film needs to

• a two-step process of sulfurization of stacked metallic layers of Cu/Sn/Zn. Then a 60 nm CdS buffer layer was deposited using chemical bath deposition (CBD). This was followed by sputtering of a 30 nm ZnO layer and a 350 nm ITO layer as transparent conductive oxide (TCO) layers. As the last step, a

Dopant-stimulated growth of GaN nanotube-like nanostructures on Si(111) by molecular beam epitaxy

• Alexey D. Bolshakov,
• Alexey M. Mozharov,
• Georgiy A. Sapunov,
• Igor V. Shtrom,
• Nickolay V. Sibirev,
• Vladimir V. Fedorov,
• Evgeniy V. Ubyivovk,
• Maria Tchernycheva,
• George E. Cirlin and
• Ivan S. Mukhin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 146–154, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.17

• substrates [22]. The most promising in terms of potential device application substrates is Si(111) due to cost reasons. The deposition of an AlN buffer layer is usually carried out prior to growth of GaN to maintain vertical nature of the NWs. Selective area growth is also a possibility. It was demonstrated

• knowledge, in this paper we demonstrate for the first time self-organized dopant-activated growth of high crystal quality GaN NT-like nanostructures on Si(111) substrates covered with a thin AlN buffer layer created using the MBE technique. The synthesized nanostructures were studied with photoluminescence

• thin AlN buffer layer. We demonstrated that the annealing procedure affects the nanostructure growth rate and surface density: the elongation rate on a substrate that underwent the low temperature annealing is twice as high as for the substrate that underwent the high temperature oxide removal

Fluorination of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes: from CF₄ plasma chemistry to surface functionalization

• Claudia Struzzi,
• Mattia Scardamaglia,
• Jean-François Colomer,
• Alberto Verdini,
• Luca Floreano,
• Rony Snyders and
• Carla Bittencourt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1723–1733, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.173

• vapor deposition (CCVD) at atmospheric pressure. The catalysts are prepared by magnetron sputtering: a 30 nm Al2O3 buffer layer is deposited on Si wafers with native SiO2 and a 6 nm Fe layer is then deposited to form nanoparticles which catalyse the vCNT growth. Then, the substrate is placed inside the