Characterization of ion track-etched conical nanopores in thermal and PECVD SiO₂ using small angle X-ray scattering

• Shankar Dutt,
• Rudradeep Chakraborty,
• Christian Notthoff,
• Pablo Mota-Santiago,
• Christina Trautmann and
• Patrick Kluth

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 899–909, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.68

• Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Planckstr. 1, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany Technische Universtät Darmstadt, 64289 Darmtadt, Germany 10.3762/bjnano.16.68 Abstract Conical nanopores in amorphous SiO2 thin films fabricated using the ion track etching technique show promising potential for filtration, sensing

• nanopores in thermal and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor-deposited (PECVD) SiO2 using synchrotron-based small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). The nanopores were fabricated by irradiating the samples with 89 MeV, 185 MeV, and 1.6 GeV Au ions, followed by hydrofluoric acid etching. We present a new approach for

• differences between the nanopores in thermal and PECVD SiO2. The track-to-bulk etching rate ratio is significantly different for the two materials, producing nanopores with cone angles that differ by almost a factor of two. Furthermore, thermal SiO2 exhibits an exceptionally narrow size distribution of only 2

Heat-induced transformation of nickel-coated polycrystalline diamond film studied in situ by XPS and NEXAFS

• Olga V. Sedelnikova,
• Yuliya V. Fedoseeva,
• Dmitriy V. Gorodetskiy,
• Yuri N. Palyanov,
• Elena V. Shlyakhova,
• Eugene A. Maksimovskiy,
• Anna A. Makarova,
• Lyubov G. Bulusheva and
• Aleksandr V. Okotrub

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 887–898, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.67

• -coated (110) face after annealing discovered the vertical orientation of sp2-hybridized carbon layers relative to the diamond surface. The observed behavior suggests that sp2 carbon layers were formed on the diamond surface due to its saturation by released carbon atoms as a result of etching by nickel

• the diamond etching [35][36] and the graphitization of the diamond surface [19]. In particular, the (111) face was found to be resistant to etching, producing a thin layer of disordered graphite that was weakly bonded to the underlying diamond surface but strongly attached to the Ni particles. In

• ). In particular, on the rectangular (110) faces, nickel particles are flatter and more evenly distributed than those on the triangular (111) face. Previous studies showed that the etching of diamond through the reaction with Ni during annealing is an anisotropic process [19][35][36]. In particular, the

Morphology and properties of pyrite nanoparticles obtained by pulsed laser ablation in liquid and thin films for photodetection

• Akshana Parameswaran Sreekala,
• Bindu Krishnan,
• Rene Fabian Cienfuegos Pelaes,
• David Avellaneda Avellaneda,
• Josué Amílcar Aguilar-Martínez and
• Sadasivan Shaji

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 785–805, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.60

• all the samples, the peak position corresponding to the adventitious carbon value was fixed at 284.6 eV. A Shirley-type background baseline was used, and the Gaussian–Lorentzian sum function was applied for peak fitting. The high-resolution spectra of Fe 2p and S 2p after soft surface etching using

Focused ion and electron beams for synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials

• Aleksandra Szkudlarek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 613–616, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.47

• Aleksandra Szkudlarek Academic Centre for Materials and Nanotechnology, AGH University of Krakow, av. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059, Krakow, Poland 10.3762/bjnano.16.47 Keywords: deposition; etching; focused electron beams; focused ion beams; lithography; milling; nanofabrication; 3D nanostructures; It

• scientific discovery; he also actively encouraged innovation by offering a $1,000 prize to anyone who could scale down a page of text from a book by a factor of 25,000. The prize remained unclaimed for 25 years until Tom Newman succeeded in etching the opening lines of Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities – "It was

• etching or deposition. The precision and versatility of these beams, including the use of multiple gas species, open pathways to fabricate 3D nanomaterials that are unattainable through conventional chemical methods. However, achieving reproducibility in such structures requires a deep understanding of

Electron beam-based direct writing of nanostructures using a palladium β-ketoesterate complex

• Chinmai Sai Jureddy,
• Krzysztof Maćkosz,
• Aleksandra Butrymowicz-Kubiak,
• Iwona B. Szymańska,
• Patrik Hoffmann and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 530–539, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.41

• energy converts to heat. The related local temperature increase, especially for high beam currents and fine focus may have contributed to an increase in the metal content in the above cited experiments. Fluorine is well known for its etching properties and can efficiently remove carbon. The presence of

• oxygen can form volatile species such as CO2, CO, or alcohols. For [Pd(hfac)2], the breakage of the C–F bond was observed, and this is the main process responsible for fluorine removal [49]. From an applicability standpoint, fluorine is less desirable because it can cause etching of other parts of the

Performance optimization of a microwave-coupled plasma-based ultralow-energy ECR ion source for silicon nanostructuring

• Joy Mukherjee,
• Safiul Alam Mollick,
• Tanmoy Basu and
• Tapobrata Som

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 484–494, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.37

• treatments such as nanopatterning, sputter etching, and controlled defect formation [6][7]. Particularly, ultralow-energy ion beams are exceptionally valuable for the precise modification of 2D layers [8] and ion-induced nanopatterning of semiconductor surfaces [9]. Over the past few decades, ion-induced

ReactorAFM/STM – dynamic reactions on surfaces at elevated temperature and atmospheric pressure

• Tycho Roorda,
• Hamed Achour,
• Matthijs A. van Spronsen,
• Marta E. Cañas-Ventura,
• Sander B. Roobol,
• Willem Onderwaater,
• Mirthe Bergman,
• Peter van der Tuijn,
• Gertjan van Baarle,
• Johan W. Bakker,
• Joost W. M. Frenken and
• Irene M. N. Groot

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 397–406, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.30

• serves as a protection against the high-pressure gases, as well as a shield from high piezovoltages. The scanner range can go up to 3.6 μm × 3.6 μm and does not have a coarse range in the x and y directions. Tip preparation Tips are fabricated by electrochemical etching of a 25 μm Pt/Ir wire immersed in

• a CaCl2 electrolytic solution (CaCl2 5 g, H2O 30 mL, acetone 2 mL). An alternating current (AC) voltage (50 Hz, 1–10 V) is applied between the tip and a gold ring electrode with the etching solution in suspension resulting in a sharp tip, which serves as the probe. In a second step, the etched Pt/Ir

Orientation-dependent photonic bandgaps in gold-dust weevil scales and their titania bioreplicates

• Norma Salvadores Farran,
• Limin Wang,
• Primoz Pirih and
• Bodo D. Wilts

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1–10, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.1

• copolymers [10][11], lithography, or laser etching [12][13], but it can be routinely found in animal integuments. Biomimetic approaches using templates from natural structures offers a possible alternative. The scales of many beetles and weevils contain diamond photonic crystals [14][15][16] that may serve

• orientations, we obtained a uniform diffuse green scatterogram, confirming the mechanism producing the dull, unsaturated overall coloration found on the gold-dust weevil and several other weevils [19][21][28]. Subsequently, using plasma etching, we removed the scale cortex and made negative titania replicas of

• cortex is thinner (≈0.5 μm) and flat (Figure 2c). From the FIB-SEM cuts, we estimated the chitin fill fraction of the chitin network to be 0.44 ± 0.06. By adjusting the power and duration of the argon plasma etching, we were able to selectively etch the lower cortex of the scales (Figure 2d), revealing

Fabrication of hafnium-based nanoparticles and nanostructures using picosecond laser ablation

• Abhishek Das,
• Mangababu Akkanaboina,
• Jagannath Rathod,
• R. Sai Prasad Goud,
• Kanaka Ravi Kumar,
• Raghu C. Reddy,
• Ratheesh Ravendran,
• Katia Vutova,
• S. V. S. Nageswara Rao and
• Venugopal Rao Soma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1639–1653, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.129

• desired morphology is essential for a given application. Generally, practical techniques for obtaining nanomaterials are sol–gel method, chemical and physical vapour deposition, hydrothermal method, ball milling, grinding, lithography, etching, and laser ablation [14][15][16][17][18]. The morphology

New design of operational MEMS bridges for measurements of properties of FEBID-based nanostructures

• Bartosz Pruchnik,
• Krzysztof Kwoka,
• Ewelina Gacka,
• Dominik Badura,
• Piotr Kunicki,
• Andrzej Sierakowski,
• Paweł Janus,
• Tomasz Piasecki and
• Teodor Gotszalk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1273–1282, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.103

• routines combined with dimensionally limited wet and dry etching processes. The most advanced MEMS allow for movement in all six degrees of freedom (DOFs), while the simplest are defined in only one DOF [32]. The latter include so-called MEMS bridges formed as double-clamped beams [33], which have been

• (Si3N4) layer was deposited via CVD. The 40 nm thick platinum paths were then patterned by lift-off photolithography. The opMEMS bridge body was defined photolithographically with a feature size of 2 µm, etched by dry oxygen plasma etching (DRIE) and then released by KOH anisotropic wet silicon etching

• bridge and facilitate wet etching underneath, openings were made in the silicon nitride layer near the bases. The designed bridge contained three conductive measurement lines and two actuation lines (Figure 2c), with the measurement paths joined at the centre of the bridge. The RoI slit was formed using

Photocatalytic methane oxidation over a TiO₂/SiNWs p–n junction catalyst at room temperature

• Qui Thanh Hoai Ta,
• Luan Minh Nguyen,
• Ngoc Hoi Nguyen,
• Phan Khanh Thinh Nguyen and
• Dai Hai Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1132–1141, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.92

• ) [43][44]. As expected, the crystal orientation of the TiO2/SiNWs catalyst obviously led to the creation of a robust p–n junction photocatalyst. The SEM analysis further confirms the morphological evolution during etching and TiO2 ALD. As revealed in Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1, the

• provided from Sigma-Aldrich. Deionized (DI) water was used for cleaning steps. Si NWs and TiO2/Si NWs preparation First, a small piece (1 × 2 cm2) was cut from a commercial p-type Si wafer and washed several times using DI water, ethanol, and acetone in a sonication bath. Etching solution containing AgNO3

• (0.1 M), HF (50 wt %) and H2O (2:1:2 vol %) was prepared and kept at 56 °C for 20 min. The clean Si substrate was rapidly immersed in the etching medium and etched by the Ag+ ions for 25 min to obtain 4 µm long SiNWs. Afterwards, remaining Ag on the Si surface was removed using HNO3 (63 wt %) for 10

Effect of wavelength and liquid on formation of Ag, Au, Ag/Au nanoparticles via picosecond laser ablation and SERS-based detection of DMMP

• Sree Satya Bharati Moram,
• Chandu Byram and
• Venugopal Rao Soma

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1054–1069, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.86

• detection of DMMP (1.2 ppm V) in the vapor phase using Glass_Ag_Au NPs, 3D fractal microstructure substrates developed by corner lithography and anisotropic wet etching of silicon using the 785 nm as the Raman excitation. When UV excitation was utilized during the measurements, the Raman peak intensities

Recent progress on field-effect transistor-based biosensors: device perspective

• Billel Smaani,
• Fares Nafa,
• Mohamed Salah Benlatrech,
• Ismahan Mahdi,
• Hamza Akroum,
• Mohamed walid Azizi,
• Khaled Harrar and
• Sayan Kanungo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 977–994, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.80

• -care diagnostic systems. This device was realized using a top-to-down approach with an anisotropic and cost-effective self-stop etching method [85][86]. A novel CMOS anisotropic technique was implemented for the etching process, combining classical optical and electron beam lithography with anisotropic

• wet etching via the tetramethylammonium hydroxide method. This structure offers anti-interference and strong capability, demonstrating inherent ambipolarity through CYFRA21-1 and pH sensing. The device proposed by Gao et al. [84] provides enhanced operational conditions compared to classical FET-based

• CMOS technology, combined with optical lithography and an anisotropic self-stop etching method [88][89]. The incorporated P- and N-type NWs showed complementary electrical responses upon prostate-specific antigen binding, providing a unique means of internal command for biosensing signal verification

Water-assisted purification during electron beam-induced deposition of platinum and gold

• Cristiano Glessi,
• Fabian A. Polman and
• Cornelis W. Hagen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 884–896, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.73

• microscope using commercially available components and chemicals, which paves the way for a broader application of direct etching-assisted FEBID to obtain pure metallic structures. Keywords: FEBID; gold; nanofabrication; platinum; purification; Introduction Focused electron beam-induced deposition (FEBID

• for both the deposition and etching (water) processes. The Au deposition precursor used is Au(acac)Me2, the Pt deposition precursor is MeCpPtMe3, and the etching precursor is MgSO4·7H2O. The GIS temperatures used were 24 °C for Au(acac)Me2 and MeCpPtMe3; for MgSO4·7H2O, the temperature varied between

• orientation) with a native silicon oxide layer. Samples of 1 × 1 cm2 were used, on to which an array of annular patterns was lithographically defined, by laser lithography and etching using an SF6–O2 dry-etch, to facilitate location of the deposition areas. The substrates were roughly cleaned in acetone and

Enhancing higher-order modal response in multifrequency atomic force microscopy with a coupled cantilever system

• Wendong Sun,
• Jianqiang Qian,
• Yingzi Li,
• Yanan Chen,
• Zhipeng Dou,
• Rui Lin,
• Peng Cheng,
• Xiaodong Gao,
• Quan Yuan and
• Yifan Hu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 694–703, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.57

• achieved this by etching specific regions of the cantilever, coating, and utilizing magnetostrictive actuation to enhance the resonance modes of individual cantilevers [13]. Some have explored the enhancement of modal properties by adding rebar structures to cantilever beams using 3D laser writing [14

Gold nanomakura: nanoarchitectonics and their photothermal response in association with carrageenan hydrogels

• Nabojit Das,
• Vikas,
• Akash Kumar,
• Sanjeev Soni and
• Raja Gopal Rayavarapu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 678–693, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.56

• (0.01 M) was added, which turned the solution brownish in colour. The appearance of a brownish colour confirmed the reduction of Au3+ to Au0. Step 2: Growth-mediated synthesis of gold nanomakura. In brief, a protocol that combines seed-mediated growth with controlled particle etching was used. The

Sidewall angle tuning in focused electron beam-induced processing

• Sangeetha Hari,
• Willem F. van Dorp,
• Johannes J. L. Mulders,
• Piet H. F. Trompenaars,
• Pieter Kruit and
• Cornelis W. Hagen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 447–456, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.40

• applications this is highly undesirable, especially when neighboring structures are interconnected. A new technique combining FEBID and focused electron beam-induced etching (FEBIE) has been developed to fabricate structures with vertical sidewalls. The sidewalls of carbon FEBID structures have been modified

• by etching with water and it is shown, using transmission electron microscopy imaging, that the sidewall angle can be tuned from outward to inward by controlling the etch position on the sidewall. A surprising under-etching due to the emission of secondary electrons from the deposit was observed

• , which was not indicated by a simple model based on etching. An analytical model was developed to include continued etching once the deposit has been removed at the exposed pixel. At this stage the secondary electrons from the substrate then cause the adsorbed water molecules to become effective in

Heat-induced morphological changes in silver nanowires deposited on a patterned silicon substrate

• Elyad Damerchi,
• Sven Oras,
• Edgars Butanovs,
• Allar Liivlaid,
• Mikk Antsov,
• Boris Polyakov,
• Annamarija Trausa,
• Veronika Zadin,
• Andreas Kyritsakis,
• Loïc Vidal,
• Karine Mougin,
• Siim Pikker and
• Sergei Vlassov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 435–446, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.39

• HF solution in order to replicate the resist pattern in the oxide layer; 3) silicon etching in tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solution at 90 °C to create the etch pits; 4) rinse in HF to remove the remaining SiO2. The resulting substrates had rectangular holes with a side length in the order of

On the mechanism of piezoresistance in nanocrystalline graphite

• Sandeep Kumar,
• Simone Dehm and
• Ralph Krupke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 376–384, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.34

• etching of SiO2. Using a clean glass wafer, the NCG/PMMA film was transferred from the NaOH solution to a clean water beaker and allowed to float on the top. The cleaning was repeated three times to ensure the no residues of NaOH remained on the NCG film. The film was then removed from the water using a

Modulated critical currents of spin-transfer torque-induced resistance changes in NiCu/Cu multilayered nanowires

• Mengqi Fu,
• Roman Hartmann,
• Julian Braun,
• Sergej Andreev,
• Torsten Pietsch and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 360–366, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.32

• vertically patterned magnetic nanowires on a Si substrate. With this approach we fabricated three-dimensional nanowire-based spin valve devices without the need of complex etching processes or additional spacer coating. Through this method, we successfully obtained NiCu/Cu multilayered nanowire arrays with a

• fabricated through a newly developed method, which enables to selectively deposit the magnetic nanowires on the Si substrate and to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) devices contacting a few or even single nanowires without complex etching processes [17] or additional spacer coating [18][19]. Results and

• device fabrication, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images of the devices during the fabrication process are presented in Supporting Information File 1. In most reported works, the nanowires were deposited in all pores of the AAO templates [18][19][20][21]. Additional etching steps or coating

Design, fabrication, and characterization of kinetic-inductive force sensors for scanning probe applications

• August K. Roos,
• Ermes Scarano,
• Elisabet K. Arvidsson,
• Erik Holmgren and
• David B. Haviland

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 242–255, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.23

• -beam lithography and reactive-ion etching. We simulate the electromagnetic response of the meandering nanowire inductors using Sonnet, a quasi-3D electromagnetic simulator [32], which has the feature of including sheet kinetic inductance Lk,□. We begin by simulating the meandering inductor itself to

• Plasmapro 100 ICP300. (g) Back-side through-etch. Before etching through the back side of the wafer, we first spin a protective positive resist on the front side and pattern an opening, or a “trench”, around the chip, which we will use to complete the etch once a larger portion of the wafer has been etched

• etching conditions across the wafer. To some extent, one could change the mask design and adjust the dimensions of the cantilever to compensate for this effect. Using the mean value of 641 ± 42 kHz and adjusting the Young’s modulus of our Si-N plate to 208 GPa, we find good agreement between mechanical

Graphene removal by water-assisted focused electron-beam-induced etching – unveiling the dose and dwell time impact on the etch profile and topographical changes in SiO₂ substrates

• Aleksandra Szkudlarek,
• Jan M. Michalik,
• Inés Serrano-Esparza,
• Zdeněk Nováček,
• Veronika Novotná,
• Piotr Ozga,
• Czesław Kapusta and
• José María De Teresa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 190–198, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.18

• processes using the so-called focused electron-beam-induced etching (FEBIE), with a spatial resolution of ten nanometers. Nanopatterning graphene with such a method in one single step and without using a physical mask or resist is a very appealing approach. During the process, on top of graphene

• nanopatterning, we have found significant morphological changes induced in the SiO2 substrate even at low electron dose values (<8 nC/μm2). We demonstrate that graphene etching and topographical changes in SiO2 substrates can be controlled via electron beam parameters such as dwell time and dose. Keywords

• : direct writing; dwell time; electron dose; etching; graphene; maskless lithography; nanopatterning; Introduction The discovery of extraordinary and controllable electrical conductivity in graphene back in 2004 made it the most recognized 2D material [1]. The newly discovered phenomena, such as

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

• using three different fabrication methods: lift-off, ion beam etching (IBE), and stencil lithography. They were further analyzed using different instruments, including scanning electron microscopy, LTEM, and electron holography. A bilayer of positive PMMA resist was utilized in the first fabrication

• method to form an undercut structure that guarantees a clean lift-off procedure. The second approach used dry etching with an Ar beam to etch a thin Py film, while an electron-beam-patterned negative resist mask kept the desired structure. In the third process, nanostencils (shadow masks) with

• mode to avoid melting of the PMMA resist. The second approach involved etching a thin Py film with an ion beam while preserving the intended structure with an electron-beam-patterned negative resist mask. Redeposition of etched material was found to construct fences at the edges of the structures

A combined gas-phase dissociative ionization, dissociative electron attachment and deposition study on the potential FEBID precursor [Au(CH₃)₂Cl]₂

• Elif Bilgilisoy,
• Ali Kamali,
• Thomas Xaver Gentner,
• Gerd Ballmann,
• Sjoerd Harder,
• Hans-Peter Steinrück,
• Hubertus Marbach and
• Oddur Ingólfsson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1178–1199, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.98

• can also be seen for the depositions created with 1.5 and 3 nA beam currents, depicted in Figure 4b with green and purple lines, respectively. However, the depth of the dip decreases with increasing applied beam current. This indicates that an etching process occurs simultaneously with the deposition

• process, wherein the etching effect is less pronounced than that of the deposition for all beam currents. Similar etching effects were observed with other halogenated precursors, where it was reported that one of the expected effects when working with halogen-based precursors is the observation of etching

• as well as deposition [22][43]. In these studies, the release of halogen ligands was indicated as the main reason for the etching process. FEBID on thermally cleaned Si(111) In several UHV-FEBID studies [43][44][45] it has been shown that an UHV setup alone is not sufficient to produce FEBID

Spatial mapping of photovoltage and light-induced displacement of on-chip coupled piezo/photodiodes by Kelvin probe force microscopy under modulated illumination

• Zeinab Eftekhari,
• Nasim Rezaei,
• Hidde Stokkel,
• Jian-Yao Zheng,
• Andrea Cerreta,
• Ilka Hermes,
• Minh Nguyen,
• Guus Rijnders and
• Rebecca Saive

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1059–1067, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.87

• (PBZT) and a 150 nm LNO as the top electrode were deposited. The wafer was patterned by a standard photolithographic process, starting with the application and patterning of the photoresist mask for defining the device areas. Subsequently, the excess PBZT and LNO were removed by a wet etching process

• finalized by etching circular holes from the backside of the wafer to obtain thin membranes. The sizes of these holes were defined by applying and patterning a photoresist on the backside of the wafer, which was then anisotropically etched by deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) using SF6, O2, and C4F8 gases

• previous measurements or the etching process and hence its lower conductivity, and iii) other factors such as improper light alignment or SPV underestimation by KPFM. Figure 3c presents the mechanical displacement of the membrane normalized to the photovoltage. These values were obtained by dividing the