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

• the optical bandgap of the films can be tuned from 1.47 ± 0.02 eV to 3.11 ± 0.14 eV. The surface morphology of the films studied using atomic force microscopy reveals that there is uniform grain growth on the surface. Various morphological parameters such as roughness, particle size, particle density

• obtained micrographs were then analysed regarding various statistical parameters such as roughness, skewness, kurtosis, and power spectral density using the NanoScope Analysis software. Surface morphology and composition of the films were studied by field-emission scanning electron microscopy attached with

• ) reveal a columnar growth on the surface of the films. The AFM micrographs were analysed using NanoScope software, and various morphological parameters including roughness, particle density, particle size, skewness, and kurtosis were summarized in Table 3. To investigate the quality of the surface and the

Enhancing mechanical properties of chitosan/PVA electrospun nanofibers: a comprehensive review

• Nur Areisman Mohd Salleh,
• Amalina Muhammad Afifi,
• Fathiah Mohamed Zuki and
• Hanna Sofia SalehHudin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 286–307, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.22

• , and an increase in surface roughness, which reduced the water contact angle, without altering the bulk properties of the material. Similar observations of improved mechanical strength of plasma-treated chitosan/PVA/hydroxyapatite were reported using DBD plasma air, which is considered more cost

Advanced atomic force microscopy techniques V

• Philipp Rahe,
• Ilko Bald,
• Nadine Hauptmann,
• Regina Hoffmann-Vogel,
• Harry Mönig and
• Michael Reichling

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 54–56, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.6

• inaccuracy caused by electrostatic or capillary forces, this is an additional mechanism having an impact on AFM height measurements. Closely related is the measurement of conductivity. Skolaut et al. investigate conductivity in dependence on the roughness of the substrate using alkanethiol self-assembled

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

• carbides. For a given Hf target (regarding purity and surface roughness), the ablation products depend critically on the surrounding liquid, input pulse duration, input pulse energy, and the number of pulses incident on the sample. Figure 7 illustrates the EDX data for the particles synthesised in DW

Facile synthesis of size-tunable L-carnosine-capped silver nanoparticles and their role in metal ion sensing and catalytic degradation of p-nitrophenol

• Akash Kumar,
• Ridhima Chadha,
• Abhishek Das,
• Nandita Maiti and
• Rayavarapu Raja Gopal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1576–1592, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.124

• > ʟ-car-AgNP5. Therefore, the results show maximum SERS enhancement for AgNP4. This is probably because of the greater surface roughness of the nanoparticles, leading to maximum electromagnetic enhancement in AgNP4. The SERS spectra of the ʟ-car-AgNPs are almost similar and show Raman bands at 1623 cm

A biomimetic approach towards a universal slippery liquid infused surface coating

• Ryan A. Faase,
• Madeleine H. Hummel,
• AnneMarie V. Hasbrook,
• Andrew P. Carpenter and
• Joe E. Baio

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1376–1389, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.111

• composition of the layer was determined by XPS. Surface roughness was evaluated using AFM to confirm successful formation of a porous structure. Finally, ordering of specific chemical groups within our PDA SLIPS layer was explored via SFG spectroscopy. Initially, each functionalization step was assessed

• substrates and were representative of a covalent carbon-sulfur bond [43]. AFM highlighted the level of roughness at each stage of the coating to show a rougher topography for the final layer. Results for each layer of the coating are shown in Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1 and reported as root mean

• square roughness (Rq), a useful metric for comparing surface roughness. The final layer with FDT should increase the surface roughness as only a monolayer is expected to bond. The final value layer of the coating that contains FDT showed Rq values of 70.5 ± 23.5 nm for COC, 46.9 ± 26 nm for Si, and 47.8

Investigation of Hf/Ti bilayers for the development of transition-edge sensor microcalorimeters

• Victoria Y. Safonova,
• Anna V. Gordeeva,
• Anton V. Blagodatkin,
• Dmitry A. Pimanov,
• Anton A. Yablokov and
• Andrey L. Pankratov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1353–1361, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.108

• hafnium makes the film properties, such as the critical temperature and the shape of the superconducting transition, stable over time, which is necessary for successful operation of the detectors. For hafnium, the optimal growth rate was 2 Å/s. Films deposited at this rate have a roughness of about 1 nm

• . Titanium was deposited on hafnium at a growth rate of 0.5 Å/s. The roughness of hafnium films coated with titanium decreased compared to hafnium-only films. Because of the slow deposition rate of Ti, small crystallites with sizes below 10 nm are visible in Figure 2. The A1–A4 samples of square geometry

Hymenoptera and biomimetic surfaces: insights and innovations

• Vinicius Marques Lopez,
• Carlo Polidori and
• Rhainer Guillermo Ferreira

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1333–1352, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.107

• morphological features and the principles behind their functionality, we aim to identify key characteristics that can inspire innovative materials and technologies. Review General features of body cuticle The cuticle of Hymenoptera exhibits several fascinating properties. Cuticle roughness The cuticle surfaces

• and durability. For instance, low-friction coatings inspired by Hymenoptera cuticles can be applied to materials to reduce wear and tear, thereby enhancing performance, and extending the lifespan of the material. Surface roughness can have beneficial effects on the overall aerodynamic characteristics

• of artificial surfaces, such as rough coatings on high-speed trains [12], dimples on golf balls [13], and shark skin denticles on aircrafts [14]. Some micromachines can also benefit from micro- and nanostructures that create roughness on surfaces and influence aerodynamics and heat transfer [15]. The

Mn-doped ZnO nanopowders prepared by sol–gel and microwave-assisted sol–gel methods and their photocatalytic properties

• Cristina Maria Vlăduț,
• Crina Anastasescu,
• Silviu Preda,
• Oana Catalina Mocioiu,
• Simona Petrescu,
• Jeanina Pandele-Cusu,
• Dana Culita,
• Veronica Bratan,
• Ioan Balint and
• Maria Zaharescu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1283–1296, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.104

• previous studies, the authors demonstrated that Mn-doped ZnO films exhibit superior optical and piezoelectric properties compared to undoped ZnO, with a more compact microstructure and reduced surface roughness [41]. Building on this foundation, the current article aims to focus on the methods of

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

• . Sample 3, grown on the MgO/Ta/SiO2 multilayer structure, reveals the largest value of 31.4 ± 1.4 nm. In addition, the Fe3O4 samples present quite different root-mean-square (RMS) roughness values of 0.94 ± 0.09 nm, 1.29 ± 0.14 nm, and 3.58 ± 0.58 nm for samples 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Sample 3 with the

• highest value has the roughest surface among the three. These results indicate that the substrate type does have an effect on grain size and roughness of Fe3O4 thin films. Tantalum in the multilayer structure prevents the diffusion of oxygen atoms from SiO2 into MgO leading to enhanced stability of MgO

• and RMS roughness, and in the formation of a polycrystalline structure. Changes in grain size and structure have a strong impact on saturation magnetization and coercivity of the Fe3O4 thin films. Our results indicate that the combination of Ta and MgO buffer layers can influence the morphology and

Direct electron beam writing of silver using a β-diketonate precursor: first insights

• Katja Höflich,
• Krzysztof Maćkosz,
• Chinmai S. Jureddy,
• Aleksei Tsarapkin and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1117–1124, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.90

• expense of a reduced shape fidelity [9]. This is also true for the recently established direct electron beam writing of silver, which demonstrated high purities of up to 74 atom % [27] but with large surface roughness and low vertical growth rates [28][29][30]. For silver, only few solid metalorganic

Interface properties of nanostructured carbon-coated biological implants: an overview

• Mattia Bartoli,
• Francesca Cardano,
• Erik Piatti,
• Stefania Lettieri,
• Andrea Fin and
• Alberto Tagliaferro

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1041–1053, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.85

• environments represented by implant–tissue interfaces [18] through the tuning of different parameters (i.e., surface roughness and potential as well as hydrophobicity). Cells and biomolecules can selectively adhere to or be repelled from artificial implanted surfaces, triggering several metabolic pathways of

• roughness, inducing macrophage polarization to the pro-inflammatory state without producing a great excess of pro-inflammatory factors. Furthermore, GO-coated implants showed a reduction of the expression of the fibrosis-related protein α-SMA and collagen deposition in the presence of both fibroblasts and

• both anticorrosion and antithrombotic elements. The authors used PVD for the deposition of a micrometer-thick coating on stainless steel, controlling morphology, roughness, and mechanical parameters. The coated surfaces showed a reduction of hemolysis of 40% and a corrosion resistance increment of 96

Atomistic insights into the morphological dynamics of gold and platinum nanoparticles: MD simulations in vacuum and aqueous media

• Evangelos Voyiatzis,
• Eugenia Valsami-Jones and
• Antreas Afantitis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 995–1009, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.81

• measure of surface roughness, as well as a proxy to NP reactivity, is the surface area-to-volume ratio [83]. Its variation with the NP diameter for Au (blue line) and Pt (orange line) NPs at 100 K is shown in Figure 8. In general, it is expected to be inversely proportional to where N is the number of

Beyond biomimicry – next generation applications of bioinspired adhesives from microfluidics to composites

• Dan Sameoto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 965–976, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.79

• surface roughness and are far more cost-effective. The significant influence of mechanical properties on identical fiber designs has also been extensively studied by our group and others, including work on shape memory polymers (SMPs) for biomimetic pillars [29]. These uniformly mushroom-shaped SMP fibers

The effect of age on the attachment ability of stick insects (Phasmatodea)

• Marie Grote,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Thies H. Büscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 867–883, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.72

• 1 µm and 12 µm roughness according to Büscher and Gorb [33] to test for differences in the attachment performance on different degrees of surface roughness during ageing. This range of substrate roughness was selected to test for different aspects of the functionality of the attachment pads without

• major influences of the claws [33][37]. On smooth surfaces (0 µm), smooth pads generate proper contact with the surface. Microrough surfaces interfere with the contact formation of smooth pads; however, the dimension of the nubs on the euplantulae yield different responses to the roughness because fine

• roughness (1 µm) matches the size of the tips and course roughness (12 µm) matches the size of the entire nubs [33]. The combination of these three levels of roughness was used to investigate potential effects in the three mentioned perspectives of the attachment pads. For details on the fabrication process

Effect of repeating hydrothermal growth processes and rapid thermal annealing on CuO thin film properties

• Monika Ozga,
• Eunika Zielony,
• Aleksandra Wierzbicka,
• Anna Wolska,
• Marcin Klepka,
• Marek Godlewski,
• Bogdan J. Kowalski and
• Bartłomiej S. Witkowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 743–754, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.62

• discontinuities are observed on the surface, which are narrow and shallow compared to the average thickness of the films. Based on the surface parameters determined from AFM data, that is, root mean square (Rq) and arithmetic average (Ra) of height deviations, it was noticed that the surface roughness

• represents the sum of chemical potential and surface dipoles, which are sensitive to numerous factors. In addition to the stoichiometry of the material and the presence of impurities, their value may also be affected by, among others, surface roughness, exposed crystal plane, and exposure to radiation or

Comparative analysis of the ultrastructure and adhesive secretion pathways of different smooth attachment pads of the stick insect Medauroidea extradentata (Phasmatodea)

• Julian Thomas,
• Stanislav N. Gorb and
• Thies H. Büscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 612–630, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.52

• roughness and thereby increase the contact area [14][16][17][18][19]. It can aid in the enhancement of viscous and capillary forces further increasing the attachment strength [9][14][20][21][22][23][24]. The adhesive secretion can be essential for the self-cleaning mechanism by binding smaller contamination

Insect attachment on waxy plant surfaces: the effect of pad contamination by different waxes

• Elena V. Gorb and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 385–395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.35

• (number per unit area) influence insect attachment [11][12]. As an explanation for reduced insect adhesion on waxy plant surfaces, several contributing mechanisms have been previously suggested, such as (1) specific micro/nanoroughness created by wax projections (roughness hypothesis), (2) contamination

• particles forming a separation layer between insect pads and the plant surface and serving as a kind of lubricant (separation layer hypothesis) [7][13]. To date, several experimental studies have been performed to test the first three hypotheses. As for the roughness hypothesis, it was revealed in

• centrifugal and pulling tests with some insect species bearing hairy attachment pads and mostly artificial substrates having different surface roughness. Insects showed several times higher attachment forces on both smooth and rather coarse microrough surfaces (>3 μm asperity size) compared to force values on

Investigating ripple pattern formation and damage profiles in Si and Ge induced by 100 keV Ar⁺ ion beam: a comparative study

• Indra Sulania,
• Harpreet Sondhi,
• Tanuj Kumar,
• Sunil Ojha,
• G R Umapathy,
• Ambuj Mishra,
• Ambuj Tripathi,
• Richa Krishna,
• Devesh Kumar Avasthi and
• Yogendra Kumar Mishra

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 367–375, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.33

• samples were studied via AFM for the surface topography and change in root-mean-square (RMS) surface roughness. Figure 1 shows AFM images of pristine and 100 keV Ar+ ion-irradiated Si samples. Pristine samples show a smooth surface with a surface roughness of ≈0.5 nm as observed in Figure 1A (a). Figure

•  1A (b–e) shows the surface topography of the irradiated samples at respective ion fluences of (b) 3 × 1017, (c) 5 × 1017, (d) 7 × 1017, and (e) 9 × 1017 ions/cm2. The surface roughness (Rq) is found to be increased with ion fluence from ≈1.0 nm to 1.6 nm due to ion-induced sputtering at a 60

• nm) for an ion fluence of 9 × 1017 ions/cm2. Figure 2A shows AFM images of pristine and 100 keV Ar+ ion-irradiated Ge samples. The pristine sample shows a smooth surface with roughness of ≈0.5 nm as observed in Figure 2A (a). Figure 2A (b–e) shows AFM images of irradiated samples at respective ion

Controllable physicochemical properties of WO_x thin films grown under glancing angle

• Rupam Mandal,
• Aparajita Mandal,
• Alapan Dutta,
• Rengasamy Sivakumar,
• Sanjeev Kumar Srivastava and
• Tapobrata Som

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 350–359, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.31

• WOx films having thicknesses of 6, 10, 30, and 60 nm on p-Si substrates. It is observed that the films are granular in nature. RMS roughness (blue-green circles) and average grain size (red-blue circles) increase as the film thickness increases from 6 to 60 nm (Figure 1i). Figure 1e–h shows the AFM

• images of vacuum-annealed (at 673 K for 1 h) WOx films prepared by the same set of deposition conditions. Similar to the as-deposited ones, all annealed WOx films possess prominent granular structures and an increasing trend in grain size and RMS roughness with film thickness (Figure 1j). However, the

• -deposited and (e–h) vacuum-annealed WOx films grown at a fixed glancing angle of 87°. (i, j) Variations in RMS roughness and grain size with WOx films thickness before and after annealing, respectively. (a) Transmittance plots of the as-deposited NS-WOx films and (b) bandgap variation with film thickness

Quantitative wear evaluation of tips based on sharp structures

• Ke Xu and
• Houwen Leng

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 230–241, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.22

• structures is proposed. This research explored the wear of AFM tips during tapping mode and examined the effects of scanning parameters on estimated tip diameter and surface roughness. The experiment results show that the non-destructive method for measuring tip morphology is highly repeatable. Additionally

• indicator of tip wear, but also used the surface roughness (Ra) to represent the degree of image deterioration to evaluate the degree of probe wear. It was concluded that a high free amplitude and a set point of 0.5 increase probe wear, while a set point of 0.6 reduces tip wear; the scanning speed does not

• procedure comprised three steps, as shown in Figure 10. Each test started with a new AFM tip. First, the TipCheck sample was used to measure the initial tip topography. Then, the wear resistance of the tip was tested by recording the average roughness of each image and conducting regular checks. The 3D

Multiscale modelling of biomolecular corona formation on metallic surfaces

• Parinaz Mosaddeghi Amini,
• Ian Rouse,
• Julia Subbotina and
• Vladimir Lobaskin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 215–229, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.21

• orientation of each individual protein, a primary coarse-graining step was performed. In this part, we use the UA model to predict the protein–NP binding energies. This model takes into account various factors, such as the material’s chemical composition, size, shape, surface roughness, charge

CdSe/ZnS quantum dots as a booster in the active layer of distributed ternary organic photovoltaics

• Gabriela Lewińska,
• Piotr Jeleń,
• Zofia Kucia,
• Maciej Sitarz,
• Łukasz Walczak,
• Bartłomiej Szafraniak,
• Jerzy Sanetra and
• Konstanty W. Marszalek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 144–156, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.14

• observed in our study. Atomic force microscopy Surface examinations of the sample mixtures were performed. Figure 7 illustrates the surface morphology in a two-dimensional format. Three-dimensional images of the surface are in Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1. The roughness profile parameters for

• profile. The addition of quantum dots to the layer increases its roughness parameters. The surface also shows greater morphological differentiation in the form of numerous peaks present throughout the surface. The third component in the BHJ for the systems studied so far supported a reduction in roughness

• , which favored the charging process of the metallic electrode. These were used to facilitate the transport of charge carriers between the electrode and the layer, which can become problematic because of limitations in the conductivity of organic materials. The changes in roughness presented from the AFM

Influence of conductive carbon and MnCo₂O₄ on morphological and electrical properties of hydrogels for electrochemical energy conversion

• Sylwia Pawłowska,
• Karolina Cysewska,
• Yasamin Ziai,
• Jakub Karczewski,
• Piotr Jasiński and
• Sebastian Molin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 57–70, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.6

• cCB in the hydrogel-MCO structure. For the studied materials, CPE can be linked to a surface distribution of properties, related to the material roughness and the porosity of the films. In general, α values correlate with the observed behaviour of the corresponding Q parameters (Table 1). Therefore

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

• process. In the future, it is planned to carry out a set of works to improve the barrier properties of aluminum oxide. The quality of the barrier largely depends on the roughness of aluminum. It can be critically large during electron beam deposition, which in turn affects the thickness of the barrier and

• the leakage resistance. We now test various ways to reduce the aluminum roughness. Also, the roughness strongly depends on the deposition rate. The oxidation process affects the barrier properties as well; perhaps with dynamic oxidation [26] (with constant pumping) one can try to achieve better