Ar⁺ implantation-induced tailoring of RF-sputtered ZnO films: structural, morphological, and optical properties

• Manu Bura,
• Divya Gupta,
• Arun Kumar and
• Sanjeev Aggarwal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 872–886, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.66

• in grazing incidence angle X-ray diffraction patterns. Atomic force microscopy images show grain size reduction and a fall in the surface roughness value of films after implantation. The implantation-induced structural modifications are further correlated with the variation in diffuse reflectance

• foreign ions in the ZnO film lattice can create an impact on its surface roughness and particle size. Previous reports available discuss the implantation-induced optical longitudinal phonon symmetry in ZnO films using heavy ions with high energy and low implantation fluences [12][13][14][15]. Singh et al

High-temperature epitaxial growth of tantalum nitride thin films on MgO: structural evolution and potential for SQUID applications

• Michelle Cedillo Rosillo,
• Oscar Contreras López,
• Jesús Antonio Díaz,
• Agustín Conde Gallardo and
• Harvi A. Castillo Cuero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 690–699, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.53

• makes this film an excellent candidate for superconducting applications, particularly in devices such as superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs). Figure 7 presents an AFM image revealing the low surface roughness (2.2 nm) of even the film deposited at an elevated growth temperature of 850

• °C. This observation suggests that while deposition parameters significantly influence the structural and superconducting properties of the TaN thin films, they had only minimal impact on the surface roughness. Notably, the film roughness remains largely unaffected by variations in growth temperature

• surface roughness. Comparison of Ta 4f XPS peaks determined for different samples. (a) pN2 = 60 mTorr, (b) pN2 = 70 mTorr, (c) pN2 = 90 mTorr, T = 700 °C, and (d) pN2 = 90 mTorr, T = 750 °C. Ta 4f XPS spectra of samples deposited at (a) pN2 = 60 mTorr, T = 800 °C and (b) pN2 = 60 mTorr, T = 850 °C. XRD

Colloidal few layered graphene–tannic acid preserves the biocompatibility of periodontal ligament cells

• Teissir Ben Ammar,
• Naji Kharouf,
• Dominique Vautier,
• Housseinou Ba,
• Nivedita Sudheer,
• Philippe Lavalle and
• Vincent Ball

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 664–677, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.51

• . The cellular response on different graphene surfaces was previously studied, and it was demonstrated that substrate characteristics such as surface roughness, surface chemistry, and electronic properties can influence cell response [38]. The implications of these results are particularly significant

N₂⁺-implantation-induced tailoring of structural, morphological, optical, and electrical characteristics of sputtered molybdenum thin films

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

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 495–509, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.38

• particles are found to be small [43]. As the thickness of Mo thin films increases, smaller particles coalesce, which increases the surface roughness. The increase in roughness and particle size of implanted films results from structural modifications caused by N2+ implantation. AFM analysis reveals that N2

• thin films. Lattice constants and texture coefficients of as-deposited and implanted Mo thin films. Values of RMS surface roughness and particle size of as-deposited and implanted Mo thin films. The electrical parameters of as-deposited and implanted Mo thin films. Funding Usha Rani is thankful to

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

• the same color contrast as in Figure 5c). By observing the root-mean-squared (RMS) surface roughness (Rq) under UHV conditions of 0.17 nm in topography and 50 pA in the current signal, we determine that the surface is rather smooth and flat. In contrast, under oxidation conditions, the surface

• roughness in topography is increased to 0.63 nm because of the more challenging scanning conditions. However, the current signal surface roughness increases by an order of magnitude to 760 pA with respect to Figure 5c. This significant increase in surface roughness, which can be observed as the appearance

• voltage of −1 V applied to the sample. RMS surface roughness and RMS current for each image are, correspondingly, (a) 0.17 nm, (b) 50 pA, (c) 0.63 nm, and (d) 760 pA. AFM images of cobalt nanoparticles on a thick (50 nm) Al2O3 film taken (a) before reaction, at RT and high vacuum, (b) at 430 K and 2 bar

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 Rq value only gives information about the vertical fluctuation in height on a surface. To get more insight into possible surface growth mechanisms and variations in surface roughness, both vertically and laterally power spectral density (PSD) analyses were carried out. In PSD analysis, the surface

• frequency range is proportional to the surface roughness. Therefore, PSD curves corresponding to higher roughness should lie at higher ordinates compared to PSD curves for lower roughness. In our case, it was found that the films fabricated at 300 and 600 °C had the lowest and highest roughness

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

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

• 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

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

• 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

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

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

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

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

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

• 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

• absorption of the fluid from insect adhesive pads by porous media and/or the effect of surface roughness. Because of the more elaborate experimental design (three additional force measurements on the solid sample after the test on the porous substrate), a later study with the beetle Harmonia axyridis (Pallas

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

• fluences of (b) 3 × 1017, (c) 5 × 1017, (d) 7 × 1017, and (e) 9 × 1017 ions/cm2. The Ge surface shows a slight change in the surface roughness to 0.6 nm when irradiated with an ion fluence of 3 × 1017 ions/cm2. At a fluence of 5 × 1017 ions/cm2, ripple patterns start appearing on the surface perpendicular

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

• surface changes, altering the measured surface roughness. A decrease in Ra indicates changes of the tip shape due to wear, leading to a decrease in image quality. Conversely, a constant Ra implies minimal tip wear and a more accurate representation of the sample surface topography. By comparing the

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

Spatial variations of conductivity of self-assembled monolayers of dodecanethiol on Au/mica and Au/Si substrates

• Julian Skolaut,
• Jędrzej Tepper,
• Federica Galli,
• Wulf Wulfhekel and
• Jan M. van Ruitenbeek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1169–1177, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.97

• substrates consisting of thin Au layers of different surface roughness. We compare granular Au films deposited on Si wafers with epitaxial (flat) Au films on mica. Experimental Before the experimental results are presented, this section focuses on the preparation of the samples under study and the setup used

Industrial perspectives for personalized microneedles

• Remmi Danae Baker-Sediako,
• Benjamin Richter,
• Matthias Blaicher,
• Michael Thiel and
• Martin Hermatschweiler

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 857–864, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.70

• artifact from slicing the computer-aided design (CAD) into layers [47][48]. The staircase effect leads to increased surface roughness of the order of micrometers, and high surface roughness on the microneedles will require substantially more pressure to penetrate the skin. These slicing artifacts

Biomimetics on the micro- and nanoscale – The 25th anniversary of the lotus effect

• Matthias Mail,
• Kerstin Koch,
• Thomas Speck,
• William M. Megill and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 850–856, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.69

• material through a few steps. In the first step, a molten polypropylene layer is laminated onto a carrier film and run over rollers to cool down. Then the combined laminate is forced through a gap between a hot sandblasted roller and a cold smooth one. The surface roughness and temperature difference