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

• ions at different incidence angles and for various irradiation times is investigated using AFM in tapping mode. Si cantilevers with tip radii of 10 nm were employed, with scan rate of 1 µm/s and a fixed scan size of 5 µm × 5 µm. Quantitative analysis of the surface topography was conducted using WSxM

Probing the potential of rare earth elements in the development of new anticancer drugs: single molecule studies

• Josiane A. D. Batista,
• Rayane M. de Oliveira,
• Carlos H. M. Lima,
• Milton L. Lana Júnior,
• Virgílio C. dos Anjos,
• Maria J. V. Bell and
• Márcio S. Rocha

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 187–194, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.15

• distinct molecules in the scanned images and to avoid relevant volume exclusion effects that play a significant role for λ DNA because of its larger contour length (48.5 kbp) [23]. The mica substrates were scanned with the AFM operating in the tapping mode. All experiments were performed in air, at ambient

• temperature and with a humidity between 20% to 30%. This experimental procedure has been proved suitable to visualize deposited DNA and DNA–ligand complexes in a reproducible and reliable way [23][24]. The AFM instrument used in the experiments was a NT-MDT-NTEGRA PRIMA operating in tapping mode with TAP300

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

• Innova instrument in tapping mode. RTESPA-300 (Bruker, Billerica, MA) probes were used with a tip radius of 12 nm, a spring constant of 40 N/m, and a frequency of 300 kHz. A minimum of six images from two different samples were produced with dimensions of 5 × 5 μm at a scan rate of 0.5 Hz. Post

Exploring surface charge dynamics: implications for AFM height measurements in 2D materials

• Mario Navarro-Rodriguez,
• Andres M. Somoza and
• Elisa Palacios-Lidon

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 767–780, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.64

• oscillation amplitudes, the tip mechanically touches the surface during part of the oscillation. This mode is known as “intermittent contact” or tapping mode, and incorrect height measurements are usually ascribed to variations in the local elasticity [32][33] or differences in the local adhesion, related to

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

• , which allowed for the investigation of both topography and electrical properties of the films. Surface topography analysis was performed by utilizing an atomic force microscopy (AFM) operating in Peak Force Tapping mode. The surface was scanned at a resolution of 1024 × 1024 measurement points using a

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

• ) equipped with a solid-state laser operating at 532 nm with a power of 0.7 mW, a grating of 600 L/mm, and an objective lens of 50× (Zeiss) was used in noncontact (tapping) mode. The cantilevers of length 125 μm and width 4 μm were used at a resonance frequency of 142 Hz and at a constant force of 42 N/m

AFM-IR investigation of thin PECVD SiO_x films on a polypropylene substrate in the surface-sensitive mode

• Hendrik Müller,
• Hartmut Stadler,
• Teresa de los Arcos,
• Adrian Keller and
• Guido Grundmeier

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 603–611, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.51

• papers [1][3][9][10]. A general restriction of AFM-IR is its rather large depth of information, which depends on the sample structure and the chosen measurement mode such as contact mode or tapping mode. In general, the incident IR light excites a large volume of material beneath the AFM tip, and the tip

• surface without (or at least with severely limited) contributions from the bulk. In this description scheme, surface-sensitive AFM-IR shows similarities to the tapping-mode-based AFM-IR technique (i.e., the transduction of the IR absorption via nonlinear frequency mixing of photothermal and piezo-induced

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

• −7 mbar). The thickness of the films was measured using a surface profilometer (Ambios, XP 200). The surface morphology of the as-deposited and the annealed films was acquired using tapping mode AFM (Asylum Research). AFM images were recorded at different places on each sample to confirm the film

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

• simulate the characteristics of a sharp tip, the tapping mode scanning process of an AFM scanning a hard sample in air was simulated in MATLAB. The method of dilation from mathematical morphology was used to simulate the image based on the morphology of the tip and the sample [21]. The convolution effect

• tip has a circular cross section, the rearward extension forms a trapezoidal structure, and the two waists are tangent to the top circle. When simulating the scanning of the sample in tapping mode using the blunt tip, the height data graph of the sample forms a continuous arc (Figure 4e). The vertex

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

• analysis. Thus, the graphene could be modified and immediately measured by AFM without changing the environment. The analysis was performed by using the tapping mode and the Akiyama probe (Nanosensors). Data shown in Figure 4 were measured with the following parameters: scan speed of 20 µm/m, scan range of

• e-beam were taken using the Bruker Dimension ICON XR PeakForce in tapping mode in air with image resolution of 258 × 258 pixels and then post-processed with Gwyddion. Graphene flake composed of monolayer, bilayer, and triple-layer graphene after water-assisted etching processes, analyzed using

Determination of the radii of coated and uncoated silicon AFM sharp tips using a height calibration standard grating and a nonlinear regression function

• Perawat Boonpuek and
• Jonathan R. Felts

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1200–1207, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.99

• strongly depend on the geometry of the AFM tip [7][8]. For example, the Pt-coated HQ:NSC18/Pt tip (for electrical force modulation AFM probes) and the Cr/Au-coated HQ:NSC16/Cr-Au tip (for tapping mode AFM probes with long AFM cantilever) produced by MikroMasch [9] have estimated nominal tip radii lower

• and the reduced modulus [14]. Real-time measurements of tip radii based on analysis of the power spectral density (PSD) of the topography of a surface of an ultrananocrystalline diamond were carried out to detect changes in tip radius during tapping mode scanning. For each scan, the frequency data in

• . AFM Tips and Calibration Standard Grating Three types of AFM sharp tips were used, namely a Pt-coated tip (HQ:NSC18/Pt, nominal radius < 30 nm for electrical, force modulation AFM; Figure 1a), a Cr/Au-coated tip (HQ:NSC16/Cr-Au, nominal radius < 35 nm for tapping mode AFM; Figure 1b), and an uncoated

Dual-heterodyne Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Fatima Husainy,
• Dmitry Aldakov and
• Cyril Aumaître

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1068–1084, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.88

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

• carried out in tapping mode, where the tip was located at a single point of the membrane. The external bias with an amplitude of 2.5 V and frequency of 2 Hz in a square waveform provided by the function generator was applied to the top and bottom Al contacts of the piezoelectric device. The height change

On the use of Raman spectroscopy to characterize mass-produced graphene nanoplatelets

• Keith R. Paton,
• Konstantinos Despotelis,
• Naresh Kumar,
• Piers Turner and
• Andrew J. Pollard

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 509–521, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.42

• Research, Oxford Instruments, UK). AFM images were recorded using Si AFM probes (MikroMasch HQ:NSC15, 40 N/m, 325 kHz, MikroMasch, Bulgaria) in tapping-mode feedback. AFM images were measured in square areas between 6 μm × 6 μm and 8 μm × 8 μm using 1024 × 1024 pixels with a scan speed below 20 μm·s−1. To

Structural, optical, and bioimaging characterization of carbon quantum dots solvothermally synthesized from o-phenylenediamine

• Zoran M. Marković,
• Milica D. Budimir,
• Martin Danko,
• Dušan D. Milivojević,
• Pavel Kubat,
• Danica Z. Zmejkoski,
• Vladimir B. Pavlović,
• Marija M. Mojsin,
• Milena J. Stevanović and
• Biljana M. Todorović Marković

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 165–174, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.17

• ), CQDs were deposited on graphene oxide copper grids with 300 mesh by drop casting. For AFM imaging, all CQDs samples were deposited on freshly cleaved mica. The AFM measurements were conducted using a Quesant microscope operating in tapping mode in air at ambient temperature. Statistical analysis of all

Studies of probe tip materials by atomic force microscopy: a review

• Ke Xu and
• Yuzhe Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1256–1267, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.104

• process resulted in the growth of coaxial palladium nanowires/carbon nanotube composite structures (PdNWCNTs) using catalyzed palladium films deposited only near the tip of AFM suspensions in commercial tapping mode. The experimental results show that the PdNWCNT probe is sufficient for standard

Design of a biomimetic, small-scale artificial leaf surface for the study of environmental interactions

• Miriam Anna Huth,
• Axel Huth,
• Lukas Schreiber and
• Kerstin Koch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 944–957, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.83

• recrystallized wax layer on the glass was partially removed with a razor blade. The sample was then attached to a microscope slide with double-sided adhesive tape. The AFM recordings were performed in tapping mode (amplitude: 0.05 V; frequency: 302.9 kHz, line rate: 0.3 Hz, set point: 940 mV) with tapping

Optimizing PMMA solutions to suppress contamination in the transfer of CVD graphene for batch production

• Chun-Da Liao,
• Andrea Capasso,
• Tiago Queirós,
• Telma Domingues,
• Fatima Cerqueira,
• Nicoleta Nicoara,
• Jérôme Borme,
• Paulo Freitas and
• Pedro Alpuim

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 796–806, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.70

• frequency. The AFM measurement was carried out in tapping mode. A 633 nm laser light aimed at the back side of the cantilever tip was reflected toward a position-sensitive photodetector, which provides feedback signals to piezoelectric scanners that maintain the cantilever tip at constant height (force

Revealing local structural properties of an atomically thin MoSe₂ surface using optical microscopy

• Lin Pan,
• Peng Miao,
• Anke Horneber,
• Alfred J. Meixner,
• Pierre-Michel Adam and
• Dai Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 572–581, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.49

• images of CuPc/MoSe2. The topographic images of CuPc/MoSe2 are obtained with an atomic force microscope (Multimode 8-HR, Bruker) operated in peak force tapping mode using a SCANASYST-AIR probe (silicon tip on nitride lever, Bruker). Optical properties of a triangular MoSe2 flake covered with a thin film

Two dynamic modes to streamline challenging atomic force microscopy measurements

• Alexei G. Temiryazev,
• Andrey V. Krayev and
• Marina P. Temiryazeva

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1226–1236, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.90

• 10.3762/bjnano.12.90 Abstract The quality of topographic images obtained using atomic force microscopy strongly depends on the accuracy of the choice of scanning parameters. When using the most common scanning method – semicontact amplitude modulation (tapping) mode, the choice of scanning parameters is

• -scanner vertically, maintains A = Asp. During scanning each line, lateral movement (in the X or Y direction) is performed at a constant speed V. This is the most common dynamic mode, which is called amplitude modulation (AM-AFM) [7] and has many other names (e.g., tapping mode or semi-contact mode). The

Open-loop amplitude-modulation Kelvin probe force microscopy operated in single-pass PeakForce tapping mode

• Gheorghe Stan and
• Pradeep Namboodiri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1115–1126, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.83

A new method for obtaining model-free viscoelastic material properties from atomic force microscopy experiments using discrete integral transform techniques

• Berkin Uluutku,
• Enrique A. López-Guerra and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1063–1077, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.79

• force–distance curve, where the cantilever position above the sample follows a ramp function. In the case of intermittent-contact methods (e.g., tapping-mode AFM), the cantilever tip oscillates nearly sinusoidally, but since tip–sample contact is intermittent, the sample does not experience purely

Self-assembly of Eucalyptus gunnii wax tubules and pure ß-diketone on HOPG and glass

• Miriam Anna Huth,
• Axel Huth and
• Kerstin Koch

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 939–949, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.70

• solvent and were done in tapping mode with tapping-mode cantilevers (Tap300-G, Budget Sensors, Sofia, Bulgaria). The scan rates ranged from 0.7 to 2.3 Hz and the scan sizes from 3 × 3 to 10 × 10 µm. The maximum possible set point was used (approx. 60–70% of drive amplitude). Obtained topography and

Impact of GaAs(100) surface preparation on EQE of AZO/Al₂O₃/p-GaAs photovoltaic structures

• Piotr Caban,
• Rafał Pietruszka,
• Jarosław Kaszewski,
• Monika Ożga,
• Bartłomiej S. Witkowski,
• Krzysztof Kopalko,
• Piotr Kuźmiuk,
• Katarzyna Gwóźdź,
• Ewa Płaczek-Popko,
• Krystyna Lawniczak-Jablonska and
• Marek Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 578–592, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.48

• analyzed using a scanning electron microscope (Hitachi SU-70) with a secondary electron detector operating at 15 kV. The topography of the surface of the layers was analyzed using an atomic force microscope (Bruker Dimension Icon) working in peak-force tapping mode using a ScanAsyst algorithm. A ScanAsyst

Mapping the local dielectric constant of a biological nanostructured system

• Wescley Walison Valeriano,
• Rodrigo Ribeiro Andrade,
• Juan Pablo Vasco,
• Angelo Malachias,
• Bernardo Ruegger Almeida Neves,
• Paulo Sergio Soares Guimarães and
• Wagner Nunes Rodrigues

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 139–150, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.11

• double-pass mode, which means that the probe executes two scans. The first scan measures the sample topography in tapping mode and the second scan mimics the profile at a defined lift height Zlift applying a voltage VDC between the tip and the conductive substrate [21]. The tip is mechanically forced to