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

• out using EDS, and the obtained spectra are shown in Figure 4a1–e1. The existence of zinc and tellurium peaks indicates the formation of ZnTe thin films. The silicon and oxygen peaks are from the quartz substrate. The atomic percentages of Zn and Te are listed in Table 4. The film deposited at room

• thin films with varying thickness [35]. However, the changes we observed for direct bandgaps (1.47–3.11 eV) and indirect bandgaps (0.98–2.63 eV) are more significant. The existence of both direct and indirect bandgaps in a material has implications regarding the efficiency of solar cells. The

Correction: 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. 2025, 16, 252–253, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.19

• /bjnano.16.19 Keywords: AFM-IR; polypropylene; surface-sensitive mode; silicon oxide; thin films; XPS; The authors regret that the acknowledgement in the publication is unfortunately not complete. The following sentence in the Funding section is missing: This work was supported by the German Research

Recent advances in photothermal nanomaterials for ophthalmic applications

• Jiayuan Zhuang,
• Linhui Jia,
• Chenghao Li,
• Rui Yang,
• Jiapeng Wang,
• Wen-an Wang,
• Heng Zhou and
• Xiangxia Luo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 195–215, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.16

• damage to surrounding tissues due to inadequate control over the heat distribution [100][101][102][103][104][105]. Innovations in this field have led to the development of transparent polylactic acid (PLA) thin films with embedded iron oxide nanoclusters prepared via spin coating [51]. The efficient

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

• al. present the application of AFM-based infrared nanospectroscopy to coated polymer surfaces [11]. The authors prepare thin films of SiOx on polypropylene surfaces by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PE-CVD), which is commonly done to improve gas barrier properties of polypropylene. They

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

• templating process employed here, the 3D geometry did not significantly increase the porosity of titania. Our estimate for the effective refractive index of titania in the 3D lattice is in the range reported for pure titania thin films (1.95–2.55 [38], 1.72–2.03 [39]), hybrid silica/titania thin films (1.95

• the effective refractive index of titania thin films produced by sol–gel synthesis varies because of porosity, depending on the specific process, chemicals, and reaction conditions [41]. A higher annealing temperature seems to have a large influence on reducing the porosity of thin films, while

Heterogeneous reactions in a HFCVD reactor: simulation using a 2D model

• Xochitl Aleyda Morán Martínez,
• José Alberto Luna López,
• Zaira Jocelyn Hernández Simón,
• Gabriel Omar Mendoza Conde,
• José Álvaro David Hernández de Luz and
• Godofredo García Salgado

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1627–1638, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.128

• form atomic hydrogen, which reacts with the eleven solid quartz sources. A cloud or plasma is formed and finally reaches the substrate for the formation of the thin films. Finally, zone three is the exit of the gases that were not deposited in the film. The entire process is carried out under

• condition. The simulations give us a broad overview on the probable reaction mechanisms during the deposition of thin films in the HFCVD reactor. This allows us to get an estimate of the types of species that will be deposited for the growth of thin films, which depend strongly on the parameters and

Ion-induced surface reactions and deposition from Pt(CO)₂Cl₂ and Pt(CO)₂Br₂

• Mohammed K. Abdel-Rahman,
• Patrick M. Eckhert,
• Atul Chaudhary,
• Johnathon M. Johnson,
• Jo-Chi Yu,
• Lisa McElwee-White and
• D. Howard Fairbrother

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1427–1439, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.115

• transformations of precursor thin films. In this approach, the precursor is adsorbed onto a cooled substrate to form 1–2 nm thin films. The effects of ion beam exposure on the thin films are characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to identify changes in the films’ composition and chemical environment

• , and mass spectrometry to identify the volatile species produced by ion beam irradiation. Insights from these studies have been used to rationalize the composition of thin films formed by ion-induced deposition of Pt(CO)2Cl2 in the presence of Ar+ irradiation under steady-state deposition conditions

• in the inset. The photoelectron spectra in Figure 2 display the C 1s, Cl 2p, and Pt 4f transitions of ≈2 nm thin films of Pt(CO)2Cl2 adsorbed at 230 K as a function of increasing ion dose (bottom to top). On the left-hand side the effect of Ar+ irradiation is shown, while on the right-hand side the

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

• Academy of Sciences, Akademicheskaya Street, 7, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, 603950, Russia 10.3762/bjnano.15.108 Abstract The superconducting properties of 85 nm thick hafnium thin films with a 5 nm thick titanium layer on top have been investigated for three different geometries, that is, a film covering

• different geometries were investigated in a continuation of [10], in which thin films of both pure hafnium and hafnium in combination with normal metals were considered. It is expected that an additional processing operation (lithography and lift-off process) to form the bridges may degrade their properties

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

• stresses in thin films by deflecting a cantilever of defined size from a uniform membrane. We see a need for such experiments for future improvement of our proposed RoI spacing tuning method. The proposed approach allowed us to evaluate the leakage currents separately from the nanodevice properties. It was

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

• promising applications. High-quality Fe3O4 thin films are a must to achieve the goals. In this report, Fe3O4 films on different substrates (SiO2/Si(100), MgO(100), and MgO/Ta/SiO2/Si(100)) were fabricated at room temperature with radio-frequency (RF) sputtering and annealed at 450 °C for 2 h. The

• . 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

• K [1], as well as its high spin polarization with only one spin at the Fermi level, even at room temperature [2][3][4][5][6]. Fe3O4 thin films are an issue of interest and have extensive applications in Li-ion batteries, spin Seebeck devices, supercapacitors, spin Hall magnetoresistance, and the

A low-kiloelectronvolt focused ion beam strategy for processing low-thermal-conductance materials with nanoampere currents

• Annalena Wolff,
• Nico Klingner,
• William Thompson,
• Yinghong Zhou,
• Jinying Lin and
• Yin Xiao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1197–1207, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.97

• different ion species, which are becoming more popular now, especially the lighter ion species where the assumption of a flat disc may not hold. Allen et al. showed that He ions can be beneficial when working with thin films [28] as they mostly transmit through the sample. The ion beam-induced heat for

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

• tools is extremely essential and important [37][38][39]. Herein, we constructed a robust p–n junction catalyst by atomic layer deposition (ALD) of TiO2 thin films on a p-type SiNW substrate for enhancing the photocatalytic efficiency in CH4 oxidation. Pristine p-Si wafers have limited surface area and

• properties of as-synthesized samples were analyzed using an X-ray diffraction system (XRD, Rigaku, SmartLab) with a 2θ range of 20–80° and a field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM, Hitachi, S-4700). The absorption properties of the thin films were analyzed using a diffuse reflectance UV–vis

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

• independent fibers, it can have an effective Ec that is close to zero when in the unadhered state and will, therefore, minimally affect bending stiffness in comparison to two independent thin films of Ef. For the simplified model shown in Figure 8, if Ec ≪ Ef and t ≪ d, then the overall bending stiffness

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

• and Technology, Wybrzeze Wyspiańskiego 27, 50–370 Wroclaw, Poland 10.3762/bjnano.15.62 Abstract This paper presents an investigation into the influence of repeating cycles of hydrothermal growth processes and rapid thermal annealing (HT+RTA) on the properties of CuO thin films. An innovative

• , scanning capacitance microscopy measurements provided information on the changes in the local carrier concentration with each repetition. These studies indicate the increased usefulness of CuO thin films obtained from the HT+RTA procedure, which expands the possibilities of their applications in electronic

• devices. Keywords: CuO; hydrothermal method; rapid thermal annealing; thin films; Introduction Copper(II) oxide is a p-type semiconductor possessing a narrow bandgap, along with many beneficial electrical, optical, and magnetic properties. Particularly at the nanoscale, these properties set themselves

Elastic modulus of β-Ga₂O₃ nanowires measured by resonance and three-point bending techniques

• Annamarija Trausa,
• Sven Oras,
• Sergei Vlassov,
• Mikk Antsov,
• Tauno Tiirats,
• Andreas Kyritsakis,
• Boris Polyakov and
• Edgars Butanovs

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 704–712, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.58

• , University of Tartu, Nooruse 1, 50411 Tartu, Estonia Estonian Military Academy, Riia 12, 51010 Tartu, Estonia 10.3762/bjnano.15.58 Abstract Due to the recent interest in ultrawide bandgap β-Ga2O3 thin films and nanostructures for various electronics and UV device applications, it is important to understand

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

• the different measurement methods (i.e., contact mode and surface-sensitive mode) with respect to the chemical surface sensitivity. The use of the surface-sensitive mode in AFM-IR shows an enormous improvement for the analysis of thin films on the IR-active substrate. As a result, in this mode, the

• signal of the substrate material could be significantly reduced. Even layers that are so thin that they could hardly be measured in the contact mode can be analyzed with the surface-sensitive mode. Keywords: AFM-IR; polypropylene; surface-sensitive mode; silicon oxide; thin films; XPS; Introduction

• –sample force generated by the thermal expansion of the total excited volume is detected. This makes it very challenging to characterize thin films with a small thermal expansion coefficient (e.g., inorganic oxides) deposited on bulk materials with a large thermal expansion coefficient (e.g., polymers

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

• density of defects in the form of grain boundaries. It holds an advantage over graphene in easily achieving wafer-scale growth with controlled thickness. In this study, we explore the piezoresistivity in thin films of nanocrystalline graphite. Simultaneous measurements of sheet resistance and externally

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

• , Alagappa University, Karaikudi 630 003, India Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur 721 302, India 10.3762/bjnano.15.31 Abstract In this work, various physicochemical properties are investigated in nanostructured WOx thin films prepared by radio-frequency magnetron

• identified to regulate the rectification ratio values at the WOx/p-Si heterostructures and increase in series resistance within the bulk of the films. The present study provides valuable insights to correlate optical, electrical, and structural properties of WOx thin films, which will be beneficial for

• . In this regard, radio frequency (rf) sputter deposition is one of the preferred choices as an industry-compatible method to grow WOx thin films [2][19][20][21]. Apart from thin films, nanostructured metal oxides generally possess superior electrochemical properties compared to their bulk counterparts

Determining by Raman spectroscopy the average thickness and N-layer-specific surface coverages of MoS₂ thin films with domains much smaller than the laser spot size

• Felipe Wasem Klein,
• Jean-Roch Huntzinger,
• Vincent Astié,
• Damien Voiry,
• Romain Parret,
• Houssine Makhlouf,
• Sandrine Juillaguet,
• Jean-Manuel Decams,
• Sylvie Contreras,
• Périne Landois,
• Ahmed-Azmi Zahab,
• Jean-Louis Sauvajol and
• Matthieu Paillet

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 279–296, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.26

• Raman spectroscopy is a widely used technique to characterize nanomaterials because of its convenience, non-destructiveness, and sensitivity to materials change. The primary purpose of this work is to determine via Raman spectroscopy the average thickness of MoS2 thin films synthesized by direct liquid

• growth of wafer-scale MoS2 thin films on SiO2/Si substrates by direct liquid injection pulsed-pressure chemical vapor deposition (DLI-PP-CVD) using low-toxicity precursors [27]. Such MoS2 thin films showed good stoichiometry (Mo/S = 1.94–1.95) and the potential for high photoluminescence quantum yield

• develop and validate an approach for determining the average thickness of such sub-laser spot size inhomogeneous MoS2 thin films using Raman spectroscopy. First, we reassess here as a ground work the information that can be derived from the Raman spectra of MoS2 flakes for the evaluation of their

Ultrasensitive and ultrastretchable metal crack strain sensor based on helical polydimethylsiloxane

• Shangbi Chen,
• Dewen Liu,
• Weiwei Chen,
• Huajiang Chen,
• Jiawei Li and
• Jinfang Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 270–278, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.25

• was exerted on the surface of the Au film at a rate of 10% strain per second, resulting in the initiation and propagation of cracks. Following the release of the pre-stretch, the Au thin films were affixed to silver wires using silver paste at both ends. Ultimately, the surface of the helix was coated

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

• larger than the geometric (electromagnetic) inductance in thin films and nanowires made of amorphous superconductors [16]. It is, therefore, useful in applications that require compact microwave resonators with low loss [17], including microwave filters [18] and resonant radiation detectors [19]. Large

Ion beam processing of DNA origami nanostructures

• Leo Sala,
• Agnes Zerolová,
• Violaine Vizcaino,
• Alain Mery,
• Alicja Domaracka,
• Hermann Rothard,
• Philippe Boduch,
• Dominik Pinkas and
• Jaroslav Kocišek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 207–214, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.20

• the direction of the primary ion’s initial momentum. Hillock structures are usually formed upon such interaction with single-crystal materials [19], while craters and particle tracks form on polymeric thin films such as PMMA [20][21]. The dimensions of such features can be influenced by the interplay

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

• relations of refractive indices and extinction coefficient were investigated. The morphologies of the thin films were studied with atomic force microscopy. The chemical boundaries of the ternary layers were determined by Raman spectroscopy. Based on UPS studies, the energy diagram of the potential devices

• –COOH groups, they can be easily labeled for chemical and biological applications. Low-molecular-weight organic molecules coat highly luminescent semiconductor nanocrystals. Materials and Methods Thin films, the intended active layers, were fabricated using the spin-coating method. The layers were a

• coefficient and shifts the maximum toward short wavelengths for the refractive index. Refractive indices and extinction coefficient parameters for investigated quantum dots thin films are summarized in Table 2. In ternary systems, a shift of the extinction coefficient maximum toward lower energies can be

In situ optical sub-wavelength thickness control of porous anodic aluminum oxide

• Aleksandrs Dutovs,
• Raimonds Popļausks,
• Oskars Putāns,
• Vladislavs Perkanuks,
• Aušrinė Jurkevičiūtė,
• Tomas Tamulevičius,
• Uldis Malinovskis,
• Iryna Olyshevets,
• Donats Erts and
• Juris Prikulis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 126–133, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.12

• microscopy and is particularly valuable for the small-scale production of PAAO-based functional optical coatings. Keywords: electrochemistry; ellipsometry; porous anodic alumina; spectroscopy; thin films; Introduction Porous anodic aluminum oxide (PAAO) is a versatile self-organized material with

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

• based on high-temperature YBCO Josephson junctions [27][28][29]. Long junctions based on YBCO thin films were fabricated by the preliminary topology mask method [30][31]. Specifically, YBCO film was deposited on a 24° [001]-tilt Zr1−xYxO2 bicrystal substrate by magnetron sputtering with preliminary