Comparative electron microscopy particle sizing of TiO₂ pigments: sample preparation and measurement

• Ralf Theissmann,
• Christopher Drury,
• Markus Rohe,
• Thomas Koch,
• Jochen Winkler and
• Petr Pikal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 317–332, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.29

• thresholding. While the former detection methods do not require any pre-processing of the image filtering of the obtained results, the automated detection methods require both noise reduction and contrast–brightness unification prior to the automated grey-value thresholding, and a shape- and grey value-based

• implemented definition. The new software package does not support the previously used watershed transform; instead, a morphological shape separator must be used. The better image quality allows one to reduce the size of the rank filter for noise reduction from five to two pixels. The differences are

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

• interferometric and beam-deflection detectors of motion are sufficient to resolve the thermal noise force determined by the damping of the cantilever eigenmode in thermal equilibrium with its environment. Operation in high vacuum and at cryogenic temperatures reduces this force noise, improving sensitivity to the

• point where motion detection becomes the limiting source of noise. In this context, the principles of cavity optomechanics may improve the sensitivity of AFM force sensors. Cryogenic AFM further enables the use of superconducting microwave resonators in a cavity optomechanical detection scheme [4][5][6

• kinetic inductance also comes with intrinsic nonlinearity, or current dependence of the inductance, which enables low-noise microwave parametric amplification [20]. Different materials studied in the literature include niobium nitride (Nb-N) [21][22], titanium nitride (Ti-N) [23][24], niobium titanium

Enhanced feedback performance in off-resonance AFM modes through pulse train sampling

• Mustafa Kangül,
• Navid Asmari,
• Santiago H. Andany,
• Marcos Penedo and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 134–143, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.13

• the proposed method, the reference curve is calculated by averaging multiple recorded waveforms to reduce the noise level. However, this reference only represents the tip–sample interaction for one given material, which can lead to over- or undercorrection of the interaction when the tip touches a

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

• measured with YBCO Josephson Junction oscillators show narrow peaks at 205 GHz for the 210 GHz array and at 225 GHz for the 240 GHz array; the separation of these two frequency bands is clearly visible. The noise equivalent power level at an operating point in the current bias mode is 5 × 10−16 W/√Hz

• [8]. The estimated photon noise equivalent power (NEP) for the auxiliary channels is about 2 × 10−16 W/√Hz. The LiteBIRD is a satellite mission that investigates the B mode polarization of the CMB radiation to test the hypothesis of an expanding universe. This mission is carried out by the Japanese

• . But because of aliasing in the SQUID readout system and microphonic noise, the NEP in first QUBIC tests was limited to 2 × 10−16 W/√Hz. The Simons Observatory [6] is a four-telescope ground-based system, including one large-aperture telescope and three small-aperture telescopes. It will be built in

unDrift: A versatile software for fast offline SPM image drift correction

• Tobias Dickbreder,
• Franziska Sabath,
• Lukas Höltkemeier,
• Ralf Bechstein and
• Angelika Kühnle

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1225–1237, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.101

• software to three examples where the drift correction is especially challenging. Namely, we drift-correct SPM images with a very high drift velocity exceeding the slow scan rate, only partly usable images, and images with an overall weak contrast and high noise level. Moreover, we show that unDrift is

• experimental noise and a small non-linearity in the drift. Instead, we use the two drift velocities with the smallest difference. Finally, the true drift velocity is calculated by averaging over the individual drift velocities. For the selection of the drift velocity in step 5, unDrift provides an alternative

• second selection procedure tends to work better for images with low signal-to-noise ratio. Images without periodic structures As discussed before, unDrift features two algorithms to drift-correct SPM images without periodic structures based on the apparent movement of stationary features in consecutive

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

• mode with very light loading (0.01 nN) to prevent the tips from wear. The noise effect was not considered here, because the measurement was conducted inside the hood of a MFP-3D Origin (Asylum Research) with noise filter system. Considering the geometry of the nanostructure and the scanline signal

A multi-resistance wide-range calibration sample for conductive probe atomic force microscopy measurements

• François Piquemal,
• Khaled Kaja,
• Pascal Chrétien,
• José Morán-Meza,
• Frédéric Houzé,
• Christian Ulysse and
• Abdelmounaim Harouri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1141–1148, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.94

• electronics [24][25][26][27][28][29], organic and biological systems [30][31][32][33][34], and quantum devices [35][36][37]. Various technical methods have been developed in C-AFM to cope with the diversity of its applications, including advanced sensors and low-noise preamplifiers [2][38][39][40

• ammeters were used depending on the range of the expected resistance values. As shown in Figure 1, a digital voltage multimeter (DVM) (Keysight 3458A) was used for the resistance range between 100 Ω and 1 GΩ, while a very low noise (fA/Hz1/2) current amplifier (Femto DDPCA-300) was associated with the same

• measurement instruments (particularly the current amplifier gain), the leakage resistances, and the measurement noise (see Supporting Information File 1, sections S3 and S4). Resistance values in C-AFM imaging mode Following the calibration of the SMD resistors, C-AFM imaging measurements were conducted by

A bifunctional superconducting cell as flux qubit and neuron

• Dmitrii S. Pashin,
• Pavel V. Pikunov,
• Marina V. Bastrakova,
• Andrey E. Schegolev,
• Nikolay V. Klenov and
• Igor I. Soloviev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1116–1126, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.92

• aspect to consider is the investigation of the impact of dissipative and temperature effects on the nonlinear dynamics of quantum interferometers. Quantum noise can result in the breakdown of coherence in the system and affect the operation of the parametron within coupling circuits and tuning schemes

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

• spectroscopic images displayed in this figure have been treated by applying a Gaussian smooth filter. The raw data are shown in Supporting Information File 1, Figure S8, they display the same features, but with a higher noise level. Remember also that the reference phase (Φ0) is now measured for each pixel

• the phase signal obviously shows a higher noise level for the harmonics with the smallest magnitude (e.g., n = 5, see the phase image in Supporting Information File 1, Figure S9). The question also arises as to whether a better adjustment could be achieved, by taking into account the photocharging

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

• of the light-driven piezo/photodiode device over time. Employing modulated illumination enabled us to quantify precisely the device displacement due to improved signal-to-noise ratio, which could not be achieved by continuous illumination. The configuration of the hybrid piezo/photodiode device has

• leading to a better signal-to-noise ratio. The feedback applies a DC bias (VDC) matching the potential difference between the tip and the sample, which compensates for the electrostatic force. Therefore, the sidebands disappear. The value of VDC corresponds to the contact potential difference

Isolation of cubic Si₃P₄ in the form of nanocrystals

• Polina K. Nikiforova,
• Sergei S. Bubenov,
• Vadim B. Platonov,
• Andrey S. Kumskov,
• Nikolay N. Kononov,
• Tatyana A. Kuznetsova and
• Sergey G. Dorofeev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 971–979, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.80

• observed, while other signals, weaker than the (311) reflex by at least a factor of two, were ill-defined because of an overlap of the broadened reflections and a low signal-to-noise ratio. As no systematic effect of the synthesis temperature on the cell parameter was observed (Table 1), all samples were

A wearable nanoscale heart sound sensor based on P(VDF-TrFE)/ZnO/GR and its application in cardiac disease detection

• Yi Luo,
• Jian Liu,
• Jiachang Zhang,
• Yu Xiao,
• Ying Wu and
• Zhidong Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 819–833, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.67

• susceptible to noise, and relies heavily on the practitioner’s experience, new stethoscope technologies have emerged as contemporary research fields, including electronic stethoscopes [4][5], Doppler stethoscopes [6][7], and Bluetooth heart sound stethoscopes [8]. Piezoelectric materials, which can convert

• normal heart sounds are labeled “−1”, and all abnormal heart sounds are labeled “1”. As the heart sound acquisition environment in the database is different, the collected heart sound signal may contain electromagnetic interference, lung sounds, and other noise. In the experiment, a 20 to 200 Hz band

• the time domain diagram of the preprocessed heart sound signal. Comparing the waveforms of the two figures, it can be observed that the characteristics of the first heart sound and the second heart sound of the preprocessed heart sound signal are more apparent, the noise removal is better, and the

Cross-sectional Kelvin probe force microscopy on III–V epitaxial multilayer stacks: challenges and perspectives

• Mattia da Lisca,
• José Alvarez,
• James P. Connolly,
• Nicolas Vaissiere,
• Karim Mekhazni,
• Jean Decobert and
• Jean-Paul Kleider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 725–737, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.59

• under ambient conditions, where typical tip–surface distances are of the order of tens of nanometres because of the vibrating tip amplitude necessary to achieve an acceptable signal-to-noise ratio. Finally, it is well documented in the literature [20] that the cleavage procedure produces surface defects

Metal-organic framework-based nanomaterials as opto-electrochemical sensors for the detection of antibiotics and hormones: A review

• Akeem Adeyemi Oladipo,
• Saba Derakhshan Oskouei and
• Mustafa Gazi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 631–673, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.52

Thermal transport in kinked nanowires through simulation

• Alexander N. Robillard,
• Graham W. Gibson and
• Ralf Meyer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 586–602, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.49

• noise, and that the heat flux is overall less smoothly varying than the other systems. Looking to a more easily assessed visualization, namely a colour map, distinct kinds of behaviour can be seen in the PMC result when compared to the Fourier solution. Figure 7 shows colour maps of the (normalized

• reduced conductances seen in the PMC simulations in Figure 5 when compared to the solution of the Fourier equation. In addition to the shadowing effects, the variation of the flux within the angled segments in the PMC solution appears to be predominantly due to random noise resulting from the simulation

• method. This is in contrast with the solution of the Fourier equation, which varies much more smoothly in the angled segments. This is further emphasized by the centre two colour maps for systems with increased scattering rate, which show an increase in the noise throughout PMC systems. The presence of

Observation of multiple bulk bound states in the continuum modes in a photonic crystal cavity

• Rui Chen,
• Yi Zheng,
• Xingyu Huang,
• Qiaoling Lin,
• Chaochao Ye,
• Meng Xiong,
• Martijn Wubs,
• Yungui Ma,
• Minhao Pu and
• Sanshui Xiao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 544–551, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.45

• . The direct reflective light retaining the same polarization with incidence is reflected by the PBS. Consequently, the interference between the radiation of resonances and direct reflection could be greatly suppressed, and a better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and symmetrical Lorentzian resonances could

• be obtained. A 20× objective was used in the measurement. Limited by the excitation efficiencies of one specific position for all modes and the sensitivity of the spectrometer, the weak scattering signal from the resonances is inundated by noise. To identify the resonance wavelength of the cavity, a

• efficiency could be observed, while other modes are inundated by noise. The high-order modes have close eigenwavelengths, resulting in the resonance shift in Figure 4c. Theoretically, all modes could be captured in the spectrum, but the excitation and collection efficiency cannot simultaneously reach maximum

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

• analysed. It is clear that the sequence of analysis (analysing an averaged spectrum vs averaging values from individual spectra) can have an effect on the results obtained for these methods. In the case of the R2-based metric, this difference is likely to be a result of the reduction in noise level

• important to keep in mind that the value of R2 obtained is affected by the signal-to-noise ratio of the spectrum (see Supporting Information File 1, Figure S4 and Figure S5). We therefore do not intend to suggest that the values of the thresholds given here are universal values. It is important to consider

The origin of black and white coloration of the Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae)

• Manuela Rebora,
• Gianandrea Salerno,
• Silvana Piersanti,
• Alexander Kovalev and
• Stanislav N. Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 496–508, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.41

• , Florida, USA). Further spectral processing was performed in Matlab 7.10 (The MathWorks, Natick, NA, USA) and includes dark noise subtraction and smoothing with a Savitzky–Golay filter of fourth order with 12 nm window. All spectra were normalized to the WS1 standard (Ocean Insight, Ostfildern, Germany

A distributed active patch antenna model of a Josephson oscillator

• Vladimir M. Krasnov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 151–164, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.16

• signal up to 55 dB higher than the background noise was reported at f = 0.5 THz. In [27], a mesa structure containing several hundreds of stacked Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ intrinsic JJs was implemented in a turnstile antenna. A radiation power efficiency up to 12% at f ≃ 4 THz was reported. The record high

Intermodal coupling spectroscopy of mechanical modes in microcantilevers

• Ioan Ignat,
• Bernhard Schuster,
• Jonas Hafner,
• MinHee Kwon,
• Daniel Platz and
• Ulrich Schmid

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 123–132, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.13

• of nanotechnology. Fundamental research in atomic interactions, molecular reactions, and biological cell behaviour are key focal points, demanding a continuous increase in resolution and sensitivity. While renowned fields such as optomechanics have marched towards outstanding signal-to-noise ratios

• , these improvements have yet to find a practical way to AFM. As a solution, we investigate here a mechanism in which individual mechanical eigenmodes of a microcantilever couple to one another, mimicking optomechanical techniques to reduce thermal noise. We have a look at the most commonly used modes in

• . Through such findings we aim to expand the field of multifrequency AFM with innumerable possibilities leading to improved signal-to-noise ratios, all accessible with no additional hardware. Keywords: atomic force microscopy; intermodal coupling; nonlinear mechanics; optomechanics; sideband cooling

Characterisation of a micrometer-scale active plasmonic element by means of complementary computational and experimental methods

• Ciarán Barron,
• Giulia Di Fazio,
• Samuel Kenny,
• Silas O’Toole,
• Robin O’Reilly and
• Dominic Zerulla

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 110–122, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.12

• reflected light selected here, in this simple geometry, is of the order of 1% with respect to the total light intensity. To improve the signal-to-noise ratio, a lock-in amplifier is used to detect modulated signals referenced at the driving frequency. The aforementioned SPR characteristics manifest in the X

Frontiers of nanoelectronics: intrinsic Josephson effect and prospects of superconducting spintronics

• Anatolie S. Sidorenko,
• Horst Hahn and
• Vladimir Krasnov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 79–82, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.9

• a very high responsivity at 77 K (up to 9 kV/W), low noise equivalent power (NEP) of 3 × 10−13 W/Hz(1/2), and with a wide power dynamic range equal to 1 × 106 [18]. Integrating an aluminum Josephson junction, with a size of a few micrometers, operating as a single photon counter in the microwave

Cooper pair splitting controlled by a temperature gradient

• Dmitry S. Golubev and
• Andrei D. Zaikin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 61–67, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.7

• -correlated non-local shot noise in the presence of a temperature gradient. We suggest that applying a temperature gradient may serve as an extra tool to control the phenomenon of Cooper pair splitting. Keywords: Cooper pair splitting; entanglement; quantum shot noise; superconducting hybrid nanostructures

• -superconducting multiterminal structures cross correlations of current noise in different terminals always remain negative [19], such cross correlations may become positive in the presence of superconductivity due to the process of CAR. This conclusion was initially reached theoretically in the limit of low

• -transparency barriers at NS interfaces [20][21] and later extended to the case of arbitrary barrier transmissions [22][23][24][25]. Positively cross-correlated non-local shot noise was indeed observed in a number of experiments [26][27]. Real-time observation of Cooper pair splitting was also reported in a

Near-infrared photoactive Ag-Zn-Ga-S-Se quantum dots for high-performance quantum dot-sensitized solar cells

• Roopakala Kottayi,
• Ilangovan Veerappan and
• Ramadasse Sittaramane

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1337–1344, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.110

• approximately a ratio of 1:1:1:1.5:1.5 , indicating the formation of AgZnGaS1.5Se1.5 QDs. XPS studies XPS spectra of AZGSSe QDs are depicted in Figure 3. To avoid the background noise, peak fits were included in all elemental spectra. Figure 3a shows Ag 3d, Zn 2p, S 2p, Se 3d, Ga 2p, C 1s, and O 1s peaks. Here

Enhanced electronic transport properties of Te roll-like nanostructures

• E. R. Viana,
• N. Cifuentes and
• J. C. González

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1284–1291, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.106

• -nanostructure back-gate FETs, as well as the electrical resistivity of the nanostructures as a function of temperature from 5 to 400 K. The transport measurements were carried out in a low-noise custom-made system for electrical characterization of FET devices [16][17][18]. FET devices were built by laser