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

• of the topography from a surface scan performed while the element is modulated at a known frequency. This is the basis for SJEM measurements. Here, SJEM measurements have been performed using an Oxford instruments Cypher-S AFM and a signal recovery 7270 DSP lock-in amplifier. Figure 3 illustrates the

• setup used to perform such measurements. An Adama NM-RC probe (spring constant: 290.3 N/m, nominal resonance frequency: 814 kHz) has been used in contact mode to scan the topography of an electrically modulated sample with a loading force of 1.9 μN. This particular probe is intended for use in

• for each curve. Left: Topography of the active element. AFM scan of 30 × 30 μm2 area of a 10 μm wide constriction in a 48 nm thin silver film. Right: Expansion of active element due to applied voltage V(t), as defined above, for a current density of 44 mA/μm2. Both scans are 512 × 512 pixels yielding

Gap-directed chemical lift-off lithographic nanoarchitectonics for arbitrary sub-micrometer patterning

• Chang-Ming Wang,
• Hong-Sheng Chan,
• Chia-Li Liao,
• Che-Wei Chang and
• Wei-Ssu Liao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 34–44, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.4

• ) Schematic illustration of the post lift-off wet etching process. (B) Bright field optical microscope and atomic force microscope topography images (inset) of Au structures fabricated by gap-directed CLL using collapse-free (left) and self-collapsing (middle and right) stamps rendering triangular pillars

Utilizing the surface potential of a solid electrolyte region as the potential reference in Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Nobuyuki Ishida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1558–1563, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.129

• negative direction, a cathodic current due to the reduction of Ti ions started to flow at around 2.8 V (vs Li/Li+). KPFM measurements were performed in the region across the solid electrolyte (Figure 1a). Figure 3a and Figure 3b display the topography and CPD images, respectively, obtained when 0 V was

• applied between the Au electrodes. The cross sections of the topography and CPD taken from the images in Figure 3a and Figure 3b are shown in Figure 3c and Figure 3d, respectively. The CPD values measured under this condition reflect the work-function difference across the surface [3]. The CPD values in

• an open circle. (a, b) Topography and CPD images, respectively, obtained across the solid electrolyte region (indicated in Figure 1a) when 0 V was applied between the Au electrodes. Image size is 45 μm × 3 μm. Scan rate is 0.1 Hz. (c, d) Cross sections of topography and CPD taken from the images in

Induced electric conductivity in organic polymers

• Konstantin Y. Arutyunov,
• Anatoli S. Gurski,
• Vladimir V. Artemov,
• Alexander L. Vasiliev,
• Azat R. Yusupov,
• Danfis D. Karamov and
• Alexei N. Lachinov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1551–1557, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.128

• of the PDP polymer solutions. For example, Figure 2b shows the topography of the polymer film 0.1 wt % on Si substrate. The plot at the bottom demonstrates the variation of the structure along the line, depicted at the upper panel. The distance between the measuring lines is of the order of the

Frequency-dependent nanomechanical profiling for medical diagnosis

• Santiago D. Solares and
• Alexander X. Cartagena-Rivera

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1483–1489, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.122

• property approximations, for example in the study of arterial degeneration [34][35]. Besides the above frequency-dependent representation, other important measurements can be recorded, such as general topography and morphology, cell or tissue adhesive properties, internal hydrostatic pressure, and surface

• – topography, f – frequency, and p – points within nanomechanical maps. Schematic of proposed enhanced endoscopy pill. The design is based on existing devices [30] that perform optical imaging, whose capabilities could be augmented to perform mechanical sensing, for example, through the incorporation of a

Growing up in a rough world: scaling of frictional adhesion and morphology of the Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko)

• Anthony J. Cobos and
• Timothy E. Higham

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1292–1302, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.107

• this point in time, the ability to quantify the topography of surfaces of varying roughness [21], and to replicate them [32][33][34][35][36], rather than using vague categorizations, allows for the possibility to test fine-scale interactions of animal adhesion and traction with more accuracy [35][36

• , performance, and 3D surface topography, revealed key aspects of scaling that have significant impacts on our understanding of gecko adhesion. Setal diameter and density did not change with body size, whereas toepad area, and setal length, and therefore setal aspect ratio, increased with body size. Frictional

• . Surfaces Our experiments were carried out using a series of artificial surfaces that varied in surface topography and asperity size. In considering both the appropriate length-scale of animal adhesive structures and relevant manufactured artificial surfaces, we chose 7 different sandpapers that encompassed

Laser-processed antiadhesive bionic combs for handling nanofibers inspired by nanostructures on the legs of cribellate spiders

• Sebastian Lifka,
• Kristóf Harsányi,
• Erich Baumgartner,
• Lukas Pichler,
• Dariya Baiko,
• Karsten Wasmuth,
• Johannes Heitz,
• Marco Meyer,
• Anna-Christin Joel,
• Jörn Bonse and
• Werner Baumgartner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1268–1283, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.105

• ), which can be obtained from Taken together, if the topography function of the surface structure f(x) is given, the bending line, which only depends on the position of the contact point x0, is given to be A special case should be considered separately, namely S = 0, that is, if no longitudinal force is

• deflect the fiber in order to obtain the interaction energy, but not all to the bottom of the sinusoidal surface topography. Thus, a clear total energy minimum exists. Finally, in state C, bending requires less energy than can be gained by the van der Waals interaction. Thus, the fiber adapts completely

• scale bars of 0.8 mm length. Data is presented in Table S1 of Supporting Information File 1. Principle geometry of the interaction of a nanofiber with a periodic sinusoidal surface topography (a) and as single length unit when cut free (b). The periodic surface structure is drawn in black, the fiber is

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

• conductive coatings and regenerated broken tips. The Pt/Ir cantilever was modified with small bundles of SWCNTs by a manual attachment process and fixed using a conductive Pt pad. AFM images of the current and topography of the nanomaterial samples and non-homogeneous polymers were collected using this type

Roll-to-roll fabrication of superhydrophobic pads covered with nanofur for the efficient clean-up of oil spills

• Patrick Weiser,
• Robin Kietz,
• Marc Schneider,
• Matthias Worgull and
• Hendrik Hölscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1228–1239, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.102

• of 53–75 µm. This procedure results in a surface topography of craters and edges with finer spikes on top. This sandblasted roller is mounted in a two-roller calender (Figure 2b) and heated (Figure 2c). Best quality nanofur in terms of high contact angles is obtained if the temperature is set

• case of later envisioned commercial applications, by two winding rollers that separate the two foils with a peeling motion (Figure 2d). The SEM (Zeiss Evo 10) picture in Figure 3a reveals the typical crater-like topography of nanofur with hair on the crater edges [16]. Typical contact angles of water

A cantilever-based, ultrahigh-vacuum, low-temperature scanning probe instrument for multidimensional scanning force microscopy

• Hao Liu,
• Zuned Ahmed,
• Sasa Vranjkovic,
• Manfred Parschau,
• Andrada-Oana Mandru and
• Hans J. Hug

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1120–1140, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.95

Interaction between honeybee mandibles and propolis

• Leonie Saccardi,
• Franz Brümmer,
• Jonas Schiebl,
• Oliver Schwarz,
• Alexander Kovalev and
• Stanislav Gorb

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 958–974, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.84

• experiment, a small amount of homogenised propolis powder was defrosted and kneaded into a homogeneous mass. Cone-shaped propolis samples with a spherical tip were subsequently formed by hand wearing ethanol-cleaned gloves (Figure 1C). The topography of the sample was analysed using a 3D optical profilometer

• to the hairy edge (Figure 4H). The scales on the outside of the mandible are more rounded and form rows of scales that are not clearly separated (12.62 ± 2.71 µm/12.72 ± 1.49 µm) (Figure 4I). Scale profile A 3D laser scanning microscope was used to study the topography of these structures on the

• of adhesion obtained from tests with a 60 s contact time performed on untreated and washed mandibles shows a significantly higher propolis adhesion on washed mandibles (P < 0.0001). Artificial bee mandible In order to test the effect of the surface structures and topography of the mandible as well as

Comparing the performance of single and multifrequency Kelvin probe force microscopy techniques in air and water

• Jason I. Kilpatrick,
• Emrullah Kargin and
• Brian J. Rodriguez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 922–943, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.82

• of topography and surface properties of interfaces in a wide range of environments [1]. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) utilizes the application of a bias and a conductive probe to map the local electrical properties of an interface at the nanoscale [2], allowing for the determination of the

• excitation applied at ω1 as it traces the topography measured in the first pass at a specific lift height above the surface. Lift height can be set such that the electrostatic forces are isolated from stronger short range forces at the expense of spatial resolution [10][58]. By setting the lift height to

• match the mean tip–sample distance of the lever during the mechanical imaging pass, topography and potential can be correlated. (2) Sideband modes – here the electrical signal, ωe, is applied as a low frequency (ωe ≪ ω1) such that the electrical and mechanical drive, ωm, form mixing products ωm ± ωe

Bioselectivity of silk protein-based materials and their bio-inspired applications

• Hendrik Bargel,
• Vanessa T. Trossmann,
• Christoph Sommer and
• Thomas Scheibel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 902–921, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.81

• distinguished according to their basic defense mechanism. These are (A) surface topography, which disturbs and inhibits the initial adhesion based on morphological features, (B) material modification, where intrinsic chemical and physical properties result in microbe-repellence, and (C) additives and coatings

• that inhibit initial attachment or directly kill microbes (see Figure 2) [50]. Natural surfaces provide many examples of anti-adhesive topography, including nanostructured pikes on Cicada wings [51], micro-structured and patterned riblets of the shark skin scales [52], hierarchically micro- and

Temperature and chemical effects on the interfacial energy between a Ga–In–Sn eutectic liquid alloy and nanoscopic asperities

• Yujin Han,
• Pierre-Marie Thebault,
• Corentin Audes,
• Xuelin Wang,
• Haiwoong Park,
• Jian-Zhong Jiang and
• Arnaud Caron

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 817–827, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.72

• could be tuned by texturing the substrate surface. The wetting of gallium-based liquid alloys is thus complex and depends on the stability of the oxide at the liquid–substrate interface, the reactivity with the substrate material, and the substrate topography. In this work, we applied atomic force

• manufactured by ThermoFischer Scientific, USA. We used a monochromated Al Kα source and a spot size of 400 µm. The results presented below consist of the average of ten consecutively recorded measurements. Results and Discussion Figure 2 shows contact AFM topography images recorded at room temperature on the

• surface of the eutectic Ga–In–Sn melt with three AFM tips of different chemistries, namely SiOx, PtSi, and Au. Figure 2 also indicates the surface roughness Rq value for each topography image. We recorded the presented topography images in contact mode by setting and controlling the normal force to Fn = 2

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

• ) above the surface, thus, reproducing its topography. Fabrication and characterization of graphene field-effect transistors Receded-gate graphene field-effect transistors were fabricated on an 8″ Si/SiO2 (200 nm thick) wafers. Two arrays of devices were fabricated with different process steps (Wafer 1

Direct measurement of surface photovoltage by AC bias Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Masato Miyazaki,
• Yasuhiro Sugawara and
• Yan Jun Li

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 712–720, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.63

• -AFM was operated in the FM mode [32] with a constant oscillation amplitude A of 500 pm. The cantilever deflection was measured by an optical beam deflection (OBD) method [33]. AC-KPFM was carried out in the FM mode, in which the topography and SPV were measured simultaneously. An AC bias VAC with

Effects of substrate stiffness on the viscoelasticity and migration of prostate cancer cells examined by atomic force microscopy

• Xiaoqiong Tang,
• Yan Zhang,
• Jiangbing Mao,
• Yuhua Wang,
• Zhenghong Zhang,
• Zhengchao Wang and
• Hongqin Yang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 560–569, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.47

• , Figure S3c,d. Cell surface roughness is a quantitative measurement of the variability of cellular surface topography and serves as an indicator to assess the state of the cell (i.e., the greater the roughness, the greater the undulation of the cell surface topography [27]). It can be involved in many

• with 2 mL of PBS. Then, the cells were observed in QI working mode with Setpoint 1 nN, Z length of 2000 nm, and pixel time of 50 ms. The topography scanning at each pixel position (128 × 128) of the selected area (50 μm × 50 μm) was done to obtain high-resolution surface topography features of cells

Micro- and nanotechnology in biomedical engineering for cartilage tissue regeneration in osteoarthritis

• Zahra Nabizadeh,
• Mahmoud Nasrollahzadeh,
• Hamed Daemi,
• Mohamadreza Baghaban Eslaminejad,
• Ali Akbar Shabani,
• Mehdi Dadashpour,
• Majid Mirmohammadkhani and
• Davood Nasrabadi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 363–389, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.31

Selected properties of Al_xZn_yO thin films prepared by reactive pulsed magnetron sputtering using a two-element Zn/Al target

• Witold Posadowski,
• Artur Wiatrowski,
• Jarosław Domaradzki and
• Michał Mazur

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 344–354, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.29

• a function of the distance from the target axis on both sides (front and back) of the substrate. The lowest measured resistivity was about 4 × 10−3 Ω·cm. Additionally, optical properties, surface topography, and elemental composition were determined in selected areas of the substrate. Keywords

The effect of metal surface nanomorphology on the output performance of a TENG

• Yiru Wang,
• Xin Zhao,
• Yang Liu and
• Wenjun Zhou

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 298–312, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.25

• above experiments, it can be concluded that at high temperatures and small pH values, the copper nanoscale topography grows more finely. When solution concentration and current density are high, and when the flow rate of the plating solution is low, the electrodeposited copper nanoscale structures will

• agglomerate. Results and Discussion The XRD data (Figure 4) were processed using the JADE software to calculate the average particle sizes. SEM micrographs were screened according to the surface morphology size of the nanoparticles and colored according to the nanoscale topography size (Figure 5 and Figure 6

• particles accounted for 1% of the particles in experiment 2 (0.25 mol/L, 100 A/m2, pH 2, 45 °C). The output performance was 6.5 V, which was 37% higher than that of a copper sheet without nanoscale topography (Figure 9). The output performance of experiments 6, 12, and 15, was improved by 35% to 40% (Figure

Relationship between corrosion and nanoscale friction on a metallic glass

• Haoran Ma and
• Roland Bennewitz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 236–244, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.18

• (Figure 1b), there are no pits on the sample surface even after immersion in NaCl solution for 72 h. This weak corrosion during immersion without applied potential will be discussed in more detail below. Figure 3a shows the topography of the scan field and corresponding friction force images after 16 scan

• central repetitively scanned field and the surrounding area in the topography image. However, we do observe a contrast between these two areas in the friction force image, revealing the position of the scan field. The corresponding line-scan profiles across the scan field and surrounding area are

• friction and topography, on the one hand, and double layer structure, on the other hand, was observed for MG surfaces after polarization in phosphate buffer [21]. We will now discuss our experimental results in view of the double layer structure of the surface oxide film formed during immersion. The tip

Engineered titania nanomaterials in advanced clinical applications

• Padmavati Sahare,
• Paulina Govea Alvarez,
• Juan Manual Sanchez Yanez,
• Gabriel Luna-Bárcenas,
• Samik Chakraborty,
• Sujay Paul and
• Miriam Estevez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 201–218, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.15

• corona alters the surface properties and transforms the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the nanomaterial. The types and amounts of adsorbed proteins are influenced by certain physiochemical qualities of the nanomaterial, such as the size, shape, charge as well as topography

Topographic signatures and manipulations of Fe atoms, CO molecules and NaCl islands on superconducting Pb(111)

• Carl Drechsel,
• Philipp D’Astolfo,
• Jung-Ching Liu,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Rémy Pawlak and
• Ernst Meyer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1–9, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.1

• metal surface, as observed on different noble metals [45][46]. Figure 1b and Figure 1c show STM topographic images after such process. While the surface topography remains unchanged in comparison to Figure 1a, numerous scan instabilities are now present, which we attribute to CO molecules diffusing

• (111) superconducting surface. Carbon monoxide (CO) molecules adsorbed on Pb(111). (a) STM overview image of pristine Pb(111) (Vt = −0.1 V, It = 1 pA). (b) STM image after CO deposition. The estimated coverage is below 0.2 monolayers. (c) Close-up STM topography of CO molecules diffusing on the surface

Measurement of polarization effects in dual-phase ceria-based oxygen permeation membranes using Kelvin probe force microscopy

• Kerstin Neuhaus,
• Christina Schmidt,
• Liudmila Fischer,
• Wilhelm Albert Meulenberg,
• Ke Ran,
• Joachim Mayer and
• Stefan Baumann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1380–1391, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.102

• were performed in a single-pass experiment. For this kind of measurements, the surface potential and the sample topography are mapped in a single pass in intermittent contact mode with the cantilever vibrating at its resonance frequency (i.e., the cantilever is not in lift mode during this experiment

• occur along the entire length of the grain boundary and is instead localized in one area. Neither for the positive nor for the negative polarization experiments, a change of the local sample topography was observed, which would hint at a local phase transformation. As the surface potential also relaxes

Alteration of nanomechanical properties of pancreatic cancer cells through anticancer drug treatment revealed by atomic force microscopy

• Xiaoteng Liang,
• Shuai Liu,
• Xiuchao Wang,
• Dan Xia and
• Qiang Li

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1372–1379, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.101

• the cancer cells from the normal ones, the mechanical properties underneath the topography of different cells were evaluated. Figure 3 shows the nanomechanical mapping, typical force–distance curve and the corresponding Young’s modulus distributions of single cells of different types. For the