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

• Witold Posadowski Artur Wiatrowski Jaroslaw Domaradzki Michal Mazur Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Electronics, Photonics and Microsystems, Janiszewskiego 11/17, 50-372 Wrocław, Poland 10.3762/bjnano.13.29 Abstract AlxZnyO thin films were obtained by reactive pulsed

• are strongly desired. Magnetron sputtering is one of the most widely used methods for obtaining thin films with different properties for different purposes and is one of the most commonly used methods for industrial production. However, the manufacturing of AZO thin films is a challenge and requires

• many preliminary experiments to find optimum conditions for the deposition of thin films with desired properties. For the deposition of AZO thin films by magnetron sputtering, the most commonly used targets are made of sintered zinc oxide powders and aluminum oxide (ZnO/Al2O3). The optimal percentage

Interfacial nanoarchitectonics for ZIF-8 membranes with enhanced gas separation

• Season S. Chen,
• Zhen-Jie Yang,
• Chia-Hao Chang,
• Hoong-Uei Koh,
• Sameerah I. Al-Saeedi,
• Kuo-Lun Tung and
• Kevin C.-W. Wu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 313–324, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.26

• -ray diffraction were measured on a Rigaku Ultima IV with Cu Kα radiation (λ = 1.5418 Å) to check the crystallinity of the synthesized ZIF-8 thin films. The morphology of the supports, the free-standing thin films, and the supported membranes was observed by FE-SEM (NovaTM NanoSEM 230). The elemental

• calculated permeation reached steady state. Results and Discussion Characterizations of porous α-Al2O3 disks and free-standing ZIF-8 thin films Porous α-Al2O3 disks were chosen as ZIF-8 membrane supports, because they tolerate relatively high temperatures up to 2000 °C and harsh chemical environments (e.g

• and SEM images of the α-Al2O3 disks are given in Supporting Information File 1, Figure S1. Prior to heterogeneous nucleation of ZIF-8 crystals on the porous α-Al2O3 disks, free-standing ZIF-8 thin films were fabricated to verify the feasibility of continuous ZIF-8 crystal growth via an interfacial

Investigation of a memory effect in a Au/(Ti–Cu)Ox-gradient thin film/TiAlV structure

• Damian Wojcieszak,
• Jarosław Domaradzki,
• Michał Mazur,
• Tomasz Kotwica and
• Danuta Kaczmarek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 265–273, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.21

• analysis of resistive switching properties observed in a Au/(Ti–Cu)Ox/TiAlV structure with a gradient distribution of Cu and Ti along the (Ti–Cu)Ox thin film thickness. Thin films were prepared via multisource reactive magnetron co-sputtering. The programmed profile of the pulse width modulation

• resistive switching behavior. Results of optical, X-ray, and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy measurements allowed us to elaborate the scheme of the bandgap alignment of the prepared thin films with respect to the Au and TiAlV electrical contacts. Detailed structure and elemental profile

• previous works [41][42] have shown that an interesting alternative to the well-known conventional structures, with a multilayer stack of thin films with different electrical conducting and nonconducting properties described above, could be a thin film the composition of which changes along its thickness

Low-energy electron interaction and focused electron beam-induced deposition of molybdenum hexacarbonyl (Mo(CO)₆)

• Po-Yuan Shih,
• Maicol Cipriani,
• Christian Felix Hermanns,
• Jens Oster,
• Klaus Edinger,
• Armin Gölzhäuser and
• Oddur Ingólfsson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 182–191, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.13

• ; dissociative ionisation; focused electron beam-induced deposition; molybdenum hexacarbonyl; Introduction Studies on Mo-based semiconductor materials for the application as thin films with wafer-scale thickness homogeneity [1] and for solar hydrogen production [2] have attracted interest in the last years. For

Tin dioxide nanomaterial-based photocatalysts for nitrogen oxide oxidation: a review

• Viet Van Pham,
• Hong-Huy Tran,
• Thao Kim Truong and
• Thi Minh Cao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 96–113, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.7

• cell of rutile SnO2, a Sn4+ ion is bonded to six oxygen ions, and every oxygen atom is coordinated by three Sn4+ ions, forming a (6, 3) coordination structure [44]. When SnO2 materials are prepared as thin films with two to eight layers the bandgap is larger than that of bulk SnO2 and decreases with

Sputtering onto liquids: a critical review

• Anastasiya Sergievskaya,
• Adrien Chauvin and
• Stephanos Konstantinidis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 10–53, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.2

• SoL is presented including monometallic and alloy NPs, oxide NPs, thin films, and nanocomposites and their promising optical, luminescence, and catalytic properties. Review 1 Theoretical background 1.1 Techniques available for the synthesis of NPs The mass production of NPs with controlled

• metal atoms [69]. The kinetic energy of the film-forming species can thus be controlled by the positive pulse voltage to some extent. The kinetic energy of the film-forming species is critical when depositing thin films deposited on a solid substrate. Most likely, it also plays a critical role when a

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

• composite. The KPFM measurements were performed at room temperature and show diffusion coefficients in the range of 3 × 10−13 cm2·s−1, which is comparable to values measured for single-phase Gd-doped ceria thin films using the same method. Keywords: ceria; diffusion coefficient; Kelvin probe force

• to literature values for single-phase Ce0.9Gd0.1O1.95 thin films from [24] obtained with the same method. The diffusion length L was determined from the average radius of the area affected by polarization, which could be measured in the KPFM map. The error of the chemical diffusion coefficient is in

• the conductivity measurements, where the conductivity was slightly lower and the activation energy slightly higher for experiments with negative polarization. The values obtained for the Sm-doped ceria in the composite in this study show also good agreement to data obtained for Gd-doped ceria thin

Plasmon-enhanced photoluminescence from TiO₂ and TeO₂ thin films doped by Eu³⁺ for optoelectronic applications

• Marcin Łapiński,
• Jakub Czubek,
• Katarzyna Drozdowska,
• Anna Synak,
• Wojciech Sadowski and
• Barbara Kościelska

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1271–1278, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.94

• luminescence properties of europium-doped titanium dioxide and tellurium oxide thin films enhanced by gold plasmonic nanostructures. We propose a new type of plasmon structure with an ultrathin dielectric film between plasmonic platform and luminescent material. Plasmonic platforms were manufactured through

• . Potential new materials can be found through the computation of luminescent thin films and plasmonic platforms. Such a hybrid structure can be formed by thin oxide layers doped with rare-earth ions deposited on metal nanostructures [1][2][3]. Plasmonic resonance can be observed in metallic nanostructures

• , so-called plasmonic platforms, and thin films. Among different plasmonic materials, gold nanostructures exhibit resonance in the visible range and have been extensively studied as a material for light absorption and emission improvement [4][5][6][7][8]. Titanium dioxide seems to be one of the most

Enhancement of the piezoelectric coefficient in PVDF-TrFe/CoFe₂O₄ nanocomposites through DC magnetic poling

• Marco Fortunato,
• Alessio Tamburrano,
• Maria Paola Bracciale,
• Maria Laura Santarelli and
• Maria Sabrina Sarto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1262–1270, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.93

• %. After curing, the spin coated nanocomposite thin films were exposed to a DC magnetic field for 1 h at 65 °C. In Figure 3 the d33 values are reported as function of the applied DC magnetic field strength. As can be seen, the piezoelectric coefficient increases when the magnetic field is increased and

• in the fabrication of energy harvesting devices or wearable sensors for flexible electronics applications. Experimental The PVDF-TrFe/CoFe2O4 nanocomposite thin films were produced through spin coating. The CoFe2O4 nanoparticles (Sigma-Aldrich, 99%) were dispersed in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF, Sigma

• °C and a DC magnetic field was applied through a ferromagnetic core (Figure 8). The morphology of the PVDF-TrFe/CoFe2O4 nanocomposite thin films was investigated using a field-emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM, Auriga, Carl Zeiss) operated with an accelerating voltage of 5 kV. Chemical

Morphology-driven gas sensing by fabricated fractals: A review

• Vishal Kamathe and
• Rupali Nagar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1187–1208, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.88

• metal oxide (SMO) sensors are most popular due to their low cost, simplicity, easy fabrication, and wide range of gas detection capabilities [9]. Thin films and nanostructures exhibit better sensing characteristics. Various researchers have reported structures with morphologies such as nanowires (NWs

• a lower value of fractal dimension is more effective in sensing NO2 gas and lowers the optimum operating temperature. Chen et al. used pulsed laser deposition for growing different SnO2 thin films by varying the substrate temperature. The obtained films exhibited fractal features [43]. In another

• study, Kante et al. prepared SnO2 films with fractal morphology by an electrochemical method with a subsequent oxidation process [68]. Both groups tested the films for CO gas sensing at different temperatures. Figure 8a–d shows the SEM images of SnO2 thin films on a Si(100) substrate obtained by Chen

Irradiation-driven molecular dynamics simulation of the FEBID process for Pt(PF₃)₄

• Alexey Prosvetov,
• Alexey V. Verkhovtsev,
• Gennady Sushko and
• Andrey V. Solov’yov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1151–1172, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.86

• the whole simulated surface). The latter case is relevant for surface science experiments on irradiation of thin films of adsorbed precursor molecules. The yields of SE and BSE and the corresponding spatial distributions depend on the energy of the PE beam and the material of a substrate. These

First-principles study of the structural, optoelectronic and thermophysical properties of the π-SnSe for thermoelectric applications

• Muhammad Atif Sattar,
• Najwa Al Bouzieh,
• Maamar Benkraouda and
• Noureddine Amrane

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1101–1114, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.82

• remarkably high value of ZT ≈ 2.6 at 773 K along the b axis has been reported, which is the world record so far [1][5]. Also, for the SnSe thin films and 2D sheets, the experimental ZT values were relatively low; the maximum value can only reach 0.28 at 675 K [67][68]. One recent study shows that the Gd

Assessment of the optical and electrical properties of light-emitting diodes containing carbon-based nanostructures and plasmonic nanoparticles: a review

• Keshav Nagpal,
• Erwan Rauwel,
• Frédérique Ducroquet and
• Protima Rauwel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1078–1092, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.80

• a wider choice of emission wavelengths compared to conventional lighting systems. Inorganic LED consist of inorganic semiconductor materials in the active region, for example thin films of GaAs that emit in the red to near-infrared (>700 nm) region [4]. Ga-based LED belong to the III–V group of

• leverage over inorganic LED in display applications. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) consist of photoactive polymers, such as PPV and MEH-PPV that can be deposited as highly ordered crystalline thin films [15][16]. Despite several advantages, OLED have certain drawbacks, such as lower lifetime, high

• a large scale. For this purpose, transparent conducting oxides (TCO), such as thin films of In2O3, SnO2, ZnO, and their mixtures have been extensively studied [30][31][32][33][34]. The most widely studied TCO is indium tin oxide (ITO), which possesses good physical properties, such as high optical

Molecular assemblies on surfaces: towards physical and electronic decoupling of organic molecules

• Sabine Maier and
• Meike Stöhr

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 950–956, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.71

• the substituents of the pyrenes derivatives [87]. Metal oxide thin films on top of metal substrates are another interesting class of ultrathin interfacial layers to decouple organic molecules and to enable the study of their electronic properties without the contribution of the underlying metal

• molecular conformation by planarizing the carbon backbone as well as the self-assembly. Hurdax et al. [89] suggested that work function measurements before and after the adsorption of molecules should give insight into the electronic and physical decoupling. It should be noted that metal oxide thin films

• molecules from a semiconducting substrate is discussed for the example of both insulating CaF2 thin films on Si(111) [91] and hydrogen passivation of Ge(001) surfaces [92]. In the first case, three scenarios were compared: PTCDA on Si, on a thin CaF2, and on a thicker CaF2 layer. While isolated PTCDA

In situ transport characterization of magnetic states in Nb/Co superconductor/ferromagnet heterostructures

• Olena M. Kapran,
• Roman Morari,
• Taras Golod,
• Evgenii A. Borodianskyi,
• Vladimir Boian,
• Andrei Prepelita,
• Nikolay Klenov,
• Anatoli S. Sidorenko and
• Vladimir M. Krasnov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 913–923, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.68

• argue that: (i) Vortices in thin films have a pancake structure (Pearl vortices) with a field perpendicular to the film. Therefore, vortex density depends on the magnetic induction Bz perpendicular to the film. Since the applied field in our experiment is parallel to the film, it does not contribute to

9.1% efficient zinc oxide/silicon solar cells on a 50 μm thick Si absorber

• Rafal Pietruszka,
• Bartlomiej S. Witkowski,
• Monika Ozga,
• Katarzyna Gwozdz,
• Ewa Placzek-Popko and
• Marek Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 766–774, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.60

• environmentally friendly solar cells are cells based on zinc oxide (ZnO). ZnO thin films can be obtained using many technologies, including molecular beam epitaxy, RF magnetron sputtering, pulsed laser deposition, chemical vapor deposition, and atomic layer deposition (ALD) [3]. ALD attracts the attention of many

• during manufacture [5]. Moreover, thin films of zinc oxide, aluminium-doped zinc oxide (AZO), and/or gallium-doped ZnO (GZO) have been successfully used in organic [6], perovskite [7], and CIGS [8] solar cells. Thanks to excellent electrical and optical parameters of AZO and GZO, these films are

• inexpensive alternatives for indium tin oxide (ITO) [9]. In this work, we used ALD to deposit zinc oxide nanoseeds, magnesium-doped zinc oxide (MZO) layers and aluminium-doped zinc oxide films. We thus continue our interest on photovoltaic structures based on thin films of ZnO. Recently, there have been

Prediction of Co and Ru nanocluster morphology on 2D MoS₂ from interaction energies

• Cara-Lena Nies and
• Michael Nolan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 704–724, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.56

• -quality, conformal thin films with low resistivity, to avoid many of the typical failure mechanisms such as electromigration [42][43]. This means that 3D migration of atoms (agglomeration) should be inhibited, while 2D growth (wetting) should be promoted. In contrast, in catalysis applications the ratio

• clusters (n = 1–4) on a single ML of MoS2. Based on this understanding, alongside the magnitude of metal–substrate and metal–metal interactions we will be able to predict the morphology of Co and Ru thin films on 2D MoS2. We have previously studied 2D and 3D Cu clusters on TaN, where we determined that

Electromigration-induced formation of percolating adsorbate islands during condensation from the gaseous phase: a computational study

• Alina V. Dvornichenko,
• Vasyl O. Kharchenko and
• Dmitrii O. Kharchenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 694–703, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.55

• islands during condensation from the gaseous phase. We will show that the elongated morphology of adsorbate islands remains stable if the electric field is turned off. Keywords: adsorptive systems; electromigration; numerical simulations; pattern formation; thin films; Introduction The processes of

• the most common approaches for mathematical modeling of these processes is based on the reaction–diffusion models [49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61]. This approach generally allows one to make certain recommendations for adjusting the technological conditions for growing thin films

• with the experimental results discussed in [15][78]. Conclusion In this article we have studied the effects of electromigration on the morphology of growing thin films during condensation from the gaseous phase in the framework of numerical simulations. It is shown that an increase in the strength of

A review of defect engineering, ion implantation, and nanofabrication using the helium ion microscope

• Frances I. Allen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 633–664, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.52

• electronic conduction properties of the material without needing to rely on thermal activation [37]. And finally in the category of electronic applications, a number of studies have used the HIM to direct-write Josephson tunnel junctions into thin films of high-transition-temperature superconductors. This

• structures [45]. The performance of Josephson junctions in YBCO thin films fabricated using the HIM has been further evaluated in [46]. Cross-sectional STEM analysis of helium line irradiations of YBCO has shown that the crystallinity of the Josephson junction barriers is essentially preserved, highlighting

• PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 thin films at doses of 0.22 × 1015 to 1 × 1015 ions/cm2 has been demonstrated, and through site-selective direct-write patterning with variable dose, various nanostructures with novel ferroelectric-switching functionalities have been fabricated [33] (Figure 2f). Using similar doses, out-of-plane

Local stiffness and work function variations of hexagonal boron nitride on Cu(111)

• Abhishek Grewal,
• Yuqi Wang,
• Matthias Münks,
• Klaus Kern and
• Markus Ternes

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 559–565, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.46

• - and few-layer thick graphene films [1][2]. Unique properties, such as high thermal stability and conductivity, immense intra-sheet stiffness, and excellent dielectric properties, make h-BN interesting for technological applications. For example, thin films of h-BN have been used as a passivating layer

Interface interaction of transition metal phthalocyanines with strontium titanate (100)

• Reimer Karstens,
• Thomas Chassé and
• Heiko Peisert

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 485–496, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.39

• be driven by the ionization potential difference between substrate and adsorbate. In addition, fluorination may affect significantly the adsorption geometry on surfaces as well as the single-crystal structure and arrangement in thin films [34][35][36][37]. Furthermore, local chemical interactions

Spontaneous shape transition of Mn_xGe_1−x islands to long nanowires

• S. Javad Rezvani,
• Luc Favre,
• Gabriele Giuli,
• Yiming Wubulikasimu,
• Isabelle Berbezier,
• Augusto Marcelli,
• Luca Boarino and
• Nicola Pinto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 366–374, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.30

• electron beam. Results and Discussion High-temperature annealing of the evaporated Mn thin films on Ge(111) results in a significant change of the film morphology with the appearance of nanostructures onto the surface. The features of the structures are related to the Mn layer thickness and the duration of

Structural and optical characteristics determined by the sputtering deposition conditions of oxide thin films

• Petronela Prepelita,
• Florin Garoi and
• Valentin Craciun

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 354–365, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.29

• dioxide (SiO2) and zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films deposited by radio frequency magnetron sputtering on quartz substrates was investigated. The deposition conditions were optimized to achieve stoichiometric thin films. The orientation of crystallites, structure, and composition were investigated by X-ray

• calculated from the absorption spectra. The influence of thickness on the structural and optical properties of the oxide films was investigated. Good optical quality and performance were noticed, which makes these thin films worthy of integration into metamaterial structures. Keywords: magnetron sputtering

• ; optical quality; SiO2 and ZnO; structural properties; thin films; Introduction The application of oxide thin films is quite diverse due to their excellent properties [1][2][3][4][5], such as dielectric properties [6][7][8] for the production of metamaterials [9]. Metamaterials applied in the field of

The patterning toolbox FIB-o-mat: Exploiting the full potential of focused helium ions for nanofabrication

• Victor Deinhart,
• Lisa-Marie Kern,
• Jan N. Kirchhof,
• Sabrina Juergensen,
• Joris Sturm,
• Enno Krauss,
• Thorsten Feichtner,
• Sviatoslav Kovalchuk,
• Michael Schneider,
• Dieter Engel,
• Bastian Pfau,
• Bert Hecht,
• Kirill I. Bolotin,
• Stephanie Reich and
• Katja Höflich

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 304–318, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.25

• features in the single-digit nanometer range where small sputter rates play a minor role. This holds true not only for monolayer 2D materials, such as graphene, but also for thin films forming quasi 2D geometries. The versatility of the corresponding materials opens a wide field of exciting applications

• are available in the git repository of the FIB-o-mat package [18]. 1 Magnetic patterning of Co/Pt multilayer films Used FIB-o-mat features: high-level beam path generation with automation via stage control. Magnetic thin films and multilayers are of great technological interest as platforms for spin

Scanning transmission helium ion microscopy on carbon nanomembranes

• Daniel Emmrich,
• Annalena Wolff,
• Nikolaus Meyerbröker,
• Jörg K. N. Lindner,
• André Beyer and
• Armin Gölzhäuser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 222–231, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.18

• microscopy (EFTEM) data, both being established techniques for the thickness measurement of thin films. All three presented methods, STIM, XPS, and EFTEM, require an assumption about density and composition of the material in order to calculate absolute thicknesses, so graphite was chosen as a well