Unipolar magnetic field pulses as an advantageous tool for ultrafast operations in superconducting Josephson “atoms”

• Daria V. Popolitova,
• Nikolay V. Klenov,
• Igor I. Soloviev,
• Sergey V. Bakurskiy and
• Olga V. Tikhonova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1548–1558, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.152

• modern quantum physics is the transfer and storage of quantum information. This is why the development of quantum logic protocols using the fast state control of promising qubits and registers is of great importance. Superconducting artificial atoms based on Josephson junction circuits underlie a number

• elements are EJos, EJos and αEJos, α > 0.5. The third junction can be replaced by a superconducting quantum interferometer, which allows one to adjust α using an external magnetic flux. So, we can apply magnetic fluxes ΦX and ΦZ in order to control the barrier height and potential asymmetry respectively

• ultrafast state initialization for algorithmic quantum computers and quantum neural networks as well as in the fast control of the magnetic properties of media from Josephson meta-atoms. (a) The potential energy and the eigenfunctions (with energies E1 ,E2, E3, E4) of the three-junction qubit (described in

High-temperature resistive gas sensors based on ZnO/SiC nanocomposites

• Vadim B. Platonov,
• Marina N. Rumyantseva,
• Alexander S. Frolov,
• Alexey D. Yapryntsev and
• Alexander M. Gaskov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1537–1547, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.151

• (Figure 10). The estimated CBM position of wurtzite ZnO is 0.46 eV lower than that of 3C-SiC. The interface of an n–n junction transfers electrons into the lower energy conduction band [35]. The “accumulation layer” formed in this way can be depleted by subsequent oxygen adsorption on an enriched electron

Hierarchically structured 3D carbon nanotube electrodes for electrocatalytic applications

• Pei Wang,
• Katarzyna Kulp and
• Michael Bron

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1475–1487, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.146

• compared to CNT/GC, as deduced from the double-layer current. The secondary CNTs provide a larger number of anchoring sites (e.g., surface functional groups or junction between primary CNTs and secondary CNTs) to form a larger numbers of Pt nuclei during electrodeposition. As a consequence, the Pt

Construction of a 0D/1D composite based on Au nanoparticles/CuBi₂O₄ microrods for efficient visible-light-driven photocatalytic activity

• Weilong Shi,
• Mingyang Li,
• Hongji Ren,
• Feng Guo,
• Xiliu Huang,
• Yu Shi and
• Yubin Tang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1360–1367, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.134

• visible light, the electrons in the VB of CBO are excited and transferred to the CB. The Au NPs contacting the CBO microrods form a Mott–Schottky junction in the composite interface. In order to keep the Fermi level equal, the Fermi energy level of Au will shift closer to the CB of the CBO semiconductor

Molecular attachment to a microscope tip: inelastic tunneling, Kondo screening, and thermopower

• Rouzhaji Tuerhong,
• Mauro Boero and
• Jean-Pierre Bucher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1243–1250, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.124

• thermopower measured across the single-molecule junction. Keywords: inelastic electron tunneling; molecular quantum dot; Kondo physics; single molecule; thermopower; tunnel junction; Introduction Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) has the capability to detect the electron transport through a molecule not

• to study, with atomic resolution, the coupling of the tunneling electrons to other elementary excitations such as vibrations, plasmons and spins [5][6][7][8]. Furthermore, a molecular junction in STM can serve as a reliable and controllable model system for the study of a single molecule in a way

• suspended in a tunneling junction of an STM has not been studied yet. Here we describe an approach that allows for achieving, in a controlled manner, such a configuration and to analyze in detail how the Kondo correlation affects the IETS and yieds the non-linear thermopower accross the leads. Results and

Effects of gold and PCL- or PLLA-coated silica nanoparticles on brain endothelial cells and the blood–brain barrier

• Aniela Bittner,
• Angélique D. Ducray,
• Hans Rudolf Widmer,
• Michael H. Stoffel and
• Meike Mevissen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 941–954, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.95

• Figure 4B. Neither Si- nor Au-NPs led to differences in activation or expression of NF-κB. Both forms could be detected for this protein (Figure 4C). Expression of tight-junction proteins in rBCEC4 cells Immunofluorescence staining and TEM were used to demonstrate the expression of important BBB

• -characteristics, namely tight junction (TJ) formation, in rBCEC4 cells. Both, the TJ-associated protein zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) and the TJ protein occludin, resulted in positive staining (Figure 5A,B). TEM pictures corroborated the formation of TJs between single rBCEC4 cells in a cell monolayer (Figure 5C). A

Synthesis of novel C-doped g-C₃N₄ nanosheets coupled with CdIn₂S₄ for enhanced photocatalytic hydrogen evolution

• Jingshuai Chen,
• Chang-Jie Mao,
• Helin Niu and
• Ji-Ming Song

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 912–921, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.92

• (Figure 10). Evidently, the as-prepared CCN and CISCCN3 samples display a distinct increase of photocurrent intensity in comparison with single CCN, demonstrating that C-doping as well as the close heterogeneous junction formed between CdIn2S4 and CCN can facilitate the separation of photogenerated

Periodic Co/Nb pseudo spin valve for cryogenic memory

• Nikolay Klenov,
• Yury Khaydukov,
• Sergey Bakurskiy,
• Roman Morari,
• Igor Soloviev,
• Vladimir Boian,
• Thomas Keller,
• Mikhail Kupriyanov,
• Anatoli Sidorenko and
• Bernhard Keimer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 833–839, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.83

• lead to a significant enhancement of the critical current through the junction. To control the magnetic alignment we propose to use a periodic system whose unit cell is a pseudo spin valve of structure F1/s/F2/s where F1 and F2 are two magnetic layers having different coercive fields. In order to check

• . Finally, the boundary conditions on the surfaces of the outer electrodes are where δ0 is the bulk value of the pair potential at a certain temperature and χL,R are the phases at the left and right ends of the structure, which generate the phase difference φ = χR − χL along the junction. Figure 1a and

• functions, which already corresponds to the state with minimal free energy and automatically determines which of the states, either 0 or π , is energetically favorable on each junction. At the same time, in the systems with multiple junctions connected in series, there are multiple stable solutions

Widening of the electroactivity potential range by composite formation – capacitive properties of TiO₂/BiVO₄/PEDOT:PSS electrodes in contact with an aqueous electrolyte

• Konrad Trzciński,
• Mariusz Szkoda,
• Andrzej P. Nowak,
• Marcin Łapiński and
• Anna Lisowska-Oleksiak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 483–493, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.49

• vanadate using pulsed laser deposition. The formation of the TiO2/BiVO4 junction leads to enhancement of pseudocapacitance in the cathodic potential range. The third component, the conjugated polymer PEDOT:PSS, was electrodeposited from an electrolyte containing the monomer EDOT and NaPSS as a source of

• vanadate obtained by pulsed laser deposition (PLD). It was recently reported that the TiO2/BiVO4 junction exhibits a synergistic effect towards photoelectrochemical water oxidation [26]. Further modification of the electrode material included hydrogenation. There are many ways to perform TiO2 hydrogenation

Intuitive human interface to a scanning tunnelling microscope: observation of parity oscillations for a single atomic chain

• Sumit Tewari,
• Jacob Bakermans,
• Christian Wagner,
• Federica Galli and
• Jan M. van Ruitenbeek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 337–348, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.33

• image the structural changes that happen at the junction using the STM, because the very STM tip used for imaging is also used for manipulation. It is known that the electronic transport of these nanoscale devices depends strongly on their structural conformations and coupling to the leads [3][4

• ]. Therefore, the knowledge about the structure of the junction at the atomic scale is critical to the understanding of these transport measurements. The system that we have developed addresses this problem. We have added a 3D motion control system to our STM that helps in making any required tip trajectory

• and combined it with a molecular dynamics (MD) simulator that simulates in real-time the manipulation process going on in the STM. The MD simulation not only provides information about the atomic scale structure of the junction, but also serves as a visual feedback to the operator in real-time who can

Geometrical optimisation of core–shell nanowire arrays for enhanced absorption in thin crystalline silicon heterojunction solar cells

• Robin Vismara,
• Olindo Isabella,
• Andrea Ingenito,
• Fai Tong Si and
• Miro Zeman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 322–331, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.31

• characteristic radial junction configuration can lead to higher device performance, by increasing light absorption and, at the same time, improving the collection efficiency of photo-generated charge carriers. This work investigates the performance of ultra-thin solar cells characterised by nanowire arrays on a

• [5][6][7][8], cavity modes [5][8][9][10][11], Fabry–Perót and whispering gallery modes [12], their characteristic high aspect ratio promotes anti-reflection, allowing for more light to be coupled into the active layer of the solar cell [13][14][15]. In addition, radial-junction nanowires have the

The effect of flexible joint-like elements on the adhesive performance of nature-inspired bent mushroom-like fibers

• Elliot Geikowsky,
• Serdar Gorumlu and
• Burak Aksak

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2893–2905, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.268

• particular, for male ladybird beetles, research has shown that the adhesive setae feature a material gradient such that the elastic modulus of the material at the junction between the stalk and the divergent distal end is close to minimum. This soft material acts like a flexible joint, improving the bending

Droplet-based synthesis of homogeneous magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles

• Christian D. Ahrberg,
• Ji Wook Choi and
• Bong Geun Chung

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2413–2420, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.226

• of hot-melt adhesive. The remaining tubing after the junction was submerged in a water bath and the end was placed into a vial filled with water for sample collection. For droplet experiments the formation of droplets was recorded using a bright-field microscope (IX37, Olympus, Japan). Droplet

• droplet generation, junction with a length of 85 cm of tubing was submerged in a water bath to obtain temperature control over the reaction (Figure 1). The generation of droplets by the device was tested. Through the central tubing, mineral oil was flowed, while an aqueous phase was injected through both

• for the reagent solutions and continuous oil phase, the droplet generation junction, the water bath for heating, and collection of droplets in a vial (A). Photograph of the droplet generation junction (B), and microscope image of the droplet generation junction showing the alignment of the fused

Directional light beams by design from electrically driven elliptical slit antennas

• Shuiyan Cao,
• Eric Le Moal,
• Quanbo Jiang,
• Aurélien Drezet,
• Serge Huant,
• Jean-Paul Hugonin,
• Gérald Dujardin and
• Elizabeth Boer-Duchemin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2361–2371, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.221

• nanosource can be a nanoscale tunnel junction where the emission process relies on inelastic electron tunneling effects [20]. A central issue for miniaturized electrical light sources is the control of their emission direction, especially given that SPP excitation with electrons results in a broad power

• with a minor linear contribution (along the major axis) that increases with eccentricity. Future improvements of these optical antennas include the integration of the electrical SPP nanosource in the design of the microstructure (e.g., as an integrated metal-oxide–metal tunnel junction) and the

Block copolymers for designing nanostructured porous coatings

• Roberto Nisticò

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2332–2344, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.218

• increasing molecular weight, the interfacial area per block junction increases, inducing parallel folding (the most thermodynamically stable form) [87]. The removal of the sacrificial component (SC) to obtain the final polymeric porous material can be performed using various etching procedures, such as

Performance analysis of rigorous coupled-wave analysis and its integration in a coupled modeling approach for optical simulation of complete heterojunction silicon solar cells

• Ziga Lokar,
• Benjamin Lipovsek,
• Marko Topic and
• Janez Krc

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2315–2329, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.216

• approach of Rothemund et al. [30], we are also able to perform RCWA calculation of each individual ray at exact angle and polarization if even greater accuracy is desired; however, at the expense of longer simulation times. The CMA enables simulation of single and multi-junction solar cells and

Optimization of the optical coupling in nanowire-based integrated photonic platforms by FDTD simulation

• Nan Guan,
• Andrey Babichev,
• Martin Foldyna,
• Dmitry Denisov,
• François H. Julien and
• Maria Tchernycheva

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2248–2254, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.209

• [19]. Single NW photodetectors based on the photoconductive operation principle [20] or p–n junction photodiodes [21] have demonstrated high sensitivity. For these reasons, single NW components are considered as promising building blocks for integration with SiN photonic platforms. For the wafer-scale

Lead-free hybrid perovskites for photovoltaics

• Oleksandr Stroyuk

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2209–2235, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.207

• sensitizers in liquid-junction solar cells [3][4]. These systems have shown remarkable progress, improving from 0.1% a decade ago to over 12% in 2018 [5]. Simultaneously, a new rising star in semiconductor photovoltaics – hybrid organo–inorganic lead-based perovskites (MPbX3, where M = methylammonium (MA

Electrospun one-dimensional nanostructures: a new horizon for gas sensing materials

• Muhammad Imran,
• Nunzio Motta and
• Mahnaz Shafiei

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2128–2170, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.202

• metal oxides together having a mismatched crystal (lattice) size, resulting in enhanced gas diffusion (penetration) and subsequently fast response/recovery time. Furthermore, a hybrid structure (i.e. p–n junction, n–n junction or p–p junction) facilitates low operating temperature gas sensing with high

Spin-coated planar Sb₂S₃ hybrid solar cells approaching 5% efficiency

• Pascal Kaienburg,
• Benjamin Klingebiel and
• Thomas Kirchartz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2114–2124, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.200

• MoOx forms a tunneling junction with the HTM is typical for organic solar cells in an n-i-p configuration. The cell area was 0.16 cm2. Layer and device characterization: The scanning electron microscope was a Zeiss (Leo) Gemini 1550 with Shottky field-emission cathode and an in-lens detector. The

Phosphorus monolayer doping (MLD) of silicon on insulator (SOI) substrates

• Noel Kennedy,
• Ray Duffy,
• Luke Eaton,
• Dan O’Connell,
• Scott Monaghan,
• Shane Garvey,
• James Connolly,
• Chris Hatem,
• Justin D. Holmes and
• Brenda Long

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2106–2113, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.199

• than 10 s, capable of producing ultra-shallow doping profiles. Capping layers were removed using a standard buffered-oxide etch (BOE). Optimal annealing conditions to provide high dose and active carrier concentrations while limiting the diffusion and junction depth were examined in Figure S1 and

A variable probe pitch micro-Hall effect method

• Maria-Louise Witthøft,
• Frederik W. Østerberg,
• Janusz Bogdanowicz,
• Rong Lin,
• Henrik H. Henrichsen,
• Ole Hansen and
• Dirch H. Petersen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2032–2039, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.192

• measured on an ultrashallow junction silicon sample. We find that in presence of significant electrical noise, lower standard deviation is always obtained when the geometrical analysis is based on the sheet resistance signals. The situation is more complicated when electrode position errors are dominant

• four electrodes has been developed [11][12]. Similar strategies using variable probe pitch multi-point probes have been used for other systems, including current-in-plane tunneling measurements [13], junction-leakage measurements [14] and surface-conductivity measurements of bulk materials [15][16]. In

• position errors, as well as to electrical noise. Finally, we will present measurements on a B-doped Si ultrashallow junction, supporting our findings. Micro-Hall Effect Theory The fundamentals of Hall Effect measurements with a collinear M4PP have previously been described in detail [4]. However, we will

Recent highlights in nanoscale and mesoscale friction

• Andrea Vanossi,
• Dirk Dietzel,
• Andre Schirmeisen,
• Ernst Meyer,
• Rémy Pawlak,
• Thilo Glatzel,
• Marcin Kisiel,
• Shigeki Kawai and
• Nicola Manini

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1995–2014, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.190

• patterns on a lattice-mismatched crystal overlayer [10][11][12]. One of the most frequent motivations to utilize FFM as a tool in nanotribology is its ability to mimic a single-asperity contact by the junction between a sharp AFM tip and the substrate. Such single-asperity contacts are widely considered as

• modulations were systematically obtained in the force channel, as shown in Figure 6b and Figure 6c. This indicates the formation of a well-defined tip–sample junction during the experiment. According to the authors, the tendency of the cyano end groups to form coordination bonds with Cu atoms of both the tip

Electromigrated electrical optical antennas for transducing electrons and photons at the nanoscale

• Arindam Dasgupta,
• Mickaël Buret,
• Nicolas Cazier,
• Marie-Maxime Mennemanteuil,
• Reinaldo Chacon,
• Kamal Hammani,
• Jean-Claude Weeber,
• Juan Arocas,
• Laurent Markey,
• Gérard Colas des Francs,
• Alexander Uskov,
• Igor Smetanin and
• Alexandre Bouhelier

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1964–1976, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.187

• class of nanodevices enabling a bilateral transduction between electrons and photons. At the heart of the device is a tunnel junction that may either emit light upon injection of electrons or generate an electrical current when excited by a light wave. The current study explores a technological route

• and for interconnecting an electronic control layer to a photonic architecture. Keywords: electromigration; Fowler–Nordheim; hot-electron emission; inelastic electron tunneling; optical antennas; transition voltage; tunnel junction; Introduction The constant evolution of information technologies

• lithography, respectively. Each electrode is connected to a common ground (centered square) and can be individually addressed by a set of peripheral electrodes. To create a tunnel junction that will eventually form the active feedgap of an optical antenna, we perform an operator-controlled electromigration of

The role of the Ge mole fraction in improving the performance of a nanoscale junctionless tunneling FET: concept and scaling capability

• Hichem Ferhati,
• Fayçal Djeffal and
• Toufik Bentrcia

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1856–1862, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.177

• band-to-band quantum tunneling [25]. In this perspective, the tunnel current is generated near the source/channel junction and can be characterized by a transfer of electrons and holes across this junction. Hence, the tunneling current for an electron with longitudinal energy E and transverse energy ET

• the source/channel junction, respectively: where, EfSiGe and EfSi are the Fermi levels at the Si1−xGex source and Si channel regions, respectively, kB is the Boltzmann constant and T the temperature. In order to reflect accurately the device behavior for very short dimensions like in our case, the

• tunneling barrier width at the source/channel junction by varying the Ge concentration. Figure 3a shows the transfer characteristics associated of the proposed Si1−xGex/Si/Ge DG-HJ-JL TFET design with different Ge mole fractions. Increasing the Ge content leads to an increase of the drain current. This is