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

• computational study of a change in the morphology of a growing thin film during condensation caused by electromigration effects. It will be shown, that separated circular adsorbate islands, realized in an isotropic system, become elongated in the direction of the applied electrical field. We discuss the

• dynamics of the evolution of surface morphology at elevated temperatures. This effect can lead to a change in the morphology of the surface compared to the isotropic case of deposition without the presence of an external field. Mathematical and numerical modeling of nanostructured thin film growth

• with specified physical and chemical properties. In this article we perform a computational study of a change in the morphology of a growing thin film during condensation induced by electromigration effects and show that separated circular adsorbate islands realized in the isotropic system become

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

• material are all dials to turn. The properties engineered span electronic, magnetic, optical, chemical, and thermal properties. In the case of 2D and thin-film materials supported on a substrate, defects induced by backscattered ions and sputtered atoms also need to be considered. A recent computational

• function [30]. In several of these works, high-resolution scanning TEM (STEM) imaging has been performed to enable the analysis of the defects created on the atomic scale [26][29][30] (see, e.g., Figure 2c). Apart from 2D materials, thin-film samples have also been the subject of electronic property tuning

• by localized helium ion irradiation. For example, using a helium ion dose of 5 × 1014 ions/cm2, permanent local tuning of the charge density in an amorphous thin film of the semiconductor indium gallium zinc oxide (film thickness 50 nm) has been demonstrated, thereby enabling activation of the

Impact of GaAs(100) surface preparation on EQE of AZO/Al₂O₃/p-GaAs photovoltaic structures

• Piotr Caban,
• Rafał Pietruszka,
• Jarosław Kaszewski,
• Monika Ożga,
• Bartłomiej S. Witkowski,
• Krzysztof Kopalko,
• Piotr Kuźmiuk,
• Katarzyna Gwóźdź,
• Ewa Płaczek-Popko,
• Krystyna Lawniczak-Jablonska and
• Marek Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 578–592, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.48

• B series, respectively. From the AFM results shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4, one can see that A1, A2, A4, B1, and B4 samples exhibit uniform surfaces by the means of polycrystalline thin film topography. By taking into consideration the roughness of the surfaces (RMS was measured for an area of 4

• , in which the SA10 passivation step (stage 4) was intentionally skipped. The samples prepared using the HCl solution bath (A3, B3) exhibit a predisposition to form crystallized oxide islands at the beginning of the stage of the ALD thin film covering GaAs. Additionally, they show a very rugged surface

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

• films with thickness values ranging from 200 to 300 nm. Thus, we analyzed the beneficial effect of increasing film thickness on the composition, morphology, structure, and spectral characteristics of the studied samples. This way of analyzing oxide thin film thickness dependence on the optical and

• structures. XRD patterns of ZnO thin film samples with different thickness, namely: 200, 250, and 300 nm. XPS patterns of SiO2 thin films: general spectra. High-resolution XPS spectra acquired from SiO2 samples: (a) Si 2p3 and (b) O 1s. XPS survey spectra acquired from ZnO films. High-resolution (a) Zn 2p3

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

• originate from a molecular thin film, they can be as thin as 1 nm. The conductivity of such membranes is low, which poses a challenge to SE imaging with charged-particle microscopes such as SEM or HIM [24]. This work demonstrates that the holder is easily optimized for such difficult samples. It is possible

Paper-based triboelectric nanogenerators and their applications: a review

• Jing Han,
• Nuo Xu,
• Yuchen Liang,
• Mei Ding,
• Junyi Zhai,
• Qijun Sun and
• Zhong Lin Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 151–171, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.12

• microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (µPADs) [57][58][59][60] and thin-film transistors (TFTs) [61][62][63][64][65] have been widely investigated. Recently, they have also been applied in various energy-related devices [66][67][68]. Although paper is intrinsically insulating, conductive materials (e.g

Scanning transmission imaging in the helium ion microscope using a microchannel plate with a delay line detector

• Eduardo Serralta,
• Nico Klingner,
• Olivier De Castro,
• Michael Mousley,
• Santhana Eswara,
• Serge Duarte Pinto,
• Tom Wirtz and
• Gregor Hlawacek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1854–1864, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.167

• . Considering that a thin film of a light material would show in the SE signal but would not increase significantly the scattering and, hence, would not appear in the BF STIM mode, we assume that there is a film of approximately 10 nm over the crystallites. As expected, most of the smaller crystallites that

Molecular dynamics modeling of the influence forming process parameters on the structure and morphology of a superconducting spin valve

• Alexander Vakhrushev,
• Aleksey Fedotov,
• Vladimir Boian,
• Roman Morari and
• Anatolie Sidorenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1776–1788, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.160

• ), the transparency parameter is TF ≈ 2 and is the highest of all possible metal pairs. It is possible that high transparency is facilitated not only in the mixing layer at the interface between extremely thin film materials, but also by a good matching of the band structures of two metals (see the study

Absorption and photoconductivity spectra of amorphous multilayer structures

• Oxana Iaseniuc and
• Mihail Iovu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1757–1763, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.158

• mono- and bimolecular and that the transport is controlled through multiple trapping processes with exponential distribution of the localized states in the bandgap. Regarding the physics and applications of chalcogenide materials, multilayered amorphous thin-film structures are especially interesting

• measurements; other samples were prepared as granules of small dimensions for vacuum evaporation. For optical and photoelectric measurements, thin film samples of each amorphous material, with thickness values of d = 1000 nm for As0.40S0.30Se0.30, d = 500 nm for Ge0.09As0.09Se0.82, and d = 200 nm for

• ), Ge0.09As0.09Se0.82 (2), As0.40S0.30Se0.30 (3), and the HS As0.40S0.30Se0.30/Ge0.09As0.09Se0.82/Ge0.30As0.04S0.66 (4). The thin film layer Ge0.30As0.04S0.66 with the largest bandgap energy, Eg ≈ 3.0 eV [11], which was placed on the top of the multilayer structure, has a thickness of d ≈ 200 nm and was transparent to

Out-of-plane surface patterning by subsurface processing of polymer substrates with focused ion beams

• Serguei Chiriaev,
• Luciana Tavares,
• Vadzim Adashkevich,
• Arkadiusz J. Goszczak and
• Horst-Günter Rubahn

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1693–1703, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.151

• polymer bulk [7]. In fact, the method utilizes ion energy losses to manipulate the surface morphology by means of radiation damage generated in the substrate bulk and minimizes the surface damage resulting from sputtering. This leaves the thin films and the prefabricated thin-film nanostructures on the

• PMMA surface essentially intact and provides a new route to their out-of-plane patterning, which is interesting for a range of thin film applications. In the current work, we extend our study to the effects of the ion mass by irradiating PMMA substrates with He+, Ne+, and Ga+ ions, and to the role of

• features. The irradiation of the Au-coated samples results in delamination of the Au thin film followed by its bulging and perforation, which points to the important role of available pathways for the desorption of gases resulting from radiolysis. The irradiation with Ne+ or Ga+ ion beams destroys the

PTCDA adsorption on CaF₂ thin films

• Philipp Rahe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1615–1622, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.144

• on CaF2(111) of nearly flat-lying PTCDA molecules with two oxygen atoms displaced towards calcium surface ions. This geometry is in agreement with the experimental observations. Keywords: calcium difluoride; decoupling; insulating thin film; 3,4,9,10-perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA

• ); scanning tunnelling microscopy; Introduction The study of molecular adsorption on thin insulating films is motivated by the possibility to investigate and utilise molecular properties in their largely undisturbed state [1]. Molecule–thin film insulator interfaces are additionally of central importance in

• modern applications, for example as a critical component in organic thin-film transistors [2]. However, and despite the success of using thin insulating NaCl films for molecular decoupling [3], it is now understood that ultrathin layers are often not sufficient to truly insulate a molecular assembly. To

High-responsivity hybrid α-Ag₂S/Si photodetector prepared by pulsed laser ablation in liquid

• Raid A. Ismail,
• Hanan A. Rawdhan and
• Duha S. Ahmed

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1596–1607, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.142

• , a SiO2 thin film was grown on the silicon substrate before Ag2S deposition through rapid thermal oxidation (RTO) at a temperature of 950 °C for 25 s, and then HF etchant was used to open a Si window on SiO2. The experimental details regarding the RTO process are presented elsewhere [20]. To

Optically and electrically driven nanoantennas

• Monika Fleischer,
• Dai Zhang and
• Alfred J. Meixner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1542–1545, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.136

• top-down approaches such as thin film deposition and nanopatterning, as well as bottom-up approaches such as chemical synthesis and self-assembly [38]. Gap sizes may range from a few tens of nanometers down to sub-nanometer tunnel junctions, where the classical description of the plasmonic behavior

Design of V-shaped cantilevers for enhanced multifrequency AFM measurements

• Mehrnoosh Damircheli and
• Babak Eslami

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1525–1541, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.135

• experiments done. Firstly, a PS polymer solution (molecular weight of 35000 dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (THF)) was spin-coated at 3500 rpm for 60 s on a cleaned Au substrate. All items were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. After drying the sample, a portion of the PS thin film was scratched to expose the Au

Adsorption and self-assembly of porphyrins on ultrathin CoO films on Ir(100)

• Feifei Xiang,
• Tobias Schmitt,
• Marco Raschmann and
• M. Alexander Schneider

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1516–1524, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.134

• , it is also an anti-ferromagnet due to electron correlation effects and it shows catalytic activity [14][15][16][17]. As a thin film grown on Ir(100), the oxide is of extremely high quality [18][19][20] avoiding the complexity that arises from atomic-scale defects in bulk materials [5][6][7][8]. The

Controlling the electronic and physical coupling on dielectric thin films

• Philipp Hurdax,
• Michael Hollerer,
• Larissa Egger,
• Georg Koller,
• Xiaosheng Yang,
• Anja Haags,
• Serguei Soubatch,
• Frank Stefan Tautz,
• Mathias Richter,
• Alexander Gottwald,
• Peter Puschnig,
• Martin Sterrer and
• Michael G. Ramsey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1492–1503, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.132

• constant of the thin film, and dcs is the distance between the charge in the molecule and its image charge in the metal (i.e., the charge separation distance). In this report, we demonstrate the robustness of the conclusions drawn from the 5A study by considering para-sexiphenyl (6P, C36H26). In contrast

Antimicrobial metal-based nanoparticles: a review on their synthesis, types and antimicrobial action

• Matías Guerrero Correa,
• Fernanda B. Martínez,
• Cristian Patiño Vidal,
• Camilo Streitt,
• Juan Escrig and
• Carol Lopez de Dicastillo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1450–1469, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.129

• nm were synthesized [42]. The chemical vapor deposition method is a technique in which the substrate is exposed to one or more volatile precursors, which react to and/or decompose on the substrate surface to produce the desired thin film deposit. For example, Zhao et al. [44] obtained graphene

Wafer-level integration of self-aligned high aspect ratio silicon 3D structures using the MACE method with Au, Pd, Pt, Cu, and Ir

• Mathias Franz,
• Romy Junghans,
• Paul Schmitt,
• Adriana Szeghalmi and
• Stefan E. Schulz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1439–1449, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.128

• appropriate noble metal. Experimental Here, a wafer-level integration scheme for the fabrication of high aspect ratio silicon templates is discussed. The whole process has been done on 150 mm p-doped (5–20 Ω·cm) silicon (100) wafers. The wafers have been coated with a 5 nm noble metal thin film using standard

Protruding hydrogen atoms as markers for the molecular orientation of a metallocene

• Linda Laflör,
• Michael Reichling and
• Philipp Rahe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1432–1438, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.127

• acid (FDCA) molecules on bulk and thin film CaF2(111) surfaces with non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM). We use NC-AFM image calculations with the probe particle model to interpret this distinct shape by repulsive interactions between the NC-AFM tip and the top hydrogen atoms of the

• /CaF1/Si(111) thin film samples under ultrahigh vacuum conditions (p < 5 × 10−10 mbar) in two separate systems equipped with appropriate facilities for in situ sample preparation. Bulk CaF2 crystals (Korth Kristalle, Altenholz, Germany) were cleaved in vacuum [24] after degassing the crystal and sample

• details on the thin film growth and properties can be found in [22][26][27][28]. Deposition of 1,1’-ferrocene dicarboxylic acid (purity 98%, Alfa Aesar, Kandel, Germany) on samples held at room temperature was accomplished by sublimation from custom-built Knudsen cells heated to about 390 K. For bulk

Analysis of catalyst surface wetting: the early stage of epitaxial germanium nanowire growth

• Owen C. Ernst,
• Felix Lange,
• David Uebel,
• Thomas Teubner and
• Torsten Boeck

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1371–1380, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.121

• beneficial when intentionally used (e.g., to create strongly localized heat sources [7][8]), but it can also be disruptive (e.g., when ultrathin copper layers collapse on titanium nitride, damaging electronic devices [9][10]). However, in thin film applications these phenomena are rarely attributed to the

• values below the abscissa and converges towards zero. This is a major distinction since values above zero leads to the formation of a continuous thin film, whereas values below zero promote the formation of droplets on the surface. Since a gold monolayer has a nominal thickness of 0.32 nm, the maximum

Impact of fluorination on interface energetics and growth of pentacene on Ag(111)

• Qi Wang,
• Meng-Ting Chen,
• Antoni Franco-Cañellas,
• Bin Shen,
• Thomas Geiger,
• Holger F. Bettinger,
• Frank Schreiber,
• Ingo Salzmann,
• Alexander Gerlach and
• Steffen Duhm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1361–1370, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.120

• PFP this could be ascribed to attractive quadrupole interactions between adjacent PFP molecules [18][56], and this seemed to be the case for partial fluorination as well. The differences in thin film structure were also reflected in the electronic structures, which were distinctively different in

• multilayers on Ag(111). Our results highlight that even for weak organic–metal interaction, the fluorine substitution significantly affects the organic thin film growth beyond the first layer as well as the multilayer electronic structure. Experimental F4PEN was synthesized following an established procedure

• (base pressure: 3 × 10−10 mbar) for substrate preparation, thin film evaporation and analysis. LEED was performed using a Micro-Channel-Plate LEED (OCI BDL800IR-MCP). Photoelectron spectroscopy experiments were performed using a SPECS PHOIBOS 150 analyzer and monochromatized He I radiation (21.22 eV

Effect of localized helium ion irradiation on the performance of synthetic monolayer MoS₂ field-effect transistors

• Jakub Jadwiszczak,
• Pierce Maguire,
• Conor P. Cullen,
• Georg S. Duesberg and
• Hongzhou Zhang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1329–1335, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.117

• achieved by selective ion sputtering in thin film transistors has also been observed in He+-irradiated InGaZnO devices [27]. This irradiation-induced carrier activation depends not only on the fluence of the ion beam, but also on the absolute number of defects that can be introduced. Therefore, the

Structural and electronic properties of SnO₂ doped with non-metal elements

• Jianyuan Yu,
• Yingeng Wang,
• Yan Huang,
• Xiuwen Wang,
• Jing Guo,
• Jingkai Yang and
• Hongli Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1321–1328, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.116

• SnO2; electronic structure; optical properties; Introduction Thin film solar cells are devices that convert solar energy into electrical energy. Transparent conductive films (TCFs) are a thin film material with both conductive capabilities and high transmittance in the visible light range (300–800 nm

• ) [1][2][3]. TCFs serve as the front electrode of thin film solar cells. Up to now, the solar energy conversion efficiency is about 23.3% [4], and it is important to increase the photovoltaic power generation efficiency, as well as the performance of the front electrode. The intrinsic semiconductor

• research works has been done examining different doping elements. Doped tin oxide thin film have been widely used in the fields of thin film solar cell electrodes, electronic display devices, and gas sensors. Also doped SnO2 been used for energy-saving low-emissivity glass coatings due to low resistivity

An atomic force microscope integrated with a helium ion microscope for correlative nanoscale characterization

• Santiago H. Andany,
• Gregor Hlawacek,
• Stefan Hummel,
• Charlène Brillard,
• Mustafa Kangül and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1272–1279, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.111

• resist [31]. Chain scission leads to volume loss through the release of gas molecules, and this leads to the shrinkage of exposed PMMA [32], which can be easily quantified using AFM. In a second experiment, we tested the effect on a PMMA thin film exposed to different doses under the focused He ion beam

Proximity effect in [Nb(1.5 nm)/Fe(x)]₁₀/Nb(50 nm) superconductor/ferromagnet heterostructures

• Yury Khaydukov,
• Sabine Pütter,
• Laura Guasco,
• Roman Morari,
• Gideok Kim,
• Thomas Keller,
• Anatolie Sidorenko and
• Bernhard Keimer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1254–1263, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.109

• discussions. This work is partially based on experiments performed at the NREX instrument operated by Max-Planck Society at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ), Garching, Germany. Sample preparation was performed in the thin film laboratory of the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS) at Heinz Maier