Direct AFM-based nanoscale mapping and tomography of open-circuit voltages for photovoltaics

• Katherine Atamanuk,
• Justin Luria and
• Bryan D. Huey

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1802–1808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.171

• (Asylum Research MFP-3D-IO) is custom-mounted on an optical microscope (Nikon TE-2000) that has a broad-spectrum LED light source (Cree MK-R 12). The LED illuminates an area of ca. 1·104 µm2, including the sample/tip junction, from below through a 40× objective to provide an intensity of ca. 1 equivalent

A zero-dimensional topologically nontrivial state in a superconducting quantum dot

• Pasquale Marra,
• Alessandro Braggio and
• Roberta Citro

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1705–1714, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.162

• simplest realization of such a 0D topological superconductor, i.e., a quantum dot [51][52][53][54] coupled with two superconducting leads in a magnetic Zeeman field, forming a superconductor–quantum dot–superconductor (SC–QD–SC) Josephson junction. Zero-energy modes and the corresponding CPR

• Hamiltonians, which read where t = tL = tR is the transparency of the dot–lead tunneling. We assume that the junction is symmetric and that the tunneling amplitudes do not depend on the electron momenta (wide band limit approximation). In the limit of a large superconducting gap, i.e., when the gap is larger

• specific values of the gauge-invariant phase φ = ±φ* where where |λ| < 1 if Bmin < |B| < Bmax. We will show that these gapless points define a topological phase transition in the system that corresponds to the appearance of discontinuous drops in the CPR of the junction. Figure 2 shows the single-particle

Josephson effect in junctions of conventional and topological superconductors

• Alex Zazunov,
• Albert Iks,
• Miguel Alvarado,
• Alfredo Levy Yeyati and
• Reinhold Egger

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1659–1676, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.158

• end states. Using Green’s function techniques, the topological superconductor is alternatively described by the low-energy continuum limit of a Kitaev chain or by a more microscopic spinful nanowire model. We show that for the simplest S–TS tunnel junction, only the s-wave pairing correlations in a

• spinful TS nanowire model can generate a Josephson effect. The critical current is much smaller in the topological regime and exhibits a kink-like dependence on the Zeeman field along the wire. When a correlated quantum dot (QD) in the magnetic regime is present in the junction region, however, the

• Josephson current becomes finite also in the deep topological phase as shown for the cotunneling regime and by a mean-field analysis. Remarkably, we find that the S–QD–TS setup can support φ0-junction behavior, where a finite supercurrent flows at vanishing phase difference. Finally, we also address a multi

Nanoscale electrochemical response of lithium-ion cathodes: a combined study using C-AFM and SIMS

• Jonathan Op de Beeck,
• Nouha Labyedh,
• Alfonso Sepúlveda,
• Valentina Spampinato,
• Alexis Franquet,
• Thierry Conard,
• Philippe M. Vereecken,
• Wilfried Vandervorst and
• Umberto Celano

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1623–1628, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.154

• junction as another possible origin of modified transport characteristics. Especially in air, local anodic oxidation is well known to limit C-AFM capabilities and complicate the results interpretation in the case of silicon [16]. For this reason, UHV conditions have been investigated in order to increase

Robust topological phase in proximitized core–shell nanowires coupled to multiple superconductors

• Tudor D. Stanescu,
• Anna Sitek and
• Andrei Manolescu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1512–1526, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.142

• superconductors. A non-zero phase difference was shown to stabilize the topological phase in a Josephson junction across a 2D electron gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling and in-plane magnetic field [42] and in a topological insulator nanoribbon coupled with two superconductors [43]. Here, for concreteness, we

Electronic conduction during the formation stages of a single-molecule junction

• Atindra Nath Pal,
• Tal Klein,
• Ayelet Vilan and
• Oren Tal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1471–1477, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.138

• , Kolkata 700 106, India 10.3762/bjnano.9.138 Abstract Single-molecule junctions are versatile test beds for electronic transport at the atomic scale. However, not much is known about the early formation steps of such junctions. Here, we study the electronic transport properties of premature junction

• configurations before the realization of a single-molecule bridge based on vanadocene molecules and silver electrodes. With the aid of conductance measurements, inelastic electron spectroscopy and shot noise analysis, we identify the formation of a single-molecule junction in parallel to a single-atom junction

• and examine the interplay between these two conductance pathways. Furthermore, the role of this structure in the formation of single-molecule junctions is studied. Our findings reveal the conductance and structural properties of premature molecular junction configurations and uncover the different

Cr(VI) remediation from aqueous environment through modified-TiO₂-mediated photocatalytic reduction

• Rashmi Acharya,
• Brundabana Naik and
• Kulamani Parida

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1448–1470, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.137

• to the red end of the solar spectrum [162][163][164]. The p–n junction is formed by coupling a p-type (hole-rich) semiconductor with n-type (electron-rich) TiO2. As a result, the photoelectrons are diffused to the p-type semiconductor and holes are diffused to n-type TiO2 to create an inner electric

• water [165]. Upon increasing the content of Cu2O in TiO2/Cu2O nanocomposites, photoreduction increased and reached a maximum for 30% Cu2O. This is because 30% Cu2O might be an appropriate amount for the formation of a p–n junction between TiO2 and Cu2O nanoparticles, which could efficiently separate

• photocatalyst [173]. An increase in the surface area of NiO/TiO2 will lead to an increase of active sites, which enhances the photocatalytic activity. Ku et al. reported that coupling of p-type NiO with n-type TiO2 resulted in the development of an NiO/TiO2 photocatalyst with the formation of a p–n junction

Robust midgap states in band-inverted junctions under electric and magnetic fields

• Álvaro Díaz-Fernández,
• Natalia del Valle and
• Francisco Domínguez-Adame

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1405–1413, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.133

• presence of crossed electric and magnetic fields, the electric field being applied along the growth direction of a band-inverted junction. We show that the Dirac cone is robust and persists even if the fields are strong. In addition, we point out that Landau levels of electron states lying in the

• symmetry allow us to define a topological index given by the sign of the Dirac mass [21]. In 1994, Agassi studied the case of a band-inverted junction with a magnetic field applied parallel to the junction [23]. This author showed that the Dirac point remains robust upon the application of a magnetic field

• momentum perpendicular to the magnetic field is proportional to the position of the Landau orbits. If it becomes very large and the magnetic length is at the same time small, which happens for large magnetic fields, then the orbits do not intersect the junction and they might not notice that boundary

Andreev spectrum and supercurrents in nanowire-based SNS junctions containing Majorana bound states

• Jorge Cayao,
• Annica M. Black-Schaffer,
• Elsa Prada and
• Ramón Aguado

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1339–1357, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.127

• the junction and two at the outer one. They hybridize and give rise to a finite energy splitting at a superconducting phase difference of π, a well-visible effect that can be traced back to the evolution of the energy spectrum with the Zeeman field: from the trivial phase with Andreev bound states

• in the junction. While this prediction has spurred a great deal of theoretical activity [25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32], experiments are still scarce [33], arguably due to the lack of good junctions until recently. The situation is now different and, since achieving high-quality interfaces is no

• also perform a systematic study of the phase-dependent supercurrents in the short- and long-junction limits. Due to finite length, the junction always hosts four MBSs in the topological regime. Apart from the MBSs located at the junction (inner MBSs), two extra MBSs are located at the nanowire ends

The electrical conductivity of CNT/graphene composites: a new method for accelerating transmission function calculations

• Olga E. Glukhova and
• Dmitriy S. Shmygin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1254–1262, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.117

• X-axis and 2.13 nm along the Y-axis for each unit cell. Figure 5a shows the atomic structure of a pillared graphene film with an inter-tube distance of 2.1 nm. The tubes are connected seamlessly with graphene, i.e., the CNT smoothly passes into the graphene sheet, and the junction contains not only

Heterostuctures of 4-(chloromethyl)phenyltrichlorosilane and 5,10,15,20-tetra(4-pyridyl)-21H,23H-porphine prepared on Si(111) using particle lithography: Nanoscale characterization of the main steps of nanopatterning

• Phillip C. Chambers and
• Jayne C. Garno

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1211–1219, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.112

• functionalized phthalocyaninato-polysiloxane was studied with STM on surfaces of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) by Samori et al. [22]. Photoelectronic devices of porphyrin polymers containing oligothienyl bridges were prepared as microscopic junction chips and as layered diodes by Shimadzu et al. [23

Semi-automatic spray pyrolysis deposition of thin, transparent, titania films as blocking layers for dye-sensitized and perovskite solar cells

• Hana Krýsová,
• Josef Krýsa and
• Ladislav Kavan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1135–1145, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.105

• ), solid state dye-sensitized solar cells (SSDSSCs) and perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are attractive alternatives to solid state photovoltaics at competitive cost. The general concept of a DSSC is based on a liquid junction photo-electrochemical cell with a nanocrystalline TiO2 photoanode that is

Room-temperature single-photon emitters in titanium dioxide optical defects

• Kelvin Chung,
• Yu H. Leung,
• Chap H. To,
• Aleksandra B. Djurišić and
• Snjezana Tomljenovic-Hanic

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1085–1094, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.100

• optical fibre (FO), which acts as the confocal pinhole. The fluorescence signal is fibre-optically split 50:50 (BS) incident upon two avalanche photodiodes (APD1,2, Perkin Elmer SPCM-AQRH-14-FC: timing resolution = 350 ps at 825 nm). The system can be switched (orange junction) between two main

Review on nanoparticles and nanostructured materials: history, sources, toxicity and regulations

• Jaison Jeevanandam,
• Ahmed Barhoum,
• Yen S. Chan,
• Alain Dufresne and
• Michael K. Danquah

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1050–1074, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.98

Scanning speed phenomenon in contact-resonance atomic force microscopy

• Christopher C. Glover,
• Jason P. Killgore and
• Ryan C. Tung

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 945–952, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.87

• velocity Vs. The adsorbed water layer is surrounding the tip–sample junction but does not exist in the contact region. This case, depicted in Figure 1b, represents a situation where the AFM is solely measuring the elastic properties of the sample. The elasticity of the sample has been represented as the

Cyclodextrin inhibits zinc corrosion by destabilizing point defect formation in the oxide layer

• Abdulrahman Altin,
• Maciej Krzywiecki,
• Adnan Sarfraz,
• Cigdem Toparli,
• Claudius Laska,
• Philipp Kerger,
• Aleksandar Zeradjanin,
• Karl J. J. Mayrhofer,
• Michael Rohwerder and
• Andreas Erbe

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 936–944, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.86

• interface, closely resembling the energy level alignment in an n–p junction. The energy level shift is too large to permit further electron transfer through the layer, inhibiting corrosion. Adsorption hence changes the defect density in the protecting ZnO layer. This mechanism of corrosion inhibition shows

• interface, making the interface behave similarly to an n–p junction. Charge transport is hence only possible from the n-type ZnO to β-CD, which behaves like a p-type layer, effectively blocking the anodic reaction. Most decisively, the energy level shift induced by the changes in the defect chemistry

Facile synthesis of a ZnO–BiOI p–n nano-heterojunction with excellent visible-light photocatalytic activity

• Mengyuan Zhang,
• Jiaqian Qin,
• Pengfei Yu,
• Bing Zhang,
• Mingzhen Ma,
• Xinyu Zhang and
• Riping Liu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 789–800, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.72

• heterojunctions could promote increased photocatalytic activity efficiency. Once the p–n junction has been formed, the inner electric field between the inner surface of two semiconductors will promote the separation efficiency of photoinduced electron–hole pairs [30][31]. Consequently, coupling an n-type metal

Mechanistic insights into plasmonic photocatalysts in utilizing visible light

• Kah Hon Leong,
• Azrina Abd Aziz,
• Lan Ching Sim,
• Pichiah Saravanan,
• Min Jang and
• Detlef Bahnemann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 628–648, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.59

• characteristic features of the noble metal nanomaterials. Moreover, the formation of interfaces between noble metal particles and semiconductor materials further results in the formation of a Schottky junction. Thereby, the plasmonic characteristics have opened up a new direction in promoting an alternative path

• amalgamation of noble and semiconductor metal forms an exclusive “plasmonic photocatalyst” classification. The term “plasmonic” is mainly in reference to the unique characteristics of LSPR and induced effects [6]. However, the formation of a Schottky junction does not classify as plasmonic or resonant effects

• , and electronic interactions between the stabilizing ligands and nanoparticles [11]. Besides, the creation of a Schottky junction with a noble metal and a semiconductor acts to retard the recombination rate of electrons and holes [12]. LSPR takes place when noble metal NPs are excited by the

Revealing the interference effect of Majorana fermions in a topological Josephson junction

• Jie Liu,
• Tiantian Yu and
• Juntao Song

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 520–529, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.50

• the local density of states (DOS) in a topological Josephson junction. We show that the well-known 4π Josephson effect originates from the interference effect between two Majorana fermions (MFs) that are localized at the Josephson junction. In addition, the DOS for electrons (holes) shows the 4π

• DOS can be detected by using two STM leads or two normal leads. A single side lead can only detect the Andreev reflection tunneling process in the junction, which cannot reveal information about the interference effect in general. However, using two side leads, we can reveal information about the

• combined to form a topological Josephson junction (Top-JJ), the period of the supercurrent is 4π if MFs exist at the ends of both wires. This is different from the trivial case without MFs. In the trivial case in which only Cooper pairs can tunnel, the period is 2π. Since MFs have only half a degree of

Dopant-stimulated growth of GaN nanotube-like nanostructures on Si(111) by molecular beam epitaxy

• Alexey D. Bolshakov,
• Alexey M. Mozharov,
• Georgiy A. Sapunov,
• Igor V. Shtrom,
• Nickolay V. Sibirev,
• Vladimir V. Fedorov,
• Evgeniy V. Ubyivovk,
• Maria Tchernycheva,
• George E. Cirlin and
• Ivan S. Mukhin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 146–154, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.17

• ]. The fabrication of a simple SC based on GaN NWs on Si(111) can be obtained via proper NW doping and formation of a p–n junction at Si substrate–GaN NW interface. Recently it has been theoretically demonstrated that optimization of the doping level and NW array morphology can lead to a power conversion

Comparative study of post-growth annealing of Cu(hfac)₂, Co₂(CO)₈ and Me₂Au(acac) metal precursors deposited by FEBID

• Marcos V. Puydinger dos Santos,
• Aleksandra Szkudlarek,
• Artur Rydosz,
• Carlos Guerra-Nuñez,
• Fanny Béron,
• Kleber R. Pirota,
• Stanislav Moshkalev,
• José Alexandre Diniz and
• Ivo Utke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 91–101, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.11

• storage, ferroelectric tunnel junction memristors, metal interconnects for high performance integrated circuits in microelectronics and nano-optics applications, especially in the areas of plasmonics and metamaterials. Focused-electron-beam-induced deposition (FEBID) is a maskless direct-write tool

Beyond Moore’s technologies: operation principles of a superconductor alternative

• Igor I. Soloviev,
• Nikolay V. Klenov,
• Sergey V. Bakurskiy,
• Mikhail Yu. Kupriyanov,
• Alexander L. Gudkov and
• Anatoli S. Sidorenko

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2689–2710, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.269

• a deep analogy between superconducting logic cells and von Neuman cellular automata [16] where short-range interactions are predominant. The nonlinear element in superconducting circuits is the Josephson junction. It is a weak link between two superconductors, e.g., the most commonly used

• superconductor–isolator–superconductor (SIS) sandwich structure. One of the most important parameters of a Josephson junction is its critical current, Ic. This is the maximum superconducting current capable of flowing through the junction. A Josephson junction can be switched from the superconducting to the

• resistive state by increasing the current above Ic. The transition to the resistive state allows one to change the magnetic flux in a superconducting loop, and hence to perform a digital logic operation. The dynamics of a SIS junction is commonly described in the frame of the resistively shunted junction

Patterning of supported gold monolayers via chemical lift-off lithography

• Liane S. Slaughter,
• Kevin M. Cheung,
• Sami Kaappa,
• Huan H. Cao,
• Qing Yang,
• Thomas D. Young,
• Andrew C. Serino,
• Sami Malola,
• Jana M. Olson,
• Stephan Link,
• Hannu Häkkinen,
• Anne M. Andrews and
• Paul S. Weiss

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2648–2661, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.265

• ) withdraw charge from Au atoms, causing measurable changes in the physical properties of Au, including the increased binding energy of Au 4f electrons measured by XPS [51], decreased Au–Au rupture forces in molecular break-junction experiments [52][53][54], and shorter Au–S bonds compared with Au–Au bonds

The role of ligands in coinage-metal nanoparticles for electronics

• Ioannis Kanelidis and
• Tobias Kraus

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2625–2639, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.263

• junction resistance. The same is true for other anisotropic particles that have a potential for electronics: Oleylamine-coated gold nanowires, for example, are too instable to directly use them as inks today, but use of appropriate solvents could alleviate this limitation. This dynamic field at the border

Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy of difurylethene-based photochromic single-molecule junctions

• Youngsang Kim,
• Safa G. Bahoosh,
• Dmytro Sysoiev,
• Thomas Huhn,
• Fabian Pauly and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2606–2614, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.261

• theoretical analysis of charge transport through diarylethene-derived single-molecule devices, which are created using the mechanically controlled break-junction technique. Inelastic electron tunneling (IET) spectroscopy measurements performed at 4.2 K are compared with first-principles calculations in the

• : inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy; molecular junction; photochromic; single molecule; Introduction Molecular junctions hold promise for the realization of novel miniaturized electronic circuits [1][2][3][4][5][6] as well as for thermoelectric energy conversion devices [7][8][9][10]. Optoelectronic

• nanobridge, a single-atom contact of Au forms with high probability. The single-atom contact is signaled by an electrical conductance G close to 1 G0, where G0 = 2e2/h is the quantum of conductance. As shown in Figure 1c, upon further stretching of the junction the atomic contact breaks, and molecules can be