Effect of Ag loading position on the photocatalytic performance of TiO₂ nanocolumn arrays

• Jinghan Xu,
• Yanqi Liu and
• Yan Zhao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 717–728, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.59

• . It can be seen from the figure that tiny Ag nanoparticles are supported on the TiO2 columns. Figure 4d shows the high-resolution TEM image of the Ag nanocolumns shown in Figure 4c. After removing the noise by performing Fourier transform on the selected area using software, we can clearly see lattice

Stochastic excitation for high-resolution atomic force acoustic microscopy imaging: a system theory approach

• Edgar Cruz Valeriano,
• José Juan Gervacio Arciniega,
• Christian Iván Enriquez Flores,
• Susana Meraz Dávila,
• Joel Moreno Palmerin,
• Martín Adelaido Hernández Landaverde,
• Yuri Lizbeth Chipatecua Godoy,
• Aime Margarita Gutiérrez Peralta,
• Rafael Ramírez Bon and
• José Martín Yañez Limón

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 703–716, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.58

• that gives a qualitative relationship between a set of contact resonance frequencies and the indentation modulus. It is based on white-noise excitation of the tip–sample interaction and uses system theory for the extraction of the resonance modes. During conventional scanning, for each pixel, the tip

• –sample interaction is excited with a white-noise signal. Then, a fast Fourier transform is applied to the deflection signal that comes from the photodiodes of the atomic force microscopy (AFM) equipment. This approach allows for the measurement of several vibrational modes in a single step with high

• compared to conventional techniques. Keywords: atomic force microscopy; fast Fourier transform; mechanical properties; system theory; white noise; Introduction There are several methods to measure mechanical properties at the nanoscale level, based on, e.g., nanoindentation or on other physical phenomena

Electromigration-induced directional steps towards the formation of single atomic Ag contacts

• Atasi Chatterjee,
• Christoph Tegenkamp and
• Herbert Pfnür

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 680–687, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.55

• peak at 0.6. Strong peaks below 0.5 again correspond to instabilities between other metastable configurations. On the other hand, a noticeable difference between Figure 3 and Figure 5 is that the contribution from the [111] orientation is absent in Figure 5. There is no peak above noise level at 1.3

Soybean-derived blue photoluminescent carbon dots

• Shanshan Wang,
• Wei Sun,
• Dong-sheng Yang and
• Fuqian Yang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 606–619, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.48

• number of the photons emitted at time t, A represents the baseline/noise level, Bi (i = 1, 2, 3) are proportionality constants for the corresponding decay functions, and τi is the corresponding lifetime. Using Equation 1 to fit the PL decay curves in Figure 4a,b, we obtain the lifetimes of τi and the

Examination of the relationship between viscoelastic properties and the invasion of ovarian cancer cells by atomic force microscopy

• Mengdan Chen,
• Jinshu Zeng,
• Weiwei Ruan,
• Zhenghong Zhang,
• Yuhua Wang,
• Shusen Xie,
• Zhengchao Wang and
• Hongqin Yang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 568–582, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.45

• . Force–distance curve-based AFM measurements were carried out to calculate the optical photodiode deflection sensitivity and the cantilever spring constant was verified by the thermal noise method before experiments. MLCT cantilevers (Bruker, USA) made of silicon nitride with approximate spring constant

Current measurements in the intermittent-contact mode of atomic force microscopy using the Fourier method: a feasibility analysis

• Berkin Uluutku and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 453–465, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.37

• trend. Reconstruction of the tip–sample current should be possible if one can record its power spectrum. It is of course desirable to be able to record as many harmonics as possible, although this may not always be possible, in part due to signal-to-noise ratio limitations for very high frequencies or

• challenges in the experimental implementation of the proposed method, which can be significant. We expect these challenges to arise from probe-related phenomena, data acquisition limitations, noise, the electrical nature of the sample, or some combination of all these factors. With regards to probe

• -conductive tip. Electrical noise is anticipated to also introduce challenges. Although classical C-AFM can be affected by noise as well, the expected current magnitude in this mode of imaging should be larger than for ICM-AFM for the reasons described above, such that the current signal-to-noise ratio for

High dynamic resistance elements based on a Josephson junction array

• Konstantin Yu. Arutyunov and
• Janne S. Lehtinen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 417–420, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.32

• current-biasing elements [7][8][9][10]. However, it was later understood that resistive dissipative elements inevitably act as a source of Johnson noise, leading to degradation of system performance [11]. Here we present an experimental study of a quasi-1D chain of JJs. A sufficient high-frequency

• impedance was demonstrated to study the QPS phenomena without the undesired impact of Johnson noise typically associated with dissipative elements [12]. The I–V dependence studied in [12] demonstrated clear and expected characteristics at low current, I → 0: the so-called “Bloch nose” (back-bending of I–V

• current values have been detected so far [10]. Later it was understood that the straightforward approach of using a high-Ohmic dissipative environment, Renv > RQ, is far from optimal, as it introduces Johnson noise, washing out the desired current singularities [11]. Various JJ-based systems were

Implementation of data-cube pump–probe KPFM on organic solar cells

• Benjamin Grévin,
• Olivier Bardagot and
• Renaud Demadrille

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 323–337, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.24

• , it is crucial to set a suitable time constant for the KPFM feedback loop and an adequate integration time per pixel. The signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio dramatically decreases when switching from KPFM to pp-KPFM due to a reduction of the bandwidth [22]. This effect demands a reduction of the loop gain

• illumination source. In other words, in this test, pp-KPFM is not used to perform a time-resolved measurement as a function of Δt. It is rather used to monitor a SP at two different levels of illumination, namely in a dark state and under cw illumination. Neglecting noise, both configurations yielded identical

• SP levels in the dark and upon cw illumination. However, as expected, the noise level increases for pp-KPFM, and a much longer time delay is needed to stabilize the compensation potential upon turning on and off the illumination. As noted above, this urged us to use pre-integration delays when

An advanced structural characterization of templated meso-macroporous carbon monoliths by small- and wide-angle scattering techniques

• Felix M. Badaczewski,
• Marc O. Loeh,
• Torben Pfaff,
• Dirk Wallacher,
• Daniel Clemens and
• Bernd M. Smarsly

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 310–322, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.23

• templates were infiltrated by two different carbon precursors, namely a mesophase pitch and a formaldehyde resole. The template was removed with hydrofluoric acid. Further information can be found in a recent study [41]. SANS data with a very good signal-to-noise ratio were acquired utilizing the V16

A review of demodulation techniques for multifrequency atomic force microscopy

• David M. Harcombe,
• Michael G. Ruppert and
• Andrew J. Fleming

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 76–91, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.8

• [28][31]. Motivated by improving high-speed MF-AFM demodulation capabilities, a multifrequency Kalman filter was developed [32]. It outperformed a commercially available lock-in amplifier in terms of both tracking bandwidth and noise performance. However, a major disadvantage of the Kalman filter is

• measurement noise. However, multifrequency AFM applications require an additional metric due to the large number of potentially closely spaced frequencies. For example, higher-harmonic imaging with single-frequency excitation results in small harmonic amplitudes that must be estimated in the presence of both

• noise and much larger fundamental and/or harmonic components [19][36]. The performance of the demodulator in this regard can be quantified by a metric herein referred to as the off-mode rejection (OMR). OMR is defined as the gain ratio between a modeled carrier frequency fi and another frequency fj as

Gold and silver dichroic nanocomposite in the quest for 3D printing the Lycurgus cup

• Lars Kool,
• Floris Dekker,
• Anton Bunschoten,
• Glen J. Smales,
• Brian R. Pauw,
• Aldrik H. Velders and
• Vittorio Saggiomo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 16–23, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.2

• . The space between the start of the collimation until the detector is a continuous, uninterrupted vacuum to reduce background. Solid samples were fixed in place, within the evacuated sample chamber, whilst liquid samples were flowed through a low-noise cell equipped with SiN windows. The resulting data

Self-assembly of a terbium(III) 1D coordination polymer on mica

• Quentin Evrard,
• Giuseppe Cucinotta,
• Felix Houard,
• Guillaume Calvez,
• Yan Suffren,
• Carole Daiguebonne,
• Olivier Guillou,
• Andrea Caneschi,
• Matteo Mannini and
• Kevin Bernot

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2440–2448, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.234

• it is. The static magnetic measurements of [Tb(hfac)3·2H2O]n and [Tb(hfac)3·2H2O]n@mica have been performed at 1.8 K using a conventional SQUID magnetometer (Figure S2, Supporting Information File 1). A very good signal-to-noise ratio is observed on the deposits, which validates the use of TbIII as a

Integration of sharp silicon nitride tips into high-speed SU8 cantilevers in a batch fabrication process

• Nahid Hosseini,
• Matthias Neuenschwander,
• Oliver Peric,
• Santiago H. Andany,
• Jonathan D. Adams and
• Georg E. Fantner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2357–2363, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.226

• results exclusively from the tip geometry, the noise suppression threshold is set at 100 pm which is superior to the measured image noise of 40 pm. Additionally, borders of the image are also excluded from the estimation to prevent edge artefacts. The inset of Figure 2a shows the result of the Gwyddion

A novel method to remove impulse noise from atomic force microscopy images based on Bayesian compressed sensing

• Yingxu Zhang,
• Yingzi Li,
• Zihang Song,
• Zhenyu Wang,
• Jianqiang Qian and
• Junen Yao

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2346–2356, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.225

• , China School of Physics, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China 10.3762/bjnano.10.225 Abstract A novel method based on Bayesian compressed sensing is proposed to remove impulse noise from atomic force microscopy (AFM) images. The image denoising problem is transformed into a compressed sensing

• matrices with some rows removed, are constructed by recording the position of the noise-free pixels. Third, the Bayesian compressed sensing reconstruction algorithm is applied to recover the image. Different from traditional compressed sensing reconstruction methods in AFM, each row of the AFM image is

• reconstructed separately in the proposed method, which will not reduce the quality of the reconstructed image. The denoising experiments are conducted to demonstrate that the proposed method can remove the impulse noise from AFM images while preserving the details of the image. Compared with other methods, the

Atomic force acoustic microscopy reveals the influence of substrate stiffness and topography on cell behavior

• Yan Liu,
• Li Li,
• Xing Chen,
• Ying Wang,
• Meng-Nan Liu,
• Jin Yan,
• Liang Cao,
• Lu Wang and
• Zuo-Bin Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2329–2337, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.223

• acoustic images depict more details of the real nanostructures at higher contrast and lower noise. Influences of substrate stiffness on L929 cell morphology and migration After substrate fabrication, we cultured L929 cells on the undeveloped SU-8 films of different stiffness and on a reference glass

Nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond for nanoscale magnetic resonance imaging applications

• Alberto Boretti,
• Lorenzo Rosa,
• Jonathan Blackledge and
• Stefania Castelletto

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2128–2151, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.207

• technique that can dramatically increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in traditional MRI. The method is being applied to small injectable endogenous molecules, which can be used to monitor transient in vivo metabolic events in real time. Among all methodologies, the emergence of hyperpolarized 13C

• magnetic textures (e.g., domain walls and skyrmions), spin waves in ferromagnets and superconducting vortices, and electrical noise currents in metals have been proved feasible with NV magnetometry. Probing static magnetic textures (i.e., the static spin configuration of a magnetic system) is crucial for

• magnetic power spectral density of a system and can be used as a magnetic noise sensor. This supplies a relationship to be set up between the magnetic noise spectrum to the spin and current fluctuations in a material. As such, it could be used to measure the thermal spin noise in low dimensional materials

Ion mobility and material transport on KBr in air as a function of the relative humidity

• Dominik J. Kirpal,
• Korbinian Pürckhauer,
• Alfred J. Weymouth and
• Franz J. Giessibl

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2084–2093, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.203

• water film and the water meniscus that forms around the tip–sample contact cause damping forces on the probe, which result in higher noise [7]. The hydrophobicity of sapphire reduces the meniscus effect. The impact that hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity of the tip material can have is demonstrated by

Review of advanced sensor devices employing nanoarchitectonics concepts

• Katsuhiko Ariga,
• Tatsuyuki Makita,
• Masato Ito,
• Taizo Mori,
• Shun Watanabe and
• Jun Takeya

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2014–2030, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.198

• -noise ratio in mercury ion detection with a detection limit of 0.01 ppb and a very short detection time constant of 3 s. This nanoarchitectonic design can maximize the intrinsic potential of black phosphorus and other materials. Sensors for physical conditions Not limited to particular chemicals, the

Optimization and performance of nitrogen-doped carbon dots as a color conversion layer for white-LED applications

• Tugrul Guner,
• Hurriyet Yuce,
• Didem Tascioglu,
• Eren Simsek,
• Umut Savaci,
• Aziz Genc,
• Servet Turan and
• Mustafa M. Demir

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 2004–2013, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.197

• ratio approaches unity while the overall emission reaches the lowest level, the resulting LER is reduced again to only 196 lm/W. The reason for this decrease may be the very low PL intensity (blue line in Figure 3a), which results in a low signal-to-noise ratio (S/N). The low S/N possibly causes an

Gold-coated plant virus as computed tomography imaging contrast agent

• Alaa A. A. Aljabali,
• Mazhar S. Al Zoubi,
• Khalid M. Al-Batanyeh,
• Ali Al-Radaideh,
• Mohammad A. Obeid,
• Abeer Al Sharabi,
• Walhan Alshaer,
• Bayan AbuFares,
• Tasnim Al-Zanati,
• Murtaza M. Tambuwala,
• Naveed Akbar and
• David J. Evans

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1983–1993, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.195

• noise [27]. The accumulation of such concentration of the contrast agent is very difficult [28]. Therefore, the need to develop different forms on nanoparticles that are densely loaded with CT contrast agents for use in clinical settings will be of great value. The work reported here explores the

Magnetic properties of biofunctionalized iron oxide nanoparticles as magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents

• Natalia E. Gervits,
• Andrey A. Gippius,
• Alexey V. Tkachev,
• Evgeniy I. Demikhov,
• Sergey S. Starchikov,
• Igor S. Lyubutin,
• Alexander L. Vasiliev,
• Vladimir P. Chekhonin,
• Maxim A. Abakumov,
• Alevtina S. Semkina and
• Alexander G. Mazhuga

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1964–1972, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.193

• core–shell structure iron oxide nanoparticles of the same size has already been described and calculated based on magnetic measurements. In the HSA-coated sample, we also succeeded to observe the ZF-NMR signal, despite the very low iron content per unit volume and the resulting low signal-to-noise

Long-term entrapment and temperature-controlled-release of SF₆ gas in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs)

• Hana Bunzen,
• Andreas Kalytta-Mewes,
• Leo van Wüllen and
• Dirk Volkmer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1851–1859, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.180

• . The “translation” directive included in GULP was employed for automatizing the SF6 linear transition task in a single run (setting: translate 0.0 0.0 1.0 200 noise 0.05), during which a geometry-constrained linear F–S–F fragment placed along the transition path (as part of SF6) was moved in steps of c

Toxicity and safety study of silver and gold nanoparticles functionalized with cysteine and glutathione

• Barbara Pem,
• Igor M. Pongrac,
• Lea Ulm,
• Ivan Pavičić,
• Valerije Vrček,
• Darija Domazet Jurašin,
• Marija Ljubojević,
• Adela Krivohlavek and
• Ivana Vinković Vrček

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1802–1817, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.175

• washing steps of the cells after treatment and before the staining procedures as indicated in the cell protocols. In the case of flow cytometry experiments, the settings on the flow cytometer were carefully established taking into account testing of the correct NP concentration range, system noise, and

Novel hollow titanium dioxide nanospheres with antimicrobial activity against resistant bacteria

• Carol López de Dicastillo,
• Cristian Patiño,
• María José Galotto,
• Yesseny Vásquez-Martínez,
• Claudia Torrent,
• Daniela Alburquenque,
• Alejandro Pereira and
• Juan Escrig

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1716–1725, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.167

•  5. SPVP diffraction patterns showed a broad band with peak at 2θ equal to 20.3° (solid line) corresponding to the amorphous nature of the PVP polymer [30][31][32][33]. Because they were independent of the samples, the peaks at approximately 11.2, 30 and 40° corresponded to the noise baseline due to

Subsurface imaging of flexible circuits via contact resonance atomic force microscopy

• Wenting Wang,
• Chengfu Ma,
• Yuhang Chen,
• Lei Zheng,
• Huarong Liu and
• Jiaru Chu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1636–1647, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.159

• the second eigenmodes, respectively. The cantilever stiffness and the free resonance frequency were calibrated by utilizing the thermal noise method while others were provided by the respective manufacturers. Multilayer contact model The axisymmetric indentation of a tip contacting with a multilayered

• frequency tracking by using the DART mode, especially when certain oscillation nonlinearity, spurious frequency peaks and large noise are presented in the contact resonance spectra. However, the frequency decrease with increasing normal force is generally not so significant, and the contrast between areas

• softer cantilever is generally better to achieve a higher subsurface contrast for the flexible circuit sample under nearly the same experimental conditions. Although the contrast with a softer cantilever is much better, the imaging noise is also higher as shown in Figure 4d. In practice, choosing an