Synthesis and characterization of RF-sputtered ZnTe/Cu_2−xTe thin films for solar cell applications

• Gerardo Arreola Jardón,
• Susana Meraz Dávila,
• Claudia Elena Pérez García,
• Aime Margarita Gutiérrez Peralta and
• Sergio Joaquín Jiménez Sandoval

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 1016–1027, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.69

• still promote Cu diffusion into the CdTe absorber. Furthermore, the complex polymorphic nature of the CuxTe system and the difficulty in phase control may result in inconsistent electrical behavior and reduced reproducibility. Similarly, ZnTe:Cu thin films deposited by RF sputtering have been

Enhanced erosion resistance and radiation stability of WC–WO₃ nanocomposite films under 100 keV Kr⁺ ion irradiation

• Shristi Bist,
• Parswajit Kalita,
• Ratnesh K. Pandey,
• Sejal Shah,
• Richa Krishna,
• Umapathy G. R.,
• Sunil Ojha and
• Devesh K. Avasthi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 922–934, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.65

• resilience to ion irradiation, reinforcing its potential as a radiation-resistant material in nuclear environments [13]. WO3, in contrast, has other advantages, including its capability to act as a radiation absorber and its chemical inertness [14][15][16]. However, hardness and toughness of the

Light-driven ammonia electrooxidation via carbon nitride–ruthenium molecular interfaces

• Jan Holub and
• Pablo Jiménez-Calvo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 854–862, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.61

• and light-harvesting capacity of heterogeneous materials [1][2][3][4][5][8]. This perspective focuses on the well-known combination regarding water oxidation, that is, C3N4 semiconductors with molecular Ru-based catalysts as one promising multicomposite hybrid strategy. C3N4 acts as the light absorber

• and charge-conducting scaffold, functionally analogous to a photosensitizer, while the Ru complex serves as the molecular catalytic centre and light absorber too. Transferring this synergistic photoactive interface concept into photoelectrocatalysis for ammonia oxidation, a sustainable hydrogen

• beyond simply reducing the thermodynamic requirement, and that is discussed further in section G. C) Carbon nitride as the semiconductor light absorber C3N4 is a transformative organic semiconductor photocatalyst, which has, in fact, over the past decade, transformed into one of the benchmark

Recent progress in enhancing built-in electric fields of perovskite solar cells via junction engineering

• Tong Xiao and
• Ke Xu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2026, 17, 602–621, doi:10.3762/bjnano.17.42

• to the transport layer. Shifting energy-level modulation to the buried interface of the perovskite/HTL, a critical region for carrier accumulation and recombination [32], induces band bending and the formation of a localized homojunction, which extends the BEF into the absorber layer and, to some

• the top of the absorber extends homojunction control from the interface into the bulk, revealing a trend toward the development of continuous gradient junctions across the film thickness (see Table 1 for representative strategies and photovoltaic performance). This study quantified the impact of the n

• absorber layer, while recombination losses and improving stability are suppressed. A modification strategy based on two-dimensional black phosphorus nanosheets (BP NSs) proposed by Fan et al. [38] exemplifies this combination of interface-induced and bulk modulation. During perovskite crystallization, BP

Electromagnetic study of a split-ring resonator metamaterial with cold-electron bolometers

• Ekaterina A. Matrozova,
• Alexander V. Chiginev,
• Leonid S. Revin and
• Andrey L. Pankratov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 2199–2206, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.152

• , enabling operation in a wide frequency range from gigahertz frequencies to X-rays [6][7][8] due to a normal-metal absorber. CEBs offer several advantages over other types of receivers such as transition edge sensors [9][10][11]. These advantages include their micrometer-scale size, which facilitates direct

• CEBs are embedded into the outer ring of each SRR element. In the simulations, each CEB is modeled as an RC circuit (see inset in Figure 1), where Rabs = 75 Ω represents the resistance of the CEB’s normal-metal absorber, and CSIN = 20 fF is the capacitance of the two SIN junctions of the CEB connected

Quantum circuits with SINIS structures

• Mikhail Tarasov,
• Mikhail Fominskii,
• Aleksandra Gunbina,
• Artem Krasilnikov,
• Maria Mansfeld,
• Dmitrii Kukushkin,
• Andrei Maruhno,
• Valeria Ievleva,
• Mikhail Strelkov,
• Daniil Zhogov,
• Konstantin Arutyunov,
• Vyacheslav Vdovin,
• Vladislav Stolyarov and
• Valerian Edelman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1931–1941, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.134

• with selective etching of superconducting and normal metal electrodes. Improvement in ultimate sensitivity is achieved by suspending the absorber above the substrate. Best responsivity of up to 30 electrons per photon at a frequency of 350 GHz, or 72000 A/W, and voltage responsivity up to 3.9 × 109 V/W

• is used before making of the insulator and sputtering of the normal metal (for details see [29]). An example of such a method is presented in Figure 1d,e. Besides SINIS structures with N-absorber on the substrate, we also developed devices with the absorber suspended above the substrate (Figure 1f

• thin film of normal metal (the absorber is an element sensitive to incoming radiation) and two NIS junctions that act as a thermometer. An SEM view of the SINIS detector was shown in Figure 1a–f. Often SINIS detectors are considered as classical devices with the optical response equivalent to the

Laser processing in liquids: insights into nanocolloid generation and thin film integration for energy, photonic, and sensing applications

• Akshana Parameswaran Sreekala,
• Pooja Raveendran Nair,
• Jithin Kundalam Kadavath,
• Bindu Krishnan,
• David Avellaneda Avellaneda,
• M. R. Anantharaman and
• Sadasivan Shaji

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 1428–1498, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.104

The impact of tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane hole transport layer doping on interfacial charge extraction and recombination

• Konstantinos Bidinakis and
• Stefan A. L. Weber

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 678–689, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.52

• conductivity of selective contacts, as well as the junction quality and energetic alignment with the absorber. On the hole extracting side, organic semiconductors have been extensively used due to their flexibility and favorable properties. Two of such compatible materials that have yielded high performing

• the core of their success lies the perovskite absorber material, which exhibits impressive bulk properties, such as long carrier lifetimes and low recombination rates [5][6][7][8]. However, the granular nature of perovskites and the layered structure of their solar cells, introduce complications such

• about charge generation and transport within the absorber material, as well as charge extraction to the relevant interfaces [9][10][11][12]. The details of interfacial electronic carrier extraction at the junctions of the perovskite with the electron and hole transport layers (ETL, HTL) define the

Nanoscale capacitance spectroscopy based on multifrequency electrostatic force microscopy

• Pascal N. Rohrbeck,
• Lukas D. Cavar,
• Franjo Weber,
• Peter G. Reichel,
• Mara Niebling and
• Stefan A. L. Weber

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 637–651, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.49

• reliability of capacitors [10]. Similarly, in next-generation photovoltaic devices, the dielectric properties of absorber layers, such as lead-halide perovskites, affect carrier recombination and electric field distribution, thereby influencing power conversion efficiency [11]. At the nanoscale, the

Comparison of organic and inorganic hole transport layers in double perovskite material-based solar cell

• Deepika K and
• Arjun Singh

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2025, 16, 119–127, doi:10.3762/bjnano.16.11

• -based PSCs as a promising photovoltaic material. The double perovskite layer is a remarkable choice as active layer because of intrinsic carrier stability, low exciton binding energy, and low toxicity. Herein, the optimization of a planar DPSC with a multifunctional double perovskite absorber layer

• 2009 to 26.1% in 2023 [5][6]. PSCs consist of an absorber layer sandwiched between charge transport layers (CTLs), that is, the hole transport layer (HTL) and the electron transport layer (ETL). Light generates excitons, which further dissociate into electrons and holes. The electrons and holes are

• perovskite layer calculated via SCAPS-1D [13]. In 2023, Alla et al. simulated, using SCAPS-1D, a Cs2CuSbX6-based DPSCs with an efficiency exceeding 29% [14]. In 2023, Singh et al. optimized a lead-free DPSC with La2NiMnO6 as absorber layer, Cu2O as HTL, and ZnOS as an ETL. They obtained an efficiency of

Investigation of Hf/Ti bilayers for the development of transition-edge sensor microcalorimeters

• Victoria Y. Safonova,
• Anna V. Gordeeva,
• Anton V. Blagodatkin,
• Dmitry A. Pimanov,
• Anton A. Yablokov and
• Andrey L. Pankratov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1353–1361, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.108

• temperature change, estimates of the energy resolution of the TES prototype can be made, which are summarized in the next section. Estimates of energy resolution A standard microcalorimeter consists of an absorber, a thermometer, and a thermal coupling to a thermostat. The model from which the

• microcalorimeter properties are calculated, consists of a thermal body with heat capacity C and a thermal coupling to the reservoir with thermal conductance G. The thermal body is both an absorber and a thermometer (TES). The quasiparticles of the TES are assumed to be in thermal equilibrium at each instant of

Quantum-to-classical modeling of monolayer Ge₂Se₂ and its application in photovoltaic devices

• Anup Shrivastava,
• Shivani Saini,
• Dolly Kumari,
• Sanjai Singh and
• Jost Adam

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1153–1169, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.94

• various layers including the active/absorber layers, the electron transport layer (ETL) and the hole transport layer (HTL) [12][13]. Both HTL and ETL play a crucial role in achieving a high performance of PV devices. The most common HTL material is spiro-OMeTAD, but it is very expensive [14]. Furthermore

• [41][42][46][47]. The optimum bandgap value and its CBM/VBM positions make it suitable for photovoltaic applications and provide a guideline for selecting the absorber layers in the solar cells. Notably, multivalley and flat bands are present in the energy band structure. The formation of multiple

• coating between the absorber and substrate/electrodes in the design of solar cells. Device Modeling The high carrier mobility, optimum bandgap, and suitable optical characteristics of monolayer Ge2Se2 as discussed in the previous section, further motivated us to design a photovoltaic solar cell using

Bolometric IR photoresponse based on a 3D micro-nano integrated CNT architecture

• Yasameen Al-Mafrachi,
• Sandeep Yadav,
• Sascha Preu,
• Jörg J. Schneider and
• Oktay Yilmazoglu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 1030–1040, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.84

• -density, mainly double-walled CNTs with simple lateral external contacts to the surroundings. Standard optical lithography techniques were used to locally tailor the width of the vertical block structure. The complete sensor system, based on a broadband blackbody absorber region and a high-resistance

• , the NEP value will be improved with increased ℜV, allowing for the detection of weaker IR signals. These calculations indicate that the new CNT microbolometer could achieve superior performance in optimized micro-nano architectures with more efficient absorber region and under vacuum measurement

Fabrication of nanocrystal forms of ᴅ-cycloserine and their application for transdermal and enteric drug delivery systems

• Hsuan-Ang Tsai,
• Tsai-Miao Shih,
• Theodore Tsai,
• Jhe-Wei Hu,
• Yi-An Lai,
• Jui-Fu Hsiao and
• Guochuan Emil Tsai

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 465–474, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.42

• absorber [20]. In addition, silver (Ag) nanoparticles were synthesized from cotton fabrics and exhibited strong inhibition activity against some bacteria [21]. Recently, pure active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) composed of nanocrystals was investigated, as opposed to drug nanocarrier platforms [22

Measurements of dichroic bow-tie antenna arrays with integrated cold-electron bolometers using YBCO oscillators

• Leonid S. Revin,
• Dmitry A. Pimanov,
• Alexander V. Chiginev,
• Anton V. Blagodatkin,
• Viktor O. Zbrozhek,
• Andrey V. Samartsev,
• Anastasia N. Orlova,
• Dmitry V. Masterov,
• Alexey E. Parafin,
• Victoria Yu. Safonova,
• Anna V. Gordeeva,
• Andrey L. Pankratov,
• Leonid S. Kuzmin,
• Anatolie S. Sidorenko,
• Silvia Masi and
• Paolo de Bernardis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2024, 15, 26–36, doi:10.3762/bjnano.15.3

• the order of a few micrometers, detector can be placed inside the antenna slot without additional microwave feed lines, forming a multi-absorber array [15][17][18]. Because of this feature, one can adjust the total resistance by forming series or parallel arrays of CEBs to match for either junction

• waveguide port, this port was chosen as multimode with the number of modes equal to 35. As the equivalent circuit of the CEB in the calculation, a series RC circuit was used, the resistance of which was equal to the resistance of the CEB absorber, and the capacitance was equal to half the capacitance of a

• the operating frequency for the 240 GHz channel. In the process of optimization, the geometrical dimensions of the matrix dipoles, as well as the absorber resistance and the capacitance of the SIN tunnel junctions, were tuned to meet the requirements better. The best results have been achieved at the

ZnO-decorated SiC@C hybrids with strong electromagnetic absorption

• Liqun Duan,
• Zhiqian Yang,
• Yilu Xia,
• Xiaoqing Dai,
• Jian’an Wu and
• Minqian Sun

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 565–573, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.47

• the highest value of dielectric tangent loss (Figure 5a), its impedance is not as high as that of the other SCZ samples (Figure 5b). A good EM absorber needs to exhibit high absorption and little reflection, which means an impedance matching is also necessary by controlling the values of ε′ and ε

Conjugated photothermal materials and structure design for solar steam generation

• Chia-Yang Lin and
• Tsuyoshi Michinobu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 454–466, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.36

• absorbers based on (1) various molecular designs of small molecules and polymers, (2) absorber structures from a thermal management perspective, and (3) applications to desalination, sterilization, wastewater treatment, and power generation. As we focus on the SSG application in this review, the other

• evaporation efficiency To achieve the maximum vaporization efficiency, the heat generated by the solar absorber must be fully utilized to vaporize water. However, under actual conditions, the bulk heating of water consumes heat and causes losses to the environment through conduction, convection, and radiation

• . Therefore, the design of various absorber structures has been studied to minimize any undesirable heat losses. The light-to-water vapor energy conversion efficiency of SSG can be calculated using the following equations: where m is the water evaporation rate, T is the temperature of evaporation, Ti is

Plasmonic nanotechnology for photothermal applications – an evaluation

• A. R. Indhu,
• L. Keerthana and
• Gnanaprakash Dharmalingam

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 380–419, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.33

Cyclodextrins as eminent constituents in nanoarchitectonics for drug delivery systems

• Makoto Komiyama

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 218–232, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.21

• therapy. Even NIR-II light (1000–1400 nm) is usable. In Figure 8, poly(ethylene glycol) chains (green) were tethered through hydrogen bondings to poly(N-phenylglycine) (yellow), which serves as the NIR-II absorber [88]. Upon the addition of α-CyDs, a hydrogel was formed through polyrotaxane formation of

Frontiers of nanoelectronics: intrinsic Josephson effect and prospects of superconducting spintronics

• Anatolie S. Sidorenko,
• Horst Hahn and
• Vladimir Krasnov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 79–82, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.9

• /ferromagnetic absorber with a temperature reduction of the electrons in the refrigerator junctions down to 25 mK in the idle regime without an optical power load [22]. - Implementation of Josephson junctions for the design of quantum computers by analyzing the dynamics of a single-junction superconducting

Near-infrared photoactive Ag-Zn-Ga-S-Se quantum dots for high-performance quantum dot-sensitized solar cells

• Roopakala Kottayi,
• Ilangovan Veerappan and
• Ramadasse Sittaramane

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1337–1344, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.110

• [16]. Recently, Larsen et al. reported that, due to the appropriate bandgap (1.6–1.8 eV), AgGaSe2 is a wide-range light absorber in thin film solar cells [17]. Tianya Bai et al. [18] examined that ZnS-coated AgGaS2 nanocrystals (AgGaS2/ZnS core–shell nanocrystals) have a tunable bandgap and PL colors

Recent trends in Bi-based nanomaterials: challenges, fabrication, enhancement techniques, and environmental applications

• Vishal Dutta,
• Ankush Chauhan,
• Ritesh Verma,
• C. Gopalkrishnan and
• Van-Huy Nguyen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 1316–1336, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.109

• often employed to offer an intermediary conduit for electrons to flow from the CB of semiconductor II (SC II) to the VB of semiconductor I (SC I), making the charge transfer easier [38]. A solid substance or a redox couple in solution may serve as a mediator in the Z-scheme. This dual absorber system

Efficiency of electron cooling in cold-electron bolometers with traps

• Dmitrii A. Pimanov,
• Vladimir A. Frost,
• Anton V. Blagodatkin,
• Anna V. Gordeeva,
• Andrey L. Pankratov and
• Leonid S. Kuzmin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 896–901, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.80

• efficiency. This concept is based on negative electrothermal feedback for an incoming signal, which is due to the direct electron cooling of the absorber by the normal metal–insulator–superconductor (NIS) tunnel junctions. Recently, in receivers with cold-electron bolometers [4][5][6], electron cooling from

• solves the equations of the stationary CEB theory [16]. We use the approach based on solving the heat balance equation [7]: where PN is Joule heating in the absorber. is the heat flux between electron and phonon subsystems, taken with the sixth power [17] due to low electron temperature in our

• experiments (in our previous calculations we have used the fifth power). Σ is the electron–phonon coupling constant; it has different values, depending on the electron temperature [17]. VN is the absorber volume, Pcool is the direct electron cooling power, PS is the net power transferred to the S-electrode

Numerical modeling of a multi-frequency receiving system based on an array of dipole antennas for LSPE-SWIPE

• Alexander V. Chiginev,
• Anton V. Blagodatkin,
• Dmitrii A. Pimanov,
• Ekaterina A. Matrozova,
• Anna V. Gordeeva,
• Andrey L. Pankratov and
• Leonid S. Kuzmin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 865–872, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.77

• electronic subsystem of the CEB absorber [6][7][8]. Another key advantage for balloon and space missions is the high immunity of CEB against cosmic rays [9] due to a double protection given by the extremely small volume of the absorber and decoupling of electron and phonon systems. One of the advantages of

• junction suppresses the Coulomb blockade, so the absorber volume can be decreased by a factor of four, leaving the capacitance unchanged. Therefore, the current responsivity is increased from 40–45 nA/pW to 80–100 nA/pW. Thus, the total NEP for this CEB concept should also be two times better than the

Tunable high-quality-factor absorption in a graphene monolayer based on quasi-bound states in the continuum

• Jun Wu,
• Yasong Sun,
• Feng Wu,
• Biyuan Wu and
• Xiaohu Wu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 675–681, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.59

• /bjnano.13.59 Abstract A tunable graphene absorber, composed of a graphene monolayer and a substrate spaced by a subwavelength dielectric grating, is proposed and investigated. Strong light absorption in the graphene monolayer is achieved due to the formation of embedded optical quasi-bound states in the

• continuum in the subwavelength dielectric grating. The physical origin of the absorption with high quality factor is examined by investigating the electromagnetic field distributions. Interestingly, we found that the proposed absorber possesses high spatial directivity and performs similar to an antenna

• makes the fabrication quite difficult. In this paper, motivated by the investigation in [28], a tunable graphene absorber, which consists of a graphene monolayer on a dielectric grating backed with a substrate, is designed and investigated. The paper is arranged as follows: First, we present the