Angstrom-scale flatness using selective nanoscale etching

• Takashi Yatsui,
• Hiroshi Saito and
• Katsuyuki Nobusada

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2181–2185, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.217

• etching on smaller scales less than 10 nm for both wet and dry etching. In addition, by comparing wet and dry etching, near-field dry etching was shown to be effective for the selective etching of nanoscale structures because of the large value of the mean free path of the etching molecules. Hence

• , further control of the selective etching at smaller scales should be achievable by controlling mean free path (i.e. the partial pressure of the gas). Schematic of the near-field etching process. Experimental setup for the near-field wet etching technique. Time dependence of surface roughness using a

Modelling focused electron beam induced deposition beyond Langmuir adsorption

• Dédalo Sanz-Hernández and
• Amalio Fernández-Pacheco

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2151–2161, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.214

• saturated monolayers, appearance of multilayers, or the convergence from the multilayer model to the Langmuir model, can be understood in terms of the characteristic time scales of the system. These results are synthesized in a set of dimensionless FEBID frequency maps for Langmuir, and homogeneous and

High-stress study of bioinspired multifunctional PEDOT:PSS/nanoclay nanocomposites using AFM, SEM and numerical simulation

• Alfredo J. Diaz,
• Hanaul Noh,
• Tobias Meier and
• Santiago D. Solares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2069–2082, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.207

• have been at the forefront of artificial nanocomposite developments [1]. Complex architectures in bones [2][3], mollusk shells [4][5], and fish scales [6][7], among other biological systems, offer enhancements over the intrinsic properties of the individual constituents. Particularly, nacre has

• received much attention due to its remarkable mechanical properties and convoluted structure. Nacre is composed of 95% aragonite platelets separated by 5% organic matter, displaying a multiscale hierarchical structure with features ranging from molecular to macroscopic scales [8]. The experimental approach

• were observed in PEDOT under the experimental conditions used. The lack of response for MTM was attributed to its larger average particle size of 260 nm [11], which is one order of magnitude larger than Laponite’s. Since the platelet area scales with the square of the particle size, the local pressure

Adsorbate-driven cooling of carbene-based molecular junctions

• Giuseppe Foti and
• Héctor Vázquez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2060–2068, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.206

• [Equation 7]. Red color indicates modes with a strong weight on the adsorbate while modes mostly localized on the carbene backbone are identified by the blue color. Comparing the energy scales of Figure 6 to that of Figure 4 and Figure 5, we see that the overall change in the energy stored in vibrational

Advances and challenges in the field of plasma polymer nanoparticles

• Andrei Choukourov,
• Pavel Pleskunov,
• Daniil Nikitin,
• Valerii Titov,
• Artem Shelemin,
• Mykhailo Vaidulych,
• Anna Kuzminova,
• Pavel Solař,
• Jan Hanuš,
• Jaroslav Kousal,
• Ondřej Kylián,
• Danka Slavínská and
• Hynek Biederman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2002–2014, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.200

• preserve the initial surface morphology. Certain applications however may require control over the structure in a broader range covering both nanometer and micrometer scales. Plasma polymer NPs may be useful for this purpose as well, especially if glancing angle deposition (GLAD) is considered. Evaporative

Bi-layer sandwich film for antibacterial catheters

• Gerhard Franz,
• Florian Schamberger,
• Hamideh Heidari Zare,
• Sara Felicitas Bröskamp and
• Dieter Jocham

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1982–2001, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.199

• deposition reaction (Equation 1 [33]): where c scales with the partial pressure of the monomeric vapor. Equation 1 is solved by standard methods and is the sum of the two terms in Equation 2 with erfc being the complementary error function. This issue is the prerequisite for the application of the

• . Increasing the frequency of the voltage would only generate a displacement current. For a porous layer, however, ions are attracted by the potential and generate a conduction current. This additional current scales inversely with the square root of the applied frequency, because the ionic current depends on

Imidazolium-based ionic liquids used as additives in the nanolubrication of silicon surfaces

• Patrícia M. Amorim,
• Ana M. Ferraria,
• Rogério Colaço,
• Luís C. Branco and
• Benilde Saramago

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1961–1971, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.197

• force microscope was used in the nanoscale investigation. Different lubrication regimes were observed at both scales: boundary lubrication at the nanoscale and mixed lubrication the macroscale. In the former case, lubricity was a function of the density of the adsorbed layer; in the latter one, the

Nanotribological behavior of deep cryogenically treated martensitic stainless steel

• Germán Prieto,
• Konstantinos D. Bakoglidis,
• Walter R. Tuckart and
• Esteban Broitman

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1760–1768, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.177

• engineering steels [19][20][21][22][23][24]. Tribometers built on nanoindentation-based equipments, such as triboindenters, made possible the study of friction and wear at small contact scales. This kind of equipment can be used to simulate a single sharp asperity sliding over a surface while simultaneously

• stainless steel evaluated at very small scales. Experimental The material used in this study was a low-carbon AISI 420 martensitic stainless steel. Its chemical composition is presented in Table 1 and was determined using an Spectro SPECTROMAXx optical emission spectrometer. AISI 420 specimens were pre

Collembola cuticles and the three-phase line tension

• Håkon Gundersen,
• Hans Petter Leinaas and
• Christian Thaulow

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1714–1722, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.172

• experimental studies of solid–liquid–vapor systems report a positive sign [17]. Despite the debate with regards to the exact value of the line tension it remains an important concept for surfaces with sub-micrometer roughness features because such small size scales result in very long total three-phase line

• contact line (). Zheng et al. [16] developed Equation 3 to describe the case of droplets resting on top of small surface roughness features, treating the three-phase line tension as a parameter to describe different contact angles observed for surfaces with feature tops with different size scales but

• identical solid area fraction. Zheng et al. reported that a line-tension magnitude of 1.57 × 10−8 N was found to provide a good agreement between results and theory for roughness scales down to S ≈ 0.3 μm, below which the equation predicts contact angles of 180°. Certain assumptions or simplifications must

Three-in-one approach towards efficient organic dye-sensitized solar cells: aggregation suppression, panchromatic absorption and resonance energy transfer

• Jayita Patwari,
• Samim Sardar,
• Bo Liu,
• Peter Lemmens and
• Samir Kumar Pal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1705–1713, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.171

• , using time-resolved fluorescence decay measurements. The electron transfer time scales from the dyes to TiO2 have also been characterized for each dye. The current–voltage (I–V) characteristics and the wavelength-dependent photocurrent measurements of the co-sensitized DSSCs reveal that FRET between the

Light-induced magnetoresistance in solution-processed planar hybrid devices measured under ambient conditions

• Sreetama Banerjee,
• Daniel Bülz,
• Danny Reuter,
• Karla Hiller,
• Dietrich R. T. Zahn and
• Georgeta Salvan

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1502–1507, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.150

• higher for the HED-TIE devices because of the much smaller channel length of these devices compared to the OFETs. We attribute the observed light-induced negative magnetoresistance in TIPS-pentacene to the presence of electron–hole pairs under illumination as the magnetoresistive effect scales with the

Nanotopographical control of surfaces using chemical vapor deposition processes

• Meike Koenig and
• Joerg Lahann

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1250–1256, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.126

• . The colloidal template was removed by ultrasonication after deposition. Structures derived from a broad range of polymers and across a variety of length scales (down to 25 nm) could be fabricated. Selective deposition A straightforward method to selectively deposit polymers on prepatterned substrates

Needs and challenges for assessing the environmental impacts of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs)

• Michelle Romero-Franco,
• Hilary A. Godwin,
• Muhammad Bilal and
• Yoram Cohen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 989–1014, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.101

• easily aggregated, of providing qualitative metrics for ENM ranking (e.g., “most-least” favorable) [32]. The SMAA-TRI approach has been demonstrated for ranking of C60, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), CdSe, Ag nanoparticles (NP), and Al NP according to the following scales: size (quantitative

Near-field surface plasmon field enhancement induced by rippled surfaces

• Mario D’Acunto,
• Francesco Fuso,
• Ruggero Micheletto,
• Makoto Naruse,
• Francesco Tantussi and
• Maria Allegrini

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 956–967, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.97

• , that is also used in the theory of Anderson localization, defined as [51] For spatially localized modes, χ is independent on the sample size L, whereas for extended modes, χ scales as L−2 [51]. In addition, for localized states, at a given point r and a given frequency ω, the electric field is

Vapor-phase-synthesized fluoroacrylate polymer thin films: thermal stability and structural properties

• Paul Christian and
• Anna Maria Coclite

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 933–942, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.95

• S1 for larger scales). The line profiles of these cracks reveal a penetration depth of approximately 20 nm, which means that they are limited to the interfacial area (the film thickness is approximately 350 nm). For cross-linked films, the temperature treatment results in no observable changes

• -treated (b) p-PFDA films with different degrees of EGDMA cross-linking. The data are represented on individual color scales for clarity. Water contact angle (WCA) (a) and root mean square surface roughness (σRMS) (b) of p-PFDA films with different degrees of EGDMA cross-linking, as determined by the

• ; atomic force micrographs depicting larger scales; X-ray reflectivity scan evidencing the bilayer structure of p-PFDA. Acknowledgements The work was funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [Grant P26993]. The authors gratefully acknowledge Roland Resel for interesting and helpful scientific discussions

Energy-level alignment at interfaces between manganese phthalocyanine and C₆₀

• Daniel Waas,
• Florian Rückerl,
• Martin Knupfer and
• Bernd Büchner

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 927–932, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.94

• mbar. For the measurements an X-ray tube XR-50-M with a monochromator Focus-500, a gas-discharge lamp UVS-300 and a hemispherical electron-energy analyzer PHOIBOS-150 (SPECS) were used. The energy scales were calibrated with the Au 4f7/2 core level emission feature of the substrate at 84.0 eV binding

Triptycene-terminated thiolate and selenolate monolayers on Au(111)

• Jinxuan Liu,
• Martin Kind,
• Björn Schüpbach,
• Daniel Käfer,
• Stefanie Winkler,
• Wenhua Zhang,
• Andreas Terfort and
• Christof Wöll

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 892–905, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.91

• 1.1 eV (in case of the Trp1S and Trp1Se), respectively. The energy scales of all spectra were referenced to the Au 4 f7/2 peak located at a binding energy of 84.0 eV. To evaluate the layer thicknesses of the investigated SAMs, the samples were mounted on a holder together with a reference of well

Relationships between chemical structure, mechanical properties and materials processing in nanopatterned organosilicate fins

• Gheorghe Stan,
• Richard S. Gates,
• Qichi Hu,
• Kevin Kjoller,
• Craig Prater,
• Kanwal Jit Singh,
• Ebony Mays and
• Sean W. King

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 863–871, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.88

• microscope; contact resonance; infrared spectroscopy; organosilicate; photothermal; Introduction A fundamental objective of materials science and engineering is to understand, control, and exploit the relationships between the structure of a material at various length scales and its properties in order to

• relationships is experimentally elusive [3]. However, it has become a pervasive need for research currently focused on manipulating matter at nanometer length scales to take advantage of various nanoscale size effects [4][5][6]. It is a particularly pressing need for the semiconductor industry where the ability

• of the CR-AFM measurements on the OSG fins. Both (c) and (d) cartoons are drawn at relative scales to highlight the differences between the two techniques, with the impulse of the rapid sample expansion due to IR absorption causing a resonant oscillation of the AFM cantilever in AFM-IR (c) and the

Measuring adhesion on rough surfaces using atomic force microscopy with a liquid probe

• Juan V. Escobar,
• Cristina Garza and
• Rolando Castillo

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 813–825, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.84

• the radial distance measured from the center of the peak. Thus, this oxidized surface is rough on both the nano- and the micro-scales, a necessary condition to achieve supersolvophobic states for mercury drops [26]. As a result, mercury drops lying on the surface would be in contact with a much

• atmosphere to avoid capillary forces due to water condensation and, in the case of the mercury drop, also to prevent oxidation. Measurements were carried out in many different areas along the surfaces, with 15–20 measurements per area. At these small scales, it is not uncommon that during the scanning using

• scales of the multi-scaled rough surface surely are playing an important role. This work is underway. Test grating. a) Lattice features given by the manufacturer. b) Scanning electron microscopy image of the array of sharp silicon peaks of the actual test grating (TGT1) used in our experiments obtained

Vapor deposition routes to conformal polymer thin films

• Priya Moni,
• Ahmed Al-Obeidi and
• Karen K. Gleason

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 723–735, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.76

• millimeter length scales, as summarized in Table 1. These films have found utility in a diverse array of applications. Several biological applications have found uses for vapor deposited polymer thin films. For instance, Baxamusa et al. used iCVD to deposit conformal poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate) hydrogels

Optimizing qPlus sensor assemblies for simultaneous scanning tunneling and noncontact atomic force microscopy operation based on finite element method analysis

• Omur E. Dagdeviren and
• Udo D. Schwarz

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 657–666, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.70

• individually. This is in particular important as any change in f0 is an indication that some change in k may have taken place as well, as f0 and k are entangled properties [26]. In contrast, the thermal noise δfthermal of the measurement, which is one of the main noise sources in FM-AFM, scales with Q−1/2

Gas sensing properties of MWCNT layers electrochemically decorated with Au and Pd nanoparticles

• Elena Dilonardo,
• Michele Penza,
• Marco Alvisi,
• Riccardo Rossi,
• Gennaro Cassano,
• Cinzia Di Franco,
• Francesco Palmisano,
• Luisa Torsi and
• Nicola Cioffi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 592–603, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.64

• reference gas was dry air (AirLiquide), used also as carrier during the exposure to dilute the target gas, maintaining a constant flow rate of 1000 sccm. Various software-controlled mass flowmeters (G-MIX, Bioage) at different full scales were used [19]. The gas sensing experiments were performed by

Modeling of the growth of GaAs–AlGaAs core–shell nanowires

• Qian Zhang,
• Peter W. Voorhees and
• Stephen H. Davis

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 506–513, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.54

• surface diffusion for typical temperatures and length scales. Moreover, the motion of the atoms along the surface due to surface diffusion is driven by the difference of the chemical potentials between neighbouring facets. The average chemical potential on the i-th facet is calculated by where ni is the

Formation and shape-control of hierarchical cobalt nanostructures using quaternary ammonium salts in aqueous media

• Ruchi Deshmukh,
• Anurag Mehra and
• Rochish Thaokar

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 494–505, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.53

• temperature. A detailed analysis of the growth regime is presented in the following to clearly explain various aspects such as twinning, size reduction of particles, lattice parameters, and time scales of growth encountered in the growth process. Growth and morphology The growth of nanoplates obtained under

The longstanding challenge of the nanocrystallization of 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX)

• Florent Pessina and
• Denis Spitzer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 452–466, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.49

• this method doubtful. Spray drying The development of spray drying [81][82] has been expanding over the years and has recently become a suitable commercial solution at both R&D and industry scales to produce dried particles from micrometers to nanometers. The pyrotechnic community quickly discerned the

• preexpansion pressure needed to guarantee a fine spraying. Besides the innovative applications of energetic nanomaterials, such as the synthesis of ultrafine nanodiamonds [116][117] and reactivity enhancement [10], the versatility of SFE allows the crystallization at a sub-micrometer or nanometer scales of a

• for the specific commercial drug products have been reported [125]. First, the choice of the gas at industrial scales is returning to CO2 due to safety and affordability criteria. For instance, gases such as nitrous oxide or ethane have low critical values, but explosive mixtures can be generated