Exploring the fabrication and transfer mechanism of metallic nanostructures on carbon nanomembranes via focused electron beam induced processing

• Christian Preischl,
• Linh Hoang Le,
• Elif Bilgilisoy,
• Armin Gölzhäuser and
• Hubertus Marbach

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 319–329, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.26

• reduction of the iron structures. These results demonstrate that the fabrication of hybrids of metallic nanostructures onto organic 2D materials is an intrinsically complex procedure. The interactions among the metallic deposits, the substrate for the growth of the SAM, and the associated etching/dissolving

• suitable combination of substrate and precursor is a prerequisite, that is, the substrate must be chemically altered by the electron beam and the precursor molecule must be susceptible to the altered site. Substrates that are known to fulfill the prerequisite are silicon oxide [10][12], rutile TiO2(110

• hybrid structure can be lifted off from the substrate and transferred onto bulk substrates, such as SiO2, or onto TEM grids in order to obtain a free-standing CNM with a metallic nanostructure on top. It was shown that the membrane is mechanically stable enough during the whole process and that the

The patterning toolbox FIB-o-mat: Exploiting the full potential of focused helium ions for nanofabrication

• Victor Deinhart,
• Lisa-Marie Kern,
• Jan N. Kirchhof,
• Sabrina Juergensen,
• Joris Sturm,
• Enno Krauss,
• Thorsten Feichtner,
• Sviatoslav Kovalchuk,
• Michael Schneider,
• Dieter Engel,
• Bastian Pfau,
• Bert Hecht,
• Kirill I. Bolotin,
• Stephanie Reich and
• Katja Höflich

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 304–318, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.25

• consequence is the deep implantation of light ions. He and Ne are chemically inert and may therefore diffuse out of the substrate after a while. Diffusion in solids, however, is extremely inefficient, such that the majority of the primary ions will be implanted at their final trajectory position [22]. Hence

• performance [47][48]. Furthermore, the material removal reduces the thermal coupling of the central device area to the supporting substrate. As graphene is a single-atomic layer, it exhibits the lowest possible heat capacity per unit area of the material [48]. Its broadband spectral absorbance [49], in

• increased responsiveness created by the trampoline pattern allows the system to operate as an ultra-sensitive and ultra-fast bolometer [48]. Finally, the increased quality factor and reduced thermal coupling to the substrate should allow for efficient side-band cooling experiments, which so far are hindered

Characterization, bio-uptake and toxicity of polymer-coated silver nanoparticles and their interaction with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells

• Sahar Pourhoseini,
• Reilly T. Enos,
• Angela E. Murphy,
• Bo Cai and
• Jamie R. Lead

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 282–294, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.23

• quantifies lactate as a substrate that is released from lysed cells into the medium. LDH cytotoxicity assay (Dojindo laboratories, Kyoto, Japan) was performed according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In brief, immediately after isolation of PBMCs, cells were treated in the absence (control) and presence

Gold(I) N-heterocyclic carbene precursors for focused electron beam-induced deposition

• Cristiano Glessi,
• Aya Mahgoub,
• Cornelis W. Hagen and
• Mats Tilset

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 257–269, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.21

• core Au(NHC)X moiety were introduced, that is, variations of the NHC ring (imidazole or triazole), of the alkyl N-substituents (Me, Et, or iPr), and of the ancillary ligand X (Cl, Br, I, or CF3). The seven complexes were tested as FEBID precursors in an on-substrate custom setup. The effect of the

• nanostructures [1][2][3][4]. This mask-less nanofabrication technique uses gaseous molecules as precursors. The gas molecules are introduced in the specimen chamber of a scanning electron microscope (SEM), adsorb onto a substrate, and dissociate upon electron irradiation, leaving a solid deposit on the substrate

• temperatures of these precursors exceeded the maximum operating temperature of standard gas injection systems (GIS) in the SEM, an unconventional method was chosen to introduce the precursors from a custom-built reservoir mounted directly on top of a heated substrate on which also the deposits were directly

The nanomorphology of cell surfaces of adhered osteoblasts

• Christian Voelkner,
• Mirco Wendt,
• Regina Lange,
• Max Ulbrich,
• Martina Gruening,
• Susanne Staehlke,
• Barbara Nebe,
• Ingo Barke and
• Sylvia Speller

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 242–256, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.20

• former unsuccessful spreading or deliberate lamellipodia loosening, for instance, for the purpose of resumption of migration [15]. Having a look at the substrate-specific data, cells with extremely large adhesion interface areas (more than 2600 µm2) are only found on plasma-polymerized allylamine (PPAAm

• edges (above 1 µm) the step edge slope is greater than 89° and there is hardly any curvature detectable on the cell before its height falls to the substrate level. This could mean that the cell has a pronouncedly undermined configuration, compatible with the gap distance rising at the rim of cells (see

• corresponds to less than 1/(10 nm) [49][50]. Sometimes we find rugged traces with only 60 nm height. We suspect that those may originate from protein secretions from the extracellular matrix left behind, material that was formerly present within the gap between cell and substrate. Either this protein becomes

Extended iron phthalocyanine islands self-assembled on a Ge(001):H surface

• Rafal Zuzak,
• Marek Szymonski and
• Szymon Godlewski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 232–241, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.19

• ; iron phthalocyanine (FePc); scanning tunneling microscopy; self-assembly; Introduction The development of molecular circuitry requires the preparation of nanostructures isolated from the influence of the underlying substrate. This is of crucial importance for atomic and single-molecule prototypes, but

• van der Waals interactions [7], but the lack of a gap results in broadening and shifting of the molecular resonances. In recent years, it has been proposed to add a buffer layer between the metallic substrate and the molecules of interest [8][9]. This approach allows for the decoupling of the

• molecules or molecular nanoarchitectures from the metallic substrate and, thus, helps to retain the originally designed properties. Different insulating films have already been applied, ranging from ionic salts such as NaCl [8][9], KCl [10][11], or KBr [12], through oxide [13] or nitride [14] layers to

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

• samples. These membranes are made from aromatic molecules, typically from self-assembled monolayers. Upon electron irradiation, cross-linking of the molecules is induced. A mechanically stable membrane is formed, which can be transferred onto any other substrate, such as TEM grids [22][23]. Since CNMs

• , thin and thick CNMs were transferred onto a 300 nm Au film on a mica substrate for XPS analysis. The thickness was calculated from the attenuation of the Au 4f7/2 photoelectrons by the membrane on top. Details about the calculation can be found in the Supporting Information of the manuscript from

Determination of elastic moduli of elastic–plastic microspherical materials using nanoindentation simulation without mechanical polishing

• Hongzhou Li and
• Jialian Chen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 213–221, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.17

• here. Yan established a set of non-dimensional relations for conical indentation on a homogeneous, isotropic semi-infinite flat substrate, including the quantity E/σy [15]. σy is the initial yield stress of a linear elastic, perfectly plastic material. σy/E is the initial yield strain. Phadikar showed

TiO_x/Pt₃Ti(111) surface-directed formation of electronically responsive supramolecular assemblies of tungsten oxide clusters

• Marco Moors,
• Yun An,
• Agnieszka Kuc and
• Kirill Yu. Monakhov

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 203–212, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.16

• ]. One possibility to achieve this is to create substrate surfaces, whose characteristics would give rise to the nanostructured metal-oxide self-assembly formation. Herein, we demonstrate the potential of this approach using thermal evaporation of WO3 powder under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) on ultrathin

• surfaces by using high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), in particular on TiO2(110) [15][16], CuO(110) [17], and Pt(111) [18]. Recently, the surface behavior of W3O9 was assessed on a complex CuWO3 phase grown on Cu(110). The CuWO3/Cu(110) substrate can be viewed as a two-dimensional (2D

• W3O9. To stabilize and utilize different charge states of the cluster outside the gas phase, we have prepared a substrate material, which, on the one hand, offers a sufficient template effect for the self-organization of the nanoclusters and, on the other hand, exhibits a rather low electronic surface

Imaging of SARS-CoV-2 infected Vero E6 cells by helium ion microscopy

• Natalie Frese,
• Patrick Schmerer,
• Martin Wortmann,
• Matthias Schürmann,
• Matthias König,
• Michael Westphal,
• Friedemann Weber,
• Holger Sudhoff and
• Armin Gölzhäuser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 172–179, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.13

• ]. The edges appear brightest where the cells bend upwards from the substrate. The edge resolution in two highly magnified images, shown in Figure S2 of Supporting Information File 1, has been determined by plotting the corresponding gray-scale values over the edges of two holes, resulting in values of

• topography or material contrast. The deposited carbon film is presumably thinner than typical conductive metal or carbon coatings for SEM imaging, and it does not show any surface masking and clustering as seen on the gold substrate in the upper left of Figure 2b2. The energy of the incident hydrocarbons is

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

• , high-throughput and low-cost printing method [101]. A layer of ink is scraped across the screen surface and, then, extruded through the open pores of a patterned mesh into the substrate. The printing resolution and the pattern thickness depend on the density of the mesh and on the properties of the ink

• stencils by thermal/e-beam evaporation, sputter deposition, or spray deposition. When the stencils are peeled off they can readily leave the metallic patterns on the paper substrate [102] (Figure 5a). In comparison to the conventional printing techniques, vacuum evaporation and vacuum deposition techniques

• sputter deposition (50–300 µm) [39]. In contrast, the spray coating/deposition with stencil is the most inexpensive process and can be applied at room temperature without any specialized equipment. Figure 5b represents an acoustic energy harvester on a paper substrate with multi-hole electrodes obtained

Mapping the local dielectric constant of a biological nanostructured system

• Wescley Walison Valeriano,
• Rodrigo Ribeiro Andrade,
• Juan Pablo Vasco,
• Angelo Malachias,
• Bernardo Ruegger Almeida Neves,
• Paulo Sergio Soares Guimarães and
• Wagner Nunes Rodrigues

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 139–150, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.11

• double-pass mode, which means that the probe executes two scans. The first scan measures the sample topography in tapping mode and the second scan mimics the profile at a defined lift height Zlift applying a voltage VDC between the tip and the conductive substrate [21]. The tip is mechanically forced to

• /dz is the tip–sample force gradient and K is the spring constant of the cantilever. The tip–sample-substrate system constitutes a capacitor with the sample (wing) as part of the relative permittivity region, so the force between tip and substrate can be modeled as where C is the system capacitance

• and R = (42.6 ± 0.2) nm; and for the yellow/green region the parameters are f0 = 67.972 kHz, K = 2.18 N/m and R = (35.9 ± 0.2) nm. Similar to the case of Al2O3 (see Experimental section), the substrate region was set to εr = 1 since in this region there is only air between the probe and the gold

A review on the green and sustainable synthesis of silver nanoparticles and one-dimensional silver nanostructures

• Sina Kaabipour and
• Shohreh Hemmati

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 102–136, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.9

• deposition process. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and atomic layer deposition (ALD) are among other chemical methods for nanoparticle synthesis. CVD is a method that allows production of nanoparticles on a substrate [241]. The process consists of three steps. First, the addition of a volatile precursor in

• the gas phase to the reactor chamber. Second, adsorption of the vapor on the substrate surface and establishment of medium compounds followed by formation of a layer. Third, nucleation and growth of the layer through heating [241]. The important factors that control the process and size of synthesized

• AgNPs include the precursor introduction method, reactor pressure, gas flow properties, deposition rate, deposition duration, and substrate surface temperature [157][241]. The type of precursor appears to be the most significant factor in the process [241]. Silver nitrate is the most widely used

Fusion of purple membranes triggered by immobilization on carbon nanomembranes

• René Riedel,
• Natalie Frese,
• Fang Yang,
• Martin Wortmann,
• Raphael Dalpke,
• Daniel Rhinow,
• Norbert Hampp and
• Armin Gölzhäuser

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 93–101, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.8

• (NTA) terminal groups for the interaction with the His-tagged PMs forming a quasi-monolayer of His-tagged PM on top of the CNM-NTA. The formation of the Ni-NTA/His-tag complex leads to the unidirectional orientation of PM on the CNM substrate. Electrophoretic sedimentation was employed to optimize the

• study protein behavior and also do not provide the means to construct an oriented PM monolayer for potential technical applications [33][34]. In this work, we report the successful assembly of a unidirectionally oriented PM quasi-monolayer on an ultrathin carbon nanomembrane (CNM) substrate. CNMs are

• . Cleaning of the Au surfaces was achieved with an UV/ozone-cleaner (FHR Anlagenbau GmbH, UVOH 150 LAB) and subsequent immersing in absolute ethanol (AnalaR NORMAPUR, VWR Chemicals). The SAMs were prepared by immersion of the cleaned Au substrate into a solution (approx. 10 mM) of 4′-nitro-1,1′-biphenyl-4

Numerical analysis of vibration modes of a qPlus sensor with a long tip

• Kebei Chen,
• Zhenghui Liu,
• Yuchen Xie,
• Chunyu Zhang,
• Gengzhao Xu,
• Wentao Song and
• Ke Xu

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 82–92, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.7

• which one prong is fixed onto a substrate and the other prong with an attached tip serves as a self-sensing cantilever [2]. In 1996, F. J. Giessibl et al. first used the qPlus sensor to measure the morphology of a grating and a CD at room temperature [3]. Since then, this technique has been used

The role of gold atom concentration in the formation of Cu–Au nanoparticles from the gas phase

• Yuri Ya. Gafner,
• Svetlana L. Gafner,
• Darya A. Ryzkova and
• Andrey V. Nomoev

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 72–81, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.6

• –Au clusters are formed with chemical compositions corresponding to the composition of the evaporated material [14]. In the case of cluster deposition onto amorphous carbon, various cluster morphologies were observed, such as cuboctahedral and decahedral. For clusters supported on a MgO substrate

• simulation and the data on the size distribution of Cu3Au clusters obtained by laser deposition [3]. An analysis of the shape and distribution of the Cu3Au clusters on the substrate indicates that the agglomeration processes were suppressed in this case [3]. The reason for that may be the wide spatial

• distribution of the evaporated primary fragments of the cluster due to the high ambient temperature. This interferes with the combination of the resulting clusters as a result of the high kinetic energy of the atoms, and, possibly, also of the short time of approach to the substrate. As a result, in the case

Bulk chemical composition contrast from attractive forces in AFM force spectroscopy

• Dorothee Silbernagl,
• Media Ghasem Zadeh Khorasani,
• Natalia Cano Murillo,
• Anna Maria Elert and
• Heinz Sturm

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 58–71, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.5

• before acting as a substrate for the boehmite layer. The right-side epoxy, however, was cured in the presence of boehmite. This led to an interphase region in the right-side epoxy, which differs significantly in its properties and structure when compared to the neat bulk epoxy. This is discussed in

Atomic layer deposited films of Al₂O₃ on fluorine-doped tin oxide electrodes: stability and barrier properties

• Hana Krýsová,
• Michael Neumann-Spallart,
• Hana Tarábková,
• Pavel Janda,
• Ladislav Kavan and
• Josef Krýsa

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 24–34, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.2

• better the blocking. This approach has been used previously [18][19][20] for testing semiconducting nonporous blocking layers of oxides (TiO2 or SnO2) deposited onto FTO. In this way, direct electron transfer between the redox couple in the electrolyte solution and the conducting substrate (i.e., FTO

• that of pure FTO is higher than three. This means that there are B-type defects in the barrier film. These defects cause not only the delamination of the Al2O3 film from the FTO substrate, but also a slowdown of the charge-transfer kinetics (accompanied by a strong increase in ΔEpp). The Table 1 shows

• and 17 nm, deposited onto FTO substrates were immersed in a 1 M NaOH solution, for 5 min at room temperature. The dissolution of the Al2O3 films was fast and only the thickest (17 nm) Al2O3 film was not completely dissolved (the FTO substrate was still covered) (Figure 3). The electrochemical response

Bio-imaging with the helium-ion microscope: A review

• Matthias Schmidt,
• James M. Byrne and
• Ilari J. Maasilta

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1–23, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.1

• substrate. Different stages of the phage life cycle were imaged by looking at different regions of the viral plaques caused by the initial T4 phage infection seeded at the centre of the plaque. Figure 8 shows some examples of the detail obtained in this study. In particular, the changes in the appearance of

Towards 3D self-assembled rolled multiwall carbon nanotube structures by spontaneous peel off

• Jonathan Quinson

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1865–1872, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.168

• first observed by the naked eye. Based on a morphological characterization from a previous work [16], four distinct sections are identified along the MWCNT forest. From top to bottom (bottom is marked by the silicon substrate at the bottom of the image), one can see a “wavy”, a “straight”, another “wavy

• , enables the collection of several milligrams of a black powder. SEM micrographs of the collected powder are shown in Figure 3. The powder observed is not mechanically detached from any substrate where the MWCNT growth is expected to occur. Conversely, this material is likely to be MWCNTs that peeled off

• from the carpet and detached from MWCNT underlayers, with the latest layer still connected to the substrate (Figure 1a). Discussion To clarify the formation mechanism of the unusual structures shown in Figure 3, control experiments were conducted in which only C1/N2 or C2/N1 structures were formed. SEM

Piezotronic effect in AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterojunction nanowires used as a flexible strain sensor

• Jianqi Dong,
• Liang Chen,
• Yuqing Yang and
• Xingfu Wang

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1847–1853, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.166

• synthesize AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterojunction NWs with controllable size. A single NW is transferred to a flexible poly(ethylene terephthalate) substrate and fixed by indium tin oxide electrodes to form an ohmic contact for the strain sensor. An external mechanical stress is introduced to study the performance of

• (EC) wet etching, to prepare AlGaN/AlN/GaN heterojunction NWs with a controllable size. After the lift-off, a single NW is transferred to a flexible poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) substrate and is fixed by indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes to form an ohmic contact for the strain sensor. Under

• structures used in this study were synthesized by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), as shown in Figure 1a. First, 1 μm of an unintentionally doped GaN layer was deposited onto a sapphire substrate. Then, 500 nm of n-type GaN, as a current-spreading layer, was deposited to increase the lateral

Nanomechanics of few-layer materials: do individual layers slide upon folding?

• Ronaldo J. C. Batista,
• Rafael F. Dias,
• Ana P. M. Barboza,
• Alan B. de Oliveira,
• Taise M. Manhabosco,
• Thiago R. Gomes-Silva,
• Matheus J. S. Matos,
• Andreij C. Gadelha,
• Cassiano Rabelo,
• Luiz G. L. Cançado,
• Ado Jorio,
• Hélio Chacham and
• Bernardo R. A. Neves

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1801–1808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.162

• obtained interlayer adhesion energy for graphene (0.25 N/m) and talc (0.62 N/m) is in good agreement with recent experimental results and theoretical predictions. The obtained value for the adhesion energy of graphene on a silicon substrate is also in agreement with previous results. Keywords: analytical

• , and self-pealing from a substrate [4]. Negative dynamic compressibility occurs in several 2D materials due to the dynamical wrinkling of layers [8]. Also, 2D materials folded in 3D origami-like structures [7][9][10] can, in principle, exhibit a tunable negative thermal expansion coefficient [11]. In

• all those cases, the interlayer adhesion energy (α), the substrate adhesion energy (αs), and the bending stiffness (κ) govern folding, sliding, and wrinkling of 2D materials, which are ultimately responsible for those unusual kinds of behavior. α is intimately related to tribological properties of

Electron beam-induced deposition of platinum from Pt(CO)₂Cl₂ and Pt(CO)₂Br₂

• Aya Mahgoub,
• Hang Lu,
• Rachel M. Thorman,
• Konstantin Preradovic,
• Titel Jurca,
• Lisa McElwee-White,
• Howard Fairbrother and
• Cornelis W. Hagen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1789–1800, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.161

• precursor gas into the vacuum chamber of an electron microscope [2][3]. At specific locations on the substrate exposed to the electron beam, the transiently adsorbed precursor molecules decompose, forming a deposit while the volatile byproducts of the reaction desorb into the vacuum [4][5][6][7]. One of the

• is more volatile than the chloride (vide infra), facilitating delivery to the substrate, although a study of the electron-induced reactivity of (η3-C3H5)Ru(CO)3Br and (η3-C3H5)Ru(CO)3Cl under UHV conditions demonstrated that the response of the halides to electron flux was similar for both compounds

• exceeding the maximum pressure allowed in the SEM chamber (approximately 10−4 mbar). A silicon substrate was used for all deposition experiments, patterned such that circular areas of pristine silicon are surrounded by black silicon (obtained by reactive ion etching). The black silicon area aids in focusing

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

• films. For highly mutually soluble metals, such as vanadium and iron (solubility of about 30% at room temperature), the quantum-mechanical transparency parameter is many times higher, TF ≈ 1.6. However, if the structural quality of the films requires deposition on a substrate heated to 100–300 °C, there

• cobalt with an increase in the substrate temperature will decrease the transparency parameter TF and worsen the functional parameters of the layered S/F heterostructure. The implementation of optimal technological processes is required to minimize these defects and imperfections of layered nanosystems

• technological parameters (substrate temperature, concentration and spatial distribution of the deposited atoms over the interface) on the structure and morphology of the layered nanosystem. Mathematical Model and Theoretical Foundations The formation processes and the structure of multilayer systems for

Mapping of integrated PIN diodes with a 3D architecture by scanning microwave impedance microscopy and dynamic spectroscopy

• Rosine Coq Germanicus,
• Peter De Wolf,
• Florent Lallemand,
• Catherine Bunel,
• Serge Bardy,
• Hugues Murray and
• Ulrike Lüders

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 1764–1775, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.159

• . The starting material is a p-type Si substrate with relatively high ohmic resistance (1 kΩ·cm), oriented along the ⟨100⟩ direction. The first step in the process consists of forming an n-type doped buried layer (BN) on the top of the wafer (through implantation and diffusion of the doping species). A

• , an electrical back contact is created between the microscope chuck and the sample. Results and Discussion The vertical PIN structure Figure 2 shows the surface topography of the cross section of the PIN diode. The different materials used (silicon substrate, epitaxial layers, oxides, and alloy metals

• the n-type character of the implanted and diffused dopants around the deep trench structure into the lightly doped silicon substrate. Furthermore, with the amplitude of the derivative of the capacitance (Figure 6b), information about the filling of the trench (dielectric and doped polysilicon), and