A multi-resistance wide-range calibration sample for conductive probe atomic force microscopy measurements

• François Piquemal,
• Khaled Kaja,
• Pascal Chrétien,
• José Morán-Meza,
• Frédéric Houzé,
• Christian Ulysse and
• Abdelmounaim Harouri

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 1141–1148, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.94

• , repeatability, and exactness [41][42]. The formation of a humidity-induced water meniscus at the tip–sample interface, the presence of surface contamination, and thermal drifts induce significant instabilities in C-AFM measurements [42][43]. Moreover, local overheating and anodic oxidation phenomena are

• voltage between −1 V and +1 V. This approach mitigates the difficulties related to surface contamination on the gold electrodes during scanning. Resistance values for each electrode arm were determined from the slopes of the I–V straights using a regression model. For each value, the coefficient of

• arms would help reduce surface contamination-related issues. Consequently, measuring the lowest resistance values would become accessible using low-resistance metallic probes (e.g., Pt-coated or full bulk Pt probes). However, using such probes will require limiting the current (typically 100 µA) to

Combining physical vapor deposition structuration with dealloying for the creation of a highly efficient SERS platform

• Adrien Chauvin,
• Walter Puglisi,
• Damien Thiry,
• Cristina Satriano,
• Rony Snyders and
• Carla Bittencourt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2023, 14, 83–94, doi:10.3762/bjnano.14.10

• resulting signal intensity tends to strongly vary due to surface contamination [30]. In this paper, a simple synthesis method to design bimodal porous silver substrate for SERS is reported. Magnetron co-sputtering of a silver and aluminum target was used for the deposition of the precursor alloy thin film

Influence of water contamination on the sputtering of silicon with low-energy argon ions investigated by molecular dynamics simulations

• Grégoire R. N. Defoort-Levkov,
• Alan Bahm and
• Patrick Philipp

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2022, 13, 986–1003, doi:10.3762/bjnano.13.86

• of silicon might be lowered by the presence of the surface contamination, at least if the contamination level is above a critical threshold. In order to study in our simulations the evolution of a given sample under continuous irradiation, including the effect of water contamination, we kept the

Chemical vapor deposition of germanium-rich CrGe_x nanowires

• Vladislav Dřínek,
• Stanislav Tiagulskyi,
• Roman Yatskiv,
• Jan Grym,
• Radek Fajgar,
• Věra Jandová,
• Martin Koštejn and
• Jaroslav Kupčík

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 1365–1371, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.100

• with the database PDF (00-004-0545) for cubic germanium (d111 = 0.3266 nm). The atomic elemental ratio [Cr]/[Ge] in the coating was in the range of 1:(6–7) (Supporting Information File 1, Figure S8). XP spectra showed the presence of Ge, Cr, and O. In order to reduce surface contamination and oxidized

A review of defect engineering, ion implantation, and nanofabrication using the helium ion microscope

• Frances I. Allen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 633–664, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.52

The preparation temperature influences the physicochemical nature and activity of nanoceria

• Robert A. Yokel,
• Wendel Wohlleben,
• Johannes Georg Keller,
• Matthew L. Hancock,
• Jason M. Unrine,
• D. Allan Butterfield and
• Eric A. Grulke

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2021, 12, 525–540, doi:10.3762/bjnano.12.43

• energies suggested the contamination could be an ester with a long alkyl chain. The contamination was a very thin, homogeneous layer [7]. TGA conducted in the present study showed an average weight loss of 1.3% (Figure 3) which can be attributed to a small amount of surface contamination. The comparison

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

• , residues from wet-chemical processing. The locally introduced energy can mobilize these contaminants such that they diffuse towards the beam center where they are polymerized [24]. In the worst case, this results in material build-up instead of sputtering. Already minor surface contamination can lead to

Size effects of graphene nanoplatelets on the properties of high-density polyethylene nanocomposites: morphological, thermal, electrical, and mechanical characterization

• Tuba Evgin,
• Alpaslan Turgut,
• Georges Hamaoui,
• Zdenko Spitalsky,
• Nicolas Horny,
• Matej Micusik,
• Mihai Chirtoc,
• Mehmet Sarikanat and
• Maria Omastova

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2020, 11, 167–179, doi:10.3762/bjnano.11.14

• was easily indicated by the low amount of carbonyl (C=Oar) in the case of the O 1s signal. There was also a small amount of surface contamination present in the case of G1, with 0.1 atom % of Si 2p at ca. 103.6, corresponding to siloxanes, and 0.1 atom % sodium (Na 1s at ca. 1072.1 eV). For G3, some

In situ characterization of nanoscale contaminations adsorbed in air using atomic force microscopy

• Jesús S. Lacasa,
• Lisa Almonte and
• Jaime Colchero

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 2925–2935, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.271

• of clean and well-prepared surfaces. Accordingly, a wealth of experimental techniques have been developed to control and characterize their contamination state [8]. In the present work we propose atomic force microscopy (AFM) [9][10] as a valuable tool to visualize nanoscale surface contamination and

• all measured simultaneously. We will first discuss the results obtained for the sample “uncleaned-old”. For the cantilever imaged in Figure 1, the topographic image (Figure 2Aa) shows round islands of approximately 50 nm diameter and 10–20 nm height, which we again associate to surface contamination

• quantification of surface contamination under ambient conditions is not merely a “technical issue” related only to AFM operation, but rather a topic of much broader relevance. From our work we conclude that not only contamination of the tip, but also that on the surface is quite difficult to visualize and detect

Multimodal noncontact atomic force microscopy and Kelvin probe force microscopy investigations of organolead tribromide perovskite single crystals

• Yann Almadori,
• David Moerman,
• Jaume Llacer Martinez,
• Philippe Leclère and
• Benjamin Grévin

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1695–1704, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.161

• for MAPbBr3 [1][21]). This confirms that the surface investigated corresponds to the (100) plane of the MAPbBr3 crystal. Several features appearing as white spots in the topographic images indicate moreover the likelihood of defects, which could be attributed to surface contamination upon exposure to

• (enabling discrimination between extrinsic surface contamination and intrinsic defect formation). Here, our primary goal is to check if the surface photovoltage and crystal photostriction can be simultaneously and reliably probed by nc-AFM/KPFM. The discussion will be thus focused on the analysis of the

Sulfur-, nitrogen- and platinum-doped titania thin films with high catalytic efficiency under visible-light illumination

• Boštjan Žener,
• Lev Matoh,
• Giorgio Carraro,
• Bojan Miljević and
• Romana Cerc Korošec

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1629–1640, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.155

• survey spectra of the specimen (not reported) indicate the presence of carbon, oxygen and nitrogen in all the analyzed samples. Irrespective of the synthesis conditions, the C 1s peak (not reported) is located at 284.8 eV, which can be attributed to adventitious surface contamination due to air exposure

Localized growth of carbon nanotubes via lithographic fabrication of metallic deposits

• Fan Tu,
• Martin Drost,
• Imre Szenti,
• Janos Kiss,
• Zoltan Kónya and
• Hubertus Marbach

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2592–2605, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.260

• CNTs. In addition, Si signals were detected at both position 1 and 2, probably originating from the underlying substrate. At position 3, a large Si signal was detected along with minor carbon and aluminum signals. While the carbon signal might be derived from corresponding surface contamination, the

Identifying the nature of surface chemical modification for directed self-assembly of block copolymers

• Laura Evangelio,
• Federico Gramazio,
• Matteo Lorenzoni,
• Michaela Gorgoi,
• Francisco Miguel Espinosa,
• Ricardo García,
• Francesc Pérez-Murano and
• Jordi Fraxedas

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1972–1981, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.198

• samples, respectively. Apart from surface contamination, the lower values are due to the contribution from the underlying PS–OH brush layer, which adds to the main C–C/C–H line, and to a lesser extent, to the C–OH line. The lower the values, the larger the contribution from the brush layer, so that we can

Fluorination of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes: from CF₄ plasma chemistry to surface functionalization

• Claudia Struzzi,
• Mattia Scardamaglia,
• Jean-François Colomer,
• Alberto Verdini,
• Luca Floreano,
• Rony Snyders and
• Carla Bittencourt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 1723–1733, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.173

• , XPS analysis shows an oxygen concentration in the plasma functionalized vCNT similar to the one detected on the pristine vCNT surface, thus indicating that the oxygen-containing species are not grafted on the vCNT. Therefore, surface contamination can be limited or avoided if the sample is not

• , therefore the surface contamination can be limited or even avoided if the sample is not immersed in the discharge. Furthermore, this is in agreement with the observation of the oxygen capacity in delivering fluorine atoms by rapidly reacting with fluorine-containing species in the discharge [8]. In order to

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

Functionalized TiO₂ nanoparticles by single-step hydrothermal synthesis: the role of the silane coupling agents

• Antoine R. M. Dalod,
• Lars Henriksen,
• Tor Grande and
• Mari-Ann Einarsrud

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 304–312, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.33

• well-ordered organic monolayers. In case of the aminosilane-functionalized samples, the low signal/noise ratios do not allow for an accurate measurement of the band positions. Additionally, because of possible surface contamination (from the carbon-coated grid) and/or optical aberration, the HR-TEM

Sub-monolayer film growth of a volatile lanthanide complex on metallic surfaces

• Hironari Isshiki,
• Jinjie Chen,
• Kevin Edelmann and
• Wulf Wulfhekel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2412–2416, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.248

• height of the molecules. Conclusion We showed that Tb(thd)3 complexes can be transferred onto metallic substrates by sublimation without decomposition or surface contamination. Furthermore, we showed that well-ordered monolayer films of lanthanide molecules are formed on Cu(111) and Ag(111). Due to the

Electrochemical coating of dental implants with anodic porous titania for enhanced osteointegration

• Amirreza Shayganpour,
• Alberto Rebaudi,
• Pierpaolo Cortella,
• Alberto Diaspro and
• Marco Salerno

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2183–2192, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.224

• , traces of additional chemical elements are present, such as carbon, ascribed to organic contamination during packaging, and, to a lower extent, oxygen, ascribed to native metal oxide on the surface. Contamination of rhodium also appears at very low levels (estimated ≈0.8 at %), which was the same for

Advances in NO₂ sensing with individual single-walled carbon nanotube transistors

• Kiran Chikkadi,
• Matthias Muoth,
• Cosmin Roman,
• Miroslav Haluska and
• Christofer Hierold

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 2179–2191, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.227

• by suspending the nanotube, while simultaneously keeping the SWNT surface contamination-free [28]. Initial reports on suspended nanotube devices which were fabricated through top-down lithography followed by release failed to show this behavior, as substantial hysteresis was still present in such

Topology assisted self-organization of colloidal nanoparticles: application to 2D large-scale nanomastering

• Hind Kadiri,
• Serguei Kostcheev,
• Daniel Turover,
• Rafael Salas-Montiel,
• Komla Nomenyo,
• Anisha Gokarna and
• Gilles Lerondel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2014, 5, 1203–1209, doi:10.3762/bjnano.5.132

• cleaning of the patterned substrates was conducted in acetone for 5–10 min in order to remove the surface contamination. Thereafter, we applied 60 µL drops of PS beads (concentration 1 wt %). This concentration is chosen to ensure the formation of a dense monolayer structure after the evaporation of water

Ellipsometry and XPS comparative studies of thermal and plasma enhanced atomic layer deposited Al₂O₃-films

• Jörg Haeberle,
• Karsten Henkel,
• Hassan Gargouri,
• Franziska Naumann,
• Bernd Gruska,
• Michael Arens,
• Massimo Tallarida and
• Dieter Schmeißer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 732–742, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.83

• occur with the formation of COO and H2O [1] which may also support secondary reaction pathways [18] leading for example to carbonates and carbon contamination. It has to be pointed out that the XPS measurements were performed ex-situ and the results might be strongly influenced by surface contamination

Grating-assisted coupling to nanophotonic circuits in microcrystalline diamond thin films

• Patrik Rath,
• Svetlana Khasminskaya,
• Christoph Nebel,
• Christoph Wild and
• Wolfram H.P. Pernice

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2013, 4, 300–305, doi:10.3762/bjnano.4.33

• interferometric measurement to allow for precise thickness monitoring. Because the growth rate is moderate and reproducible, the final film thickness can be controlled with high precision. After growth, the samples are cleaned in concentrated HNO3/H2SO4 to remove remaining surface contamination. Following the

Influence of the diameter of single-walled carbon nanotube bundles on the optoelectronic performance of dry-deposited thin films

• Kimmo Mustonen,
• Toma Susi,
• Antti Kaskela,
• Patrik Laiho,
• Ying Tian,
• Albert G. Nasibulin and
• Esko I. Kauppinen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 692–702, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.79

• sonication (cutting), acid cleaning (unintentional doping) or surfactant-based dispersions (residual surface contamination) [13][14]. Characteristic features have been explored previously by geometric scaling arguments and by comparing the performance of SWCNT films fabricated by different synthesis and

Ultraviolet photodetection of flexible ZnO nanowire sheets in polydimethylsiloxane polymer

• Jinzhang Liu,
• Nunzio Motta and
• Soonil Lee

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 353–359, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.41

• devices [6], nanowire bridges [7], nanobelt network films [8], vertical nanowire arrays [9], and flexible nanowire sheets [10]. These nanostructures are normally exposed to air for measurement, neglecting the possible surface contamination caused by absorption of other molecules from the ambient

Femtosecond time-resolved photodissociation dynamics of methyl halide molecules on ultrathin gold films

• Mihai E. Vaida,
• Robert Tchitnga and
• Thorsten M. Bernhardt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 618–627, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.65

• ][18][40]. Prior to deposition of the gold film, the surface was cleaned by heating the Mo(100) crystal to 2000 K by means of electron bombardment. Subsequently, the surface temperature was ramped down to 1000 K. In order to avoid the surface contamination, the Mo crystal was held at 1000 K by