Electron beam assisted oxygen purification at low temperatures for electron beam induced Pt deposits: towards pure and pore-free structures
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Here we report that the gas flux direction in focused electron beam induced processes can strongly destabilize the morphology on the nanometer scale. We demonstrate how pattern parameters such as position relative to the gas nozzle, axial rotation, scanning direction, and patterning sequence result in different growth modes for identical structures. This is mainly caused by nanoscale geometric shadowing, particularly when shadowing distances are comparable to surface diffusion lengths of (CH 3 ) 3 -Pt-CpCH 3 adsorbates. Furthermore, two different adsorbate replenishment mechanisms exist and are governed by either surface diffusion or directional gas flux adsorption. The experimental study is complemented by calculations and dynamic growth simulations which successfully emulate the observed morphology instabilities and support the proposed growth model.
Directed assembly of nanomaterials is a promising route for the synthesis of advanced materials and devices. We demonstrate the directed-assembly of highly ordered two-dimensional arrays of hierarchical nanostructures with tunable size, spacing and composition. The directed assembly is achieved on lithographically patterned metal films that are subsequently pulse-laser melted; during the brief liquid lifetime, the pattened nanostructures assemble into highly ordered primary and secondary nanoparticles, with sizes below that which was originally patterned. Complementary fluid-dynamics simulations emulate the resultant patterns and show how the competition of capillary forces and liquid metal–solid substrate interaction potential drives the directed assembly. Lastly, as an example of the enhanced functionality, a full-wave electromagnetic analysis has been performed to identify the nature of the supported plasmonic resonances.
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Platinum–carbon deposits made via electron-beam-induced deposition were purified in this study via a pulsed laser-induced oxidation reaction and erosion of the amorphous carbon to form pure platinum. Purification proceeds from the top down and is likely catalytically facilitated via the evolving platinum layer. Thermal simulations suggest a temperature threshold of ~485 K, and the purification rate is a function of the PtC 5 thickness (80–360 nm) and laser pulse width (1–100 μs) in the ranges studied. The thickness dependence is attributed to the ~235 nm penetration depth of the PtC 5 composite at the laser wavelength, and the pulse-width dependence is attributed to the increased temperatures achieved at longer pulse widths. Finally, remarkably fast purification is realized at cumulative laser exposure times of less than 1 s.
Here we explore emerging applications for nanoscale materials demand precise deposit shape retention from design to deposition. This study investigates the effects that disrupt high-fidelity shapes during focused electron beam induced nanosynthesis. It is shown that process parameters, patterning strategies and deposit topography can impose lateral precursor coverage gradients during growth resulting in unwanted topographic artifacts. The study classifies the evolving surface shapes into four general types and explains the formation and transition from a fundamental point of view. Continuum model calculations and simulations expand the experimental results to provide a comprehensive insight into understand the disruption mechanism. The findings demonstrate that the well-established concept of growth regimes has to be expanded by its lateral gradients as they strongly influence final shape fidelities. Finally, the study is complemented by a compensation strategy that improves the edge fidelity on the lower nanoscale to further push this technique toward the intrinsic limitations.
We introduce a laser-assisted focused electron-beam-induced etching (LA-FEBIE) process which is a versatile, direct write nanofabrication method that allows nanoscale patterning and editing; we do this in order to enhance the etch rate of electron-beam-induced etching. The results demonstrate that the titanium electron stimulated etch rate via the XeF2 precursor can be enhanced up to a factor of 6 times with an intermittent pulsed laser assist. Moreover, the evolution of the etching process is correlated to in situ stage current measurements and scanning electron micrographs as a function of time. Finally, the increased etch rate is attributed to photothermally enhanced Ti–F reaction and TiF4 desorption and in some regimes enhanced XeF2 surface diffusion to the reaction zone.
Most studied two-dimensional (2D) materials exhibit isotropic behavior due to high lattice symmetry; however, lower-symmetry 2D materials such as phosphorene and other elemental 2D materials exhibit very interesting anisotropic properties. In this work, we report the atomic structure, electronic properties, and vibrational modes of few-layered PdSe 2 , exfoliated from bulk crystals, a pentagonal 2D layered noble transition metal dichalcogenide with a puckered morphology that is air-stable. Micro-absorption optical spectroscopy and first-principles calculations reveal a wide band gap variation in this material from ~0 (bulk) to ~1.3 eV (monolayer). The Raman active vibrational modes of PdSe 2 were identified using polarized Raman spectroscopy, and the strong interlayer interaction was revealed from the large thickness-dependent Raman peak shifts, agreeing with first-principles Raman simulations. Field-effect transistors made from the few-layer PdSe 2 display tunable ambipolar charge carrier conduction with a high electron apparent field-effect mobility of ~158 cm 2 V -1 s -1 , indicating the promise of this anisotropic, air-stable, pentagonal 2D material for 2D electronics.
We report the synthesis, characterization, and detailed comparison of a series of novel Pt-bisacetylide containing conjugated small molecules possessing an unconventional “roller-wheel” shaped structure that is distinctly different from the “dumbbell” designs in traditional Pt-bisacetylide containing conjugated polymers and small molecules. The relationships between the chemical nature and length of the “rollers” and the electronic and physical properties of the materials are carefully studied by steady-state spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, differential scanning calorimetry, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, transient absorption spectroscopy, theoretical calculation, and device application. It was revealed that if the roller are long enough, these molecules can “slip-stack” in the solid state, leading to high crystallinity and charge mobility. Organic solar cells were fabricated and showed power conversion efficiencies up to 5.9%, out-performing all existing Pt-containing materials. The device performance was also found to be sensitive to optimization conditions and blend morphologies, which are a result of the intricate interplay among materials crystallinity, phase separation, and the relative positions of the lowest singlet and triplet excited states.
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Nanoscale copper rings of different radii, thicknesses, and widths were synthesized on silicon dioxide thin films and were subsequently liquefied via a nanosecond pulse laser treatment. During the nanoscale liquid lifetimes, the rings experience competing retraction dynamics and thin film and/or Rayleigh-Plateau types of instabilities, which lead to arrays of ordered nanodroplets. Surprisingly, the results are significantly different from those of similar experiments carried out on a Si surface.(1) We use hydrodynamic simulations to elucidate how the different liquid/solid interactions control the different instability mechanisms in the present problem.
Here, we consider nanometer-sized fluid annuli (rings) deposited on a solid substrate and ask whether these rings break up into droplets due to the instability of Rayleigh-Plateau-type modified by the presence of the substrate, or collapse to a central drop due to the presence of azimuthal curvature. The analysis is carried out by a combination of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations and a continuum model based on a long-wave limit of Navier–Stokes equations. We find consistent results between the two approaches, and demonstrate characteristic dimension regimes which dictate the assembly dynamics.
A nanoscale, synthetic perturbation was all that was required to nudge a natural, self-assembly process toward significantly higher order. Metallic thin film strips were transformed into nanoparticle arrays by nanosecond, liquid-phase dewetting. Arrays formed according to an evolving Rayleigh-Plateau instability, yet nanoparticle diameter and pitch were poorly controlled. However, by patterning a nanoscale sinusoid onto the original strip edge, a precise nanoparticle diameter and pitch emerged superseding the naturally evolving Rayleigh-Plateau instability.
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Controlling the movement of nanoscale objects is a significant goal of nanotechnology. Dewetting-induced ejection of nanodroplets could provide another means of achieving that goal. Molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate the dewetting-induced ejection of nanoscale liquid copper nanostructures that were deposited on a graphitic substrate. Nanostructures in the shape of a circle, square, equilateral, and isosceles triangle dewet and form nanodroplets that are ejected from the substrate with a velocity that depends on the initial shape and temperature. The dependence of the ejected velocity on shape is ascribed to the temporal asymmetry of the mass coalescence during the droplet formation; the dependence on temperature is ascribed to changes in the density and viscosity. The results suggest that dewetting induced by nanosecond laser pulses could be used to control the velocity of ejected nanodroplets.
Fundamental proximity effects for electron beam induced deposition processes on nonflat surfaces were studied experimentally and via simulation. Two specific effects were elucidated and exploited to considerably increase the volumetric growth rate of this nanoscale direct write method: (1) increasing the scanning electron pitch to the scale of the lateral electron straggle increased the volumetric growth rate by 250% by enhancing the effective forward scattered, backscattered, and secondary electron coefficients as well as by strong recollection effects of adjacent features; and (2) strategic patterning sequences are introduced to reduce precursor depletion effects which increase volumetric growth rates by more than 90%, demonstrating the strong influence of patterning parameters on the final performance of this powerful direct write technique.
Ultrafast isomerization reactions underpin many processes in (bio)chemical systems and molecular materials. Understanding the coupled evolution of atomic and molecular structure during isomerization is paramount for control and rational design in molecular science. Here we report transient X-ray absorption studies of the photo-induced linkage isomerization of a Ru-based photochromic molecule. X-ray spectra reveal the spin and valence charge of the Ru atom and provide experimental evidence that metal-centered excited states mediate isomerization. Complementary X-ray spectra of the functional ligand S atoms probe the nuclear structural rearrangements, highlighting the formation of two metal-centered states with different metal-ligand bonding. These results address an essential open question regarding the relative roles of transient charge-transfer and metal-centered states in mediating photoisomerization. As a result, global temporal and spectral data analysis combined with time-dependent density functional theory reveals a complex mechanism for photoisomerization with atomic details of the transient molecular and electronic structure not accessible by other means.