In situ imaging of electromigration-induced nanogap formation by transmission electron microscopy

The authors imaged electromigration-induced nanogap formation in situ by transmission electron microscopy. Real-time video recordings show that edge voids form near the cathode side. The polycrystalline gold wires narrow down until a single-grain boundary intersects the constriction along which the breaking continues. During the last 50?ms of...

Ultrahigh throughput plasma processing of free standing silicon nanocrystals with lognormal size distribution

We demonstrate a method for synthesizing free standing silicon nanocrystals in an argon/silane gas mixture by using a remote expanding thermal plasma. Transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy measurements reveal that the distribution has a bimodal shape consisting of two distinct groups of small and large silicon nanocrystals with...

Investigation of morphological changes in platinum-containing nanostructures created by electron-beam-induced deposition

Focused electron-beam-induced deposition (EBID) allows the rapid fabrication of three-dimensional nanodevices and metallic wiring of nanostructures, and is a promising technique for many applications in nanoresearch. The authors present two topics on platinum-containing nanostructures created by EBID. First, they report on a TEM study of the...

Monocrystalline NbN nanofilms on a 3C-SiC/Si substrate

The authors have realized NbN (100) nanofilms on a 3C-SiC (100)/Si(100) substrate by dc reactive magnetron sputtering at 800?°C. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) is used to characterize the films, showing a monocrystalline structure and confirming epitaxial growth on the 3C-SiC layer. A film ranging in thickness from 3.4...