Recently, focused electron beam induced deposition has been employed to prepare functional magnetic nanostructures with potential in nanomagnetic logic and sensing applications by using homonuclear precursor gases like Fe(CO) 5 or Co 2 (CO) 8 . Here we show that an extension towards the fabrication of bi-metallic compounds is possible by using a single-source heteronuclear precursor gas. We have grown CoFe alloy magnetic nanostructures from the HFeCo 3 (CO) 12 metal carbonyl precursor. The compositional analysis indicate that the samples contain about 80 at% of metal and 10 at% of carbon and oxygen. Four-probe magnetotransport measurements are carried out on nanowires of various sizes down to a width of 50 nm, for which the room temperature resistivity of 43 µΩcm is found. Micro-Hall magnetometry reveals that 50 nm×250 nm nanobars of the material are ferromagnetic up to the highest measured temperature of 250 K. Finally, the TEM microstructural investigation shows that the deposits consist of a bcc Co-Fe phase mixed with a FeCo 2 O 4 spinel oxide phase with nanograins of about 5 nm diameter.2

This study illustrates the different stages of Ge1–x Sn x nanowire formation with high Sn content in solution and also the molecular precursors involved in the synthesis. We can identify homometallic Ge­(II) as well as heterometallic Ge­(II) and Sn­(II) containing imido cubane derivatives being involved in the growth process. Two different scenarios are described for the initiation of the nanowire growth: a random seeding and a prenucleation step. Both scenarios can lead to constant diameter growth under continuous replacement of tin being consumed for the crystal formation from the Sn growth promoter. Once the growth medium is depleted from the Sn containing molecular species, the Sn growth seed is consumed resulting in diameter shrinkage. Most interestingly, the tin content increases with diminishing nanowire diameter from 10.7% to 28.4% at the very tip (270 to 10 nm). Similar results are obtained in Raman studies along a nanowire with shrinking diameter, while the Raman shift remains constant along nanowires of similar diameter. The nanowires are investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and μ-Raman spectroscopy.

The syntheses as well as detailed studies on the thermal, photophysical, and self-organization properties of a new series of phosphole-based ladder-type materials with exocyclic 5-alkylthienyl substituents are reported. The studies also include DFT calculations that provide support for the experimentally determined photophysics. In contrast to the related “phosphole-lipids” with fused conjugated head that exhibit low luminescence in solution but high luminescence in the solid state, the new system is highly luminescent in both solution and the solid state. The extensive structure–property study reported herein revealed that the physical properties of the new species can significantly be tuned via the size of the conjugated system of the head group, the functionalization of the phosphorus center, as well as the length of the thiophene-appended alkyl chain that impacts the intermolecular interactions via π–π stacking, ionic, and van der Waals interactions, respectively. This molecular engineering approach allows to access materials with intriguing properties that range from highly emissive oils to self-organized one-dimensional fibers.

Thermolysis of thioether functionalised metal alkoxides leads to the incorporation of sulphides in materials synthesized by CVD and hot-injection method.

This paper provides evidence of formerly unknown thioether coordination in metal alkoxides. The thioether functionalised alkanols serving as alcoholate ligands have been prepared by a generic route. The gallium and indium alkoxides provide the first evidence for sulphur coordination in the liquid and solid state in metal alkoxide derivatives. The presence of amines suppresses the coordination of thioether moieties leading to a well-known bonding mode in aminoalcoholates.