TY - JOUR A1 - Gerrits, Ruben A1 - Stepec, Biwen An A1 - Bäßler, Ralph A1 - Becker, Roland A1 - Dimper, Matthias A1 - Feldmann, Ines A1 - Goff, Kira L. A1 - Günster, Jens A1 - Hofmann, Andrea A1 - Hesse, René A1 - Kirstein, Sarah A1 - Klein, Ulrich A1 - Mauch, Tatjana A1 - Neumann-Schaal, Meina A1 - Özcan Sandikcioglu, Özlem A1 - Taylor, Nicole M. A1 - Schumacher, Julia A1 - Shen, Yin A1 - Strehlau, Heike A1 - Weise, Matthias A1 - Wolf, Jacqueline A1 - Yurkov, Andrey A1 - Gieg, Lisa M. A1 - Gorbushina, Anna T1 - A 30-year-old diesel tank: Fungal-dominated biofilms cause local corrosion of galvanised steel N2 - The increased use of biodiesel is expected to lead to more microbial corrosion, fouling and fuel degradation issues. In this context, we have analysed the metal, fuel and microbiology of a fouled diesel tank which had been in service for over 30 years. The fuel itself, a B7 biodiesel blend, was not degraded, and—although no free water phase was visible—contained a water content of ~60 ppm. The microbial community was dominated by the fungus Amorphotheca resinae, which formed thick, patchy biofilms on the tank bottom and walls. The tank sheets, composed of galvanised carbon steel, were locally corroded underneath the biofilms, up to a depth of a third of the sheet thickness. On the biofilm-free surfaces, Zn coatings could still be observed. Taken together, A. resinae was shown to thrive in these water-poor conditions, likely enhancing corrosion through the removal of the protective Zn coatings. KW - Fungal biofilms KW - Biodiesel degradation mechanisms PY - 2026 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-655014 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-025-00731-2 SN - 2397-2106 VL - 10 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 14 PB - Springer Science and Business Media LLC AN - OPUS4-65501 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Gaal, Mate A1 - Ahmadzadeh, Majid A1 - Weise, Matthias T1 - Focussed sound field of thermoacoustic transmitters N2 - The thermoacoustic effect offers a method for selectively exciting broadband and focused ultrasonic waves, which can be utilized in air-coupled ultrasonic testing of lightweight components that might otherwise sustain damage from liquid couplants. Thermoacoustic transmitters are composed of an electrically conductive layer deposited on an insulating substrate. When electrical pulses are applied, the conductive layer heats, briefly warming the adjacent air and inducing thermal expansion, which generates an acoustic wave. In testing applications, the thermoacoustic transmitter is positioned at the focal distance to the structure under examination, where the resolution of the resulting ultrasonic image is influenced by the focus diameter. To optimize imaging resolution, understanding the focusing characteristics of thermoacoustic transmitters is essential. In this study, thermoacoustic transmitters with an indium tin oxide (ITO) layer on a quartz glass substrate were developed. Geometrical parameters, including substrate curvature and conductive layer thickness, along with electrical excitation parameters, were systematically varied to investigate their impact on the sound field up to approximately 1 MHz. The results indicate that, among the parameters studied, substrate curvature exerts the most significant influence on the sound field. T2 - DAS-DAGA Tagung CY - Kopenhagen, Danmark DA - 17.03.2025 KW - Air-coupled ultrasound KW - Thermoacoustic transmitter KW - Focussed transducer PY - 2025 SP - 1 EP - 4 AN - OPUS4-63092 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hülagü, Deniz A1 - Ermilova, Elena A1 - Weise, Matthias A1 - de Préville, Sophie A1 - Hoffmann, Johannes A1 - Morán-Meza, José A1 - Piquemal, Francois A1 - Hertwig, Andreas T1 - Characterization of electrical properties in microstructured ITO layers using spectroscopic ellipsometry N2 - Thin indium tin oxide (ITO) layers are essential in optoelectronics due to their good electrical conductivity, optical transparency in the visible and near infrared regions, substrate adherence and chemical stability. They are widely used in photovoltaic cells, displays, and organic LEDs, and as low emissivity coatings in smart windows and energy-efficient buildings. For nanophotonic devices, understanding the interplay of ITO’s optical and electrical properties is crucial. Electrical resistivity can be tuned by modifying deposition conditions and layer thickness. However, measuring these properties, especially on microstructured surfaces, remains challenging due to the issues like homogeneity and instability during etching. Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE), a non-destructive and phase-sensitive optical technique, offers precise measurement of thin film thickness and dielectric properties. In this study, we investigated the layer thickness, optical constants, and sheet resistance of unstructured and microstructured ITO thin layers using SE. Unstructured layers were deposited via DC-magnetron sputtering on silicon (Si) substrates in argon (Ar) atmospheres with varying oxygen (O2) flows. This multi-technique approach enhances the understanding of ITO layer structuring and provides robust methodologies for correlating optical and electrical properties, advancing metrology for nanotechnology applications and material science. It also opens the pathway to new reference samples and calibration methods for electrical properties involving device-like structured samples. T2 - ICSE10 - 10th International Conference on Spectroscopic Ellipsometry CY - Boulder, CO, USA DA - 08.06.2025 KW - Ellipsometry KW - Indium tin oxide (ITO) KW - Scanning microwave microscopy (SMM) KW - Sheet resistance calibration standards KW - ITO wet etching PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-63631 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hülagü, Deniz A1 - Ermilova, Elena A1 - Weise, Matthias A1 - de Préville, Sophie A1 - Hoffmann, Johannes A1 - Morán‐Meza, José A1 - Piquemal, François A1 - Hertwig, Andreas T1 - Multimethod Electrical Characterization of Thin Indium Tin Oxide Films: Structuring and Calibration Sample Development for Scanning Probe Microscopy N2 - Indium tin oxide (ITO), a transparent conductive oxide, is widely used in optoelectronic applications due to its electrical conductivity, optical transparency, and chemical stability. This study employs spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) to analyze ITO layers, enabling nondestructive determination of film thickness, dielectric functions, and bulk conductivity. Electrical properties derived from SE are compared with those obtained using the four‐point probe method (4PM) to improve metrological tools for nanotechnology applications and optimize deposition process monitoring for better control of film properties. This work also investigates the chemical stability of ITO layers under etching conditions and explores the development of new sheet resistance standards for scanning microwave microscopy (SMM). The results show that ITO resistivity, calculated from fitted SE data, increases with oxygen flow rate up to 5 cm3(STP) min−1. Good agreement is observed between sheet resistance values obtained by SE and 4PM up to 3 cm3(STP) min−1. Additionally, the sheet resistance values of a distinct set of microstructured ITO samples with different ITO layer thicknesses are determined by SMM, which are highly consistent with those obtained by the 4PM. KW - Ellipsometry KW - Indium tin oxide (ITO) KW - Scanning microwave microscopy (SMM) KW - Sheet resistance calibration standards KW - ITO wet etching PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-626242 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/pssa.202400871 SN - 1862-6300 VL - 222 IS - 14 SP - 1 EP - 18 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken, New Jersey, USA AN - OPUS4-62624 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Gaal, Mate A1 - Ahmadzadeh, Majid A1 - Weise, Matthias T1 - Air-coupled ultrasonic transmission using thermoacoustic transmitters and optical microphones N2 - Background, Motivation and Objective Air-coupled ultrasonic transducers are usually applied for testing of some lightweight components. To increase the bandwidth or air-coupled testing systems and thus increase their application range, thermoacoustic transducers can be paired with optical microphones in a transmission mode. Thermoacoustic transmitters are based on the thermal excitation of sound waves, while optical microphones are based on laser interferometry and Fabri-Pérot etalon. We studied the spectrum and the efficiency of the transmission of an air gap using a thermoacoustic transmitter and an optical microphone. Statement of Contribution/Methods Thermoacoustic transmitters with an electrically conductive layer of indium tin oxide (ITO) on a curved quartz glass substrate were developed. Their sound field was measured using a commercially available optical microphone Eta450 Ultra based on Fabri-Perot etalon. The curvature and the conductive layer thickness of the thermoacoustic transmitter were systematically varied to investigate their impact on the sound field and the spectrum of the measured signal for frequencies up to 1 MHz. The transmitters were excited using rectangular burst signals with a varied width. We examined the influence of all parameters on the focusing, spectrum, and sensitivity. The directivity of the microphone was evaluated as well. Results/Discussion The focusing of the sound fields of all transmitters most strongly depends on the curvature radius of the substrate. The spectrum recorded in the focus of each transducer has several maxima and minima, as shown in the left-hand diagram, which are mostly a consequence of the irregularities of the microphone spectrum. These irregularities are visible also in the directivity diagram on the right, which was recorded by rotating the microphone. The 20 dB bandwidth of the measurement system covers the range up to about 1 MHz, depending strongly on the width of the excitation pulse (left-hand diagram). This highlights a key advantage of thermoacoustic transmitters: their spectral characteristics can be controlled through the excitation conditions, offering a potentially broader range of applications compared to conventional air-coupled transmitters. One promising example is localized ultrasound spectroscopy based on the detection of local resonances. T2 - IEEE International Ultrasonic Symposium CY - Utrecht, The Netherlands DA - 15.09.2025 KW - Air-coupled ultrasound KW - Thermoacoustic transmitter KW - Sound field PY - 2025 SP - 1 EP - 4 AN - OPUS4-64541 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Böttcher, Katrin A1 - Kraft, Sebastian A1 - Weise, Matthias A1 - Bonse, Jörn A1 - Krüger, Jörg T1 - X-ray emission during ultrafast laser grooving N2 - Ultrashort pulse lasers offer the possibility to process materials with minimal heat input and high precision. However, the X-ray emission at high laser peak intensities represents an undesirable side effect. A laser system (1030 nm wavelength, 40 W maximum average laser power, 925 fs pulse duration, 100 μJ maximum pulse energy, 400 kHz pulse repetition frequency) was used to analyze the X-ray skin dose rates for applied peak intensities between 9.2 × 10^12 W/cm^2 and 1.3 × 10^14 W/cm^2 for mild steel, stainless steel and tungsten during groove processing. The lowest laser peak intensity at which X-ray emission could be measured was 9.2 × 10^12 W/cm^2 for processing of stainless steel. The X-ray emission showed a characteristic evolution in dependence on the number of overscans at the same line positions. For low peak intensities, a measurable X-ray emission only begins after a few passes. The number of scans to reach the maximum dose rate increases with lower laser peak intensity. Analysis of the evolving surface topography by white light interference microscopy in connection with ray-tracing simulations led to the interpretation that the increase in X-ray emission is due to the local intensity redistribution by multiple reflection within the laser-generated grooves which is promoted by a particular choice of the linear laser polarization. KW - Ultrashort pulsed laser KW - Laser-induced X-rays KW - X-ray hazard KW - X-ray emission PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-639483 DO - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-025-08728-z SN - 1432-0630 VL - 131 IS - 8 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Springer CY - Berlin AN - OPUS4-63948 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - John, Elisabeth A1 - Weise, Matthias A1 - Radnik, Jörg A1 - Stockmann, Jörg Manfred A1 - Lange, Thorid A1 - Sahre, Mario A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan T1 - Towards a New Reference Material—Analytical Challenges in Examining High-Entropy Alloy Thin Films N2 - A new high-entropy alloy (HEA) consisting of titanium, chromium, manganese, iron, and nickel was deposited as a thin-film on silicon substrates using magnetron sputtering from a novel segmented target composed of metal stripes. This material was explored with the goal to create a new reference material for surface analysis and evaluation of complex composite materials. The film's morphology was initially characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), followed by crystallographic analysis using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED). The two-dimensional compositional homogeneity was assessed using a combination of scanning and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The in-depth chemical composition was further analysed using ToF-SIMS and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). Our findings demonstrate that it is possible to produce thin HEA films with a homogeneous in-depth composition from a segmented target. Notably, despite the fixed composition of the target, we were able to vary the HEA's composition by exploiting inhomogeneities within the magnetrons sputter plasma. Additionally, we successfully created HEA films with significant compositional gradients. T2 - ECASIA CY - Gothenburg, Sweden DA - 10.06.2024 KW - Reference material KW - High-entropy alloy KW - Thin-films PY - 2025 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-625777 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/sia.7387 SN - 1096-9918 SP - 1 EP - 8 PB - Wiley AN - OPUS4-62577 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Minenkov, Alexey A1 - Hollweger, Sophia A1 - Duchoslav, Jiri A1 - Erdene-Ochir, Otgonbayar A1 - Weise, Matthias A1 - Ermilova, Elena A1 - Hertwig, Andreas A1 - Schiek, Manuela T1 - Monitoring the Electrochemical Failure of Indium Tin Oxide Electrodes via Operando Ellipsometry Complemented by Electron Microscopy and Spectroscopy N2 - Transparent conductive oxides such as indium tin oxide (ITO) are standards for thin film electrodes, providing a synergy of high optical transparency and electrical conductivity. In an electrolytic environment, the determination of an inert electrochemical potential window is crucial to maintain a stable material performance during device operation. We introduce operando ellipsometry, combining cyclic voltammetry (CV) with spectroscopic ellipsometry, as a versatile tool to monitor the evolution of both complete optical (i.e., complex refractive index) and electrical properties under wet electrochemical operational conditions. In particular, we trace the degradation of ITO electrodes caused by electrochemical reduction in a pH-neutral, water-based electrolyte environment during electrochemical cycling. With the onset of hydrogen evolution at negative bias voltages, indium and tin are irreversibly reduced to the metallic state, causing an advancing darkening, i.e., a gradual loss of transparency, with every CV cycle, while the conductivity is mostly conserved over multiple CV cycles. Post-operando analysis reveals the reductive (loss of oxygen) formation of metallic nanodroplets on the surface. The reductive disruption of the ITO electrode happens at the solid–liquid interface and proceeds gradually from the surface to the bottom of the layer, which is evidenced by cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy imaging and complemented by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy mapping. As long as a continuous part of the ITO layer remains at the bottom, the conductivity is largely retained, allowing repeated CV cycling. We consider operando ellipsometry a sensitive and nondestructive tool to monitor early stage material and property changes, either by tracing failure points, controlling intentional processes, or for sensing purposes, making it suitable for various research fields involving solid–liquid interfaces and electrochemical activity. KW - General Materials Science PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-597625 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.3c17923 SN - 1944-8252 VL - 16 IS - 7 SP - 9517 EP - 9531 PB - American Chemical Society (ACS) AN - OPUS4-59762 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Grundmann, Jana A1 - Bodermann, Bernd A1 - Ermilova, Elena A1 - Weise, Matthias A1 - Hertwig, Andreas A1 - Klapetek, Petr A1 - Rafighdoost, Jila A1 - Pereira, Silvania F. T1 - Optical and tactile measurements on SiC sample defects N2 - Abstract. In power electronics, compound semiconductors with large bandgaps, like silicon carbide (SiC), are increasingly being used as material instead of silicon. They have a lot of advantages over silicon but are also intolerant of nanoscale material defects, so that a defect inspection with high accuracy is needed. The different defect types on SiC samples are measured with various measurement methods, including optical and tactile methods. The defect types investigated include carrots, particles, polytype inclusions and threading dislocations, and they are analysed with imaging ellipsometry, coherent Fourier scatterometry (CFS), white light interference microscopy (WLIM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). These different measurement methods are used to investigate which method is most sensitive for which type of defect to be able to use the measurement methods more effectively. It is important to be able to identify the defects to classify them as critical or non-critical for the functionality of the end product. Once these investigations have been completed, the measurement systems can be optimally distributed to the relevant defects in further work to realize a hybrid analysis of the defects. In addition to the identification and classification of defects, such a future hybrid analysis could also include characterizations, e.g. further evaluation of ellipsometric data by using numerical simulations. KW - Compound semiconductors KW - Hybrid metrology KW - Material defects KW - Spectroscopic ellipsometry KW - Scanning probe microscopy KW - White-light interference microscopy PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-601220 DO - https://doi.org/10.5194/jsss-13-109-2024 SN - 2194-878X VL - 13 IS - 1 SP - 109 EP - 121 PB - Copernicus Publ. CY - Göttingen AN - OPUS4-60122 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Schiek, Manuela A1 - Minenkov, Alexey A1 - Hollweger, Sophia A1 - Duchoslav, Jiri A1 - Erdene-Ochir, Otgonbayar A1 - Weise, Matthias A1 - Ermilova, Elena A1 - Hertwig, Andreas T1 - Optical constants of In2O3-SnO2 (Indium tin oxide, ITO) N2 - Optical constants of In2O3-SnO2 (Indium tin oxide, ITO) Minenkov et al. 2024: on glass; n,k 0.191–1.69 µm Optical constants of In2O3-SnO2 (Indium tin oxide, ITO) Minenkov et al. 2024: on Si wafer, top; n,k 0.191–1.69 µm Optical constants of In2O3-SnO2 (Indium tin oxide, ITO) Minenkov et al. 2024: on Si wafer, bottom; n,k 0.191–1.69 µm KW - Indium Tin Oxide KW - Optical constants KW - Magnetron Sputtering KW - Electrochemical Degradation KW - Spectroscopic Ellipsometry PY - 2024 UR - https://refractiveindex.info/?shelf=other&book=In2O3-SnO2&page=Minenkov-glass UR - https://refractiveindex.info/?shelf=other&book=In2O3-SnO2&page=Minenkov-wafer-top UR - https://refractiveindex.info/?shelf=other&book=In2O3-SnO2&page=Minenkov-wafer-bottom PB - Refractiveindex.info AN - OPUS4-59766 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -