Fabrication of palladium-enriched metallic structures by direct focused He and Ne beam nanowriting from organometallic thin films: a comparison with Ga and e beams.

A direct nanowriting procedure using helium- and neon-focused ion beams and spin-coated organometallic thin films is introduced and applied to the fabrication of Pd-enriched metallic structures in a single lithography step. This process presents significant advantages over multi-step resist-based lithography and focused beam-induced deposition using gaseous precursors, such as its simplicity and speed, respectively. The optimized process leads to Pd-rich structures with low electrical resistivity values of 141 and 152 μΩ cm under Ne or He fluences of 1000 and 5000 μC cm, respectively.

Unidirectional ray polaritons in twisted asymmetric stacks.

The vast repository of van der Waals (vdW) materials supporting polaritons offers numerous possibilities to tailor electromagnetic waves at the nanoscale. The development of twistoptics-the modulation of the optical properties by twisting stacks of vdW materials-enables directional propagation of phonon polaritons (PhPs) along a single spatial direction, known as canalization. Here we demonstrate a complementary type of directional propagation of polaritons by reporting the visualization of unidirectional ray polaritons (URPs).

FIB-fabrication of superconducting devices based on BiSe junctions.

Recent advances in quantum technologies are highly influencing the current technological scenario. Hybrid devices combining superconductors and topological insulators represent an excellent opportunity to study the topological superconducting phase, which offers interesting features that might have significant implications in the development of quantum sensing and quantum computing. Furthermore, focused ion beam techniques, whose versatility enables to create sophisticated devices with high degree of customization, can enhance the creation of complex devices.

Gender health care inequalities in health crisis: when uncertainty can lead to inequality.

Background: In health crisis, inequalities in access to and use of health care services become more evident. The objective of this study is to analyse the existence and evolution of gender inequalities in access to and use of healthcare services in the context of the COVID-19 health crisis.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study using data from all individuals with a confirmed COVID-19 infection from March 2020 to March 2022 in Aragón (Spain) (390,099 cases).

Gas-Phase Synthesis of Iron Silicide Nanostructures Using a Single-Source Precursor: Comparing Direct-Write Processing and Thermal Conversion.

The investigation of precursor classes for the fabrication of nanostructures is of specific interest for maskless fabrication and direct nanoprinting. In this study, the differences in material composition depending on the employed process are illustrated for focused-ion-beam- and focused-electron-beam-induced deposition (FIBID/FEBID) and compared to the thermal decomposition in chemical vapor deposition (CVD). This article reports on specific differences in the deposit composition and microstructure when the (HSi)Fe(CO) precursor is converted into an inorganic material.