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This image was created from an SEM image of a (100) oriented titania inverse opal. The image shows the cross-section half way through a (100) plane.  The inverse opal was formed by low temperature atomic layer deposition of titania within the void spaces of a polystyrene opal with a sphere diameter of 330 nm.  The SEM image was acquired at 15kV at 50,000x magnification and subsequently processed with an image manipulation software.
Credit: Elton Graugnard, Georgia Institute of Technology

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Optical microscopy image of deposited platinum film under stress. The film was deposited with a thickness of 240 nm on a silicon wafer.
Credit: Sohee Kim, University of Utah

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Light microscope image of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) grown around polystyrene latex microspheres on an ITO glass plate electrode.
Credit: Matt Meier, University of Michigan

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Highly tapered germanium nanowire 'morning star' grown from a surface imperfection, utilizing the vapor-liquid-solid mechanism on an Si (111) substrate.  Imaged via field emission scanning electron microscope at a magnification of 15k, accelerating voltage of 5 kV, and imaged in plan view, normal to the (111) substrate surface.
Credit: Teresa Clement, Arizona State University

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Metal / metal oxide structures obtained by lithographic techniques. The image shows an osteoblast growing on the structured surface morphology.
Credit: J. Altmayer, S. Barth, H. Shen and S. Mathur, Leibniz-Institute of New Materials, Saarbruecken, Germany

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These structures were obtained by chemical vapor deposition of molecular precursors. This picture presents a collage of SEM images including epitaxial heterojunctions of SnO₂/VOx nanowires and flower-like arrangement of SnO₂ platelets which were obtained at specific parameter combinations.
Credit: S. Barth, J. Altmayer and S. Mathur, Leibniz-Institute of New Materials, Saarbruecken, Germany

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An artificially-colored scanning electron micrograph of cadmium sulfide "flowers." These "flowers" are a few microns across and are grown in a multi-stage nucleation and growth process.
Credit: Erik Spoerke and Bonnie McKenzie, Sandia National Laboratories

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Picture taken with an optical microscope at 200x magnification of a ca. 100 nm thick TiO film on a silicon substrate that is beyond the critical thickness and consequently starts to peel off from the surface.
Credit: Martin Wagner, Institute of Thin Films and Interfaces (ISG), Juelich, Germany

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SEM images of the inorganic parts of an invertebrate, colonial marine animal called a bryozoan. These images were taken for an investigation into the crystallography of the skeletal calcitic elements of this animal.
Credit: Simon R. Hall, University of Bristol

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Nickel coated polystyrene microspheres after reactive ion etching. The central polystyrene region is etched away more than the metallic nickel, resulting in the dendritic features. (Magnification 25,000x)
Credit: Jia Zhang, Suzi Deng, National University of Singapore

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Color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph of triangular molybdenum sulfide sheets thermally evaporated onto a silicon substrate. Such morphology gives rise to a large number of reactive basal edges, which show selective reactivity over the basal faces. (Magnification 17,000x) Contrast between vibrant colors and grey features imparts a nostalgic touch.
Credit: Jia Mei Soon, National University of Singapore

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Color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph of a ball cluster of molybdenum sulfide nanocones thermally evaporated onto a silicon substrate. Each cone is about 300 nm in diameter at the open end. The film morphology was observed to vary at different deposition temperatures. (Magnification 37,000x) Inspired by the classic beauty and bold simplicity of the elegant Calla Lilies.
Credit: Jia Mei Soon, National University of Singapore

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Structure formed upon annealing a thin gold film on a silicon substrate. The image was enhanced using Photoshop. Imaged using a LEO 1550 scanning electron microscope (SEM). (Magnification 100,000x)
Credit: Rezina Siddique, Michael A. Carpenter, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, University at Albany, New York, USA

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Optical microscope image using crossed polarizers of an oriented polymer semiconductor, regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene), film commonly used in organic field-effect transistors. Two images with magnification 5x are combined.
Credit: Tomas G. B?cklund, Department of Physics and Center for Functional Materials, ?bo Akademi University, Turku, Finland

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A collage of self-assembled structures formed via molecular simulation from anisotropic "patchy particles." The foreground is a rendering of an icosahedron formed from nanoparticles with two attractive equatorial rings. The background is a rendering of a honeycomb lattice of nanoparticles with triangular attractive patterning.
Credit: C.R. Iacovella, Z-L. Zhang, J. Mukherjee, S.C. Glotzer, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

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Structure formed upon annealing a thin gold film on a silicon substrate. The image was enhanced using Photoshop. This was imaged using a LEO 1550 scanning electron microscope (SEM). (Magnification 5,000x)
Credit: Rezina Siddique, Michael A. Carpenter, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, University at Albany, New York, USA

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Zinc dendritic structures formed by electrodeposition on Cu substrates using a mixed solution of ZnO powders and NaOH at room temperature. The Cu substrate was pretreated to form a layer of nanowires before it was used to form the Zn dendritic structures. Various forms of nanostructures can be formed by controlling the electroplating conditions. (Magnification: 1,300x)
Credit: Yihong Wu, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore

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Two-dimensional carbon nanostructures grown on a Ga droplet using microwave-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The orientation of the curved nanosheets is determined by the local electrical field direction. (Magnification: 13,000x)
Credit: Yihong Wu, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore

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A color enhanced scanning electron micrograph of ZnO grown in aqueous solution by homogeneous precipitation.  The crystal morphology of the zinc oxide was controlled by using a sequential nucleation and growth process in which simple morphology crystals were grown and then subjected to further growth in the presence of different growth modifiers. (Magnification: 15,000x)
Credit: Tom Sounart, Bonnie McKenzie, Jun Liu, and Jim Voigt, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA