ZEISS Microscopy Image Contest

Visiting a Nano Flower Shop - Semiconductor Nanoparticles in Focus

byZEISS Microscopy 17 November 2022 2 min read

Introduction

The winning image in the category of Materials Science of the 2022 ZEISS Microscopy Image Contest is awarded to Dr. Ümit Bayram of the Central Research Facility at Abdullah Gül University, Turkey. The image depicts vanadium disulfide semiconductor nanoparticles imaged using field emission scanning electron microscopy.

These nanoparticles are of particular interest to materials scientists as they exhibit unique optoelectronic and magnetic properties due to their extremely small size (1–20 nm), high surface area, and quantum size effects. They have interesting applications in a wide array of areas such as LEDs, diodes, transistors, lasers, solar cells, medical imaging and quantum computing.

Winning Image: Vanadium Disulfide Semiconductor Nanoparticles

Acquired with ZEISS GeminiSEM 300 FE-SEM

Vanadium disulfide semiconductor nanoparticles

Winning image in the category of Materials Science: Vanadium disulfide semiconductor nanoparticles, acquired with a ZEISS GeminiSEM 300 field emission scanning electron microscope. Courtesy: Dr. Ümit Bayram, Central Research Facility at Abdullah Gül University, Turkey

Winning image in the category of Materials Science: Vanadium disulfide semiconductor nanoparticles, acquired with a ZEISS GeminiSEM 300 field emission scanning electron microscope. Courtesy: Dr. Ümit Bayram, Central Research Facility at Abdullah Gül University, Turkey

At first glance, this image gave me the feeling of "the coolest flowers in a nano-sized flower shop".

Dr. Ümit Bayram | Central Research Facility at Abdullah Gül University, Turkey

2022 ZEISS Microscopy Image Contest winner in Materials Science: Dr. Ümit Bayram of the Abdullah Gül University, Turkey, seated at his ZEISS GeminiSEM 300 field emission scanning electron microscope.

Studying Semiconductor Nanoparticles with ZEISS Field-Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy

In his Ph.D. studies under the supervision of Associate Professor Erkan Yilmaz, Dr. Bayram is researching the photocatalytic properties of sulfide-based semiconductor nanoparticles.

He emphasizes that the quality of the image is very important in this type of research: "The goal with this imaging is to show that nanomaterials with a desired nano size and large surface area have been successfully synthesized and to characterize them accurately. For me, the most difficult part of acquiring such a high-resolution picture was having to scan the surface very carefully and to spend a lot of time finding the desired structure with different heights and directions."

About the Contest

For the second year in a row, ZEISS celebrates the work of researchers using microscopy in various application fields with the ZEISS Microscopy Image Contest. ZEISS users from all around the globe submitted almost 1,000 fascinating entries. The 2022 ZEISS Microscopy Image Contest was open from April 1 to May 15.
A selection of the images will be included in the ZEISS Microscopy Calendar 2023.