Magnetic field induced improvement of the arrangement of nanomagnets from the gas phase on S layers

FePt nanoparticles from the gas phase are deposited onto regular two-dimensional bacterial surface layer proteins with a four-fold lattice symmetry and a lattice constant of 12.5 nm. Transmission electron microscopy shows that the particle arrangement adopts both, the symmetry and periodicity of the protein template. The influence of the particle density on both the degree of agglomeration and the regularity of the particle arrangement is studied. Depositing the particles in a magnetic field applied parallel to the substrate leads to a significant decrease in agglomeration and thereby to an increase in the fraction of regularly arranged particles at high particle densities.