Formation of Al2O3 on the surface of the film was confirmed by both the depth profile and chemical shift of the Al2p state upon XPS analysis. The 10- to 100-nm-thick films after oxidation showed superparamagnetic behavior that was due to Fe-Al nanoparticles. Thus, a new technique for fabricating nanoparticles by selective MI-503 oxidation has been successfully introduced. Acknowledgments This work was supported in part by the 2011 WATC program of Korea Ministry of Knowledge Economy and in part by the 2011

R&D program of Korea Ministry of Education Science and Technology. References 1. Tolpygo VK, Clarke DR: Microstructural evidence for counter diffusion of aluminum and oxygen during the growth of alumina scales. Materials at High Temperature 2003, 20:261–271.CrossRef 2. Grace RE, Seybolt AU: Selective oxidation of Al from an Al-Fe alloy. J Elec Chem Soc 1958, 105:582–585.CrossRef 3. Nakayama T, Kaneko K: Selective oxide films of a 5% aluminum-iron alloy in a low oxygen potential atmosphere. Corrosion 1970, 26:187–188.CrossRef 4. Arranz A, Perez-Dieste V, Palacio : Growth, electronic properties and thermal stability of the Fe/Al 2 O 3 interface. Surf Sci 2002, 521:77–83.CrossRef selleck screening library 5. Reynolds WC: The

element potential method for chemical equilibrium analysis: implementation in the interactive program STANJAN. : Crenigacestat Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University; 1986. 6. Lide DR: CRC Handbook of chemistry and physics. 86th edition. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2005:6–7. Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’ contributions PWJ is in charge of this project

and designed it. SCS carried out most of the experiment including deposition, oxidation, and VSM measurement. CSJ and KHK provided thin film deposition and analysis technique. KS analyzed the XPS results. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background Germanium (Ge) is considered to be a substitute for Si for future complementary metal-insulator-semiconductor devices because of its higher carrier mobility than silicon (Si) [1]. Although wet-chemical treatments are essential for the fabrication of Ge-based devices, they have not been well established Doxacurium chloride yet. The primary reason for this is the chemical reactivity of Ge and its oxide (GeO2) with various solutions. For example, Ge oxide (GeO2) is permeable and soluble in water, unlike the more familiar silicon oxide (SiO2). Ge surfaces are also not resistant to various chemical solutions. For example, a piranha solution (a mixture of H2SO4 and H2O2) is commonly used in removing metallic and organic contaminants on the Si surface. However, we cannot use it for Ge because it damages Ge surfaces very easily.