title: Note: benign and reproducible preparation of titanium tips.
abstract: Fabrication of titanium tips via electrochemical etching is commonly hindered by the formation of a tough oxide layer. A new one-step approach based on dc etching in a non-aqueous electrolyte is presented. The electrochemical tip etching was carried out at 20 V in a benign etchant of 1M NaCl in ethylene glycol. Tip radii below 100 nm are demonstrated using current cut-off control and approaching 150 nm without cut-off control. The simplicity and efficiency of the approach eliminates pre and post electropolishing steps due to the electropolishing capability of a NaCl-ethylene glycol based electrolyte.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W., Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1, Canada.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Awez Mohammad
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W., Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1, Canada.
authors.forename: Z L
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Arnott
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W., Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1, Canada.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W., Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M1, Canada.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kruse