Evaluation of sensitivity and selectivity of piezoresistive cantilever-array sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoshikawa, Genki; Lang, Hans-Peter; Staufer, Urs; Vettiger, Peter; Sakurai, Toshio; Gerber, Christoph

2008-03-01

Microfabricated cantilever-array sensors have attracted much attention in recent years due to their real-time detection of low concentration of molecules. Since the piezoresistive cantilever-array sensors do not require a bulky and expensive optical read-out system, they possess many advantages compared with optical read-out cantilever-array sensors. They can be miniaturized and integrated into a match-box sized device. In this study, we present the piezoresistive cantilever-array sensor system and evaluate its sensitivity and selectivity using various vapors of molecules, including alkane molecules with different chain length from 5 (n-pentane) to 12 (n-dodecane). Piezoresistive cantilevers were coated with different polymers (PVP, PAAM, PEI, and PVA) using an inkjet spotter. Each cantilever has a reference cantilever, constituting a Wheatstone-bridge. Each vapor was mixed with a constant nitrogen gas flow and introduced into the measurement chamber. According to the principle component analysis of data obtained, each molecule can be clearly distinguished from others. We also confirmed that this piezoresistive cantilever-array sensor system has sub-ppm sensitivity.

Review: Semiconductor Piezoresistance for Microsystems

PubMed Central

Barlian, A. Alvin; Park, Woo-Tae; Mallon, Joseph R.; Rastegar, Ali J.; Pruitt, Beth L.

2010-01-01

Piezoresistive sensors are among the earliest micromachined silicon devices. The need for smaller, less expensive, higher performance sensors helped drive early micromachining technology, a precursor to microsystems or microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The effect of stress on doped silicon and germanium has been known since the work of Smith at Bell Laboratories in 1954. Since then, researchers have extensively reported on microscale, piezoresistive strain gauges, pressure sensors, accelerometers, and cantilever force/displacement sensors, including many commercially successful devices. In this paper, we review the history of piezoresistance, its physics and related fabrication techniques. We also discuss electrical noise in piezoresistors, device examples and design considerations, and alternative materials. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of integrated piezoresistor technology with an introduction to the physics of piezoresistivity, process and material selection and design guidance useful to researchers and device engineers. PMID:20198118

Review: Semiconductor Piezoresistance for Microsystems.

PubMed

Barlian, A Alvin; Park, Woo-Tae; Mallon, Joseph R; Rastegar, Ali J; Pruitt, Beth L

2009-01-01

Piezoresistive sensors are among the earliest micromachined silicon devices. The need for smaller, less expensive, higher performance sensors helped drive early micromachining technology, a precursor to microsystems or microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The effect of stress on doped silicon and germanium has been known since the work of Smith at Bell Laboratories in 1954. Since then, researchers have extensively reported on microscale, piezoresistive strain gauges, pressure sensors, accelerometers, and cantilever force/displacement sensors, including many commercially successful devices. In this paper, we review the history of piezoresistance, its physics and related fabrication techniques. We also discuss electrical noise in piezoresistors, device examples and design considerations, and alternative materials. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of integrated piezoresistor technology with an introduction to the physics of piezoresistivity, process and material selection and design guidance useful to researchers and device engineers.

Background noise in piezoresistive, electret condenser, and ceramic microphones.

PubMed

Zuckerwar, Allan J; Kuhn, Theodore R; Serbyn, Roman M

2003-06-01

Background noise studies have been extended from air condenser microphones to piezoresistive, electret condenser, and ceramic microphones. Theoretical models of the respective noise sources within each microphone are developed and are used to derive analytical expressions for the noise power spectral density for each type. Several additional noise sources for the piezoresistive and electret microphones, beyond what had previously been considered, were applied to the models and were found to contribute significantly to the total noise power spectral density. Experimental background noise measurements were taken using an upgraded acoustic isolation vessel and data acquisition system, and the results were compared to the theoretically obtained expressions. The models were found to yield power spectral densities consistent with the experimental results. The measurements reveal that the 1/f noise coefficient is strongly correlated with the diaphragm damping resistance, irrespective of the detection technology, i.e., air condenser, piezoresistive, etc. This conclusion has profound implications upon the expected 1/f noise component of micromachined (MEMS) microphones.

Ultra low power consumption for self-oscillating nanoelectromechanical systems constructed by contacting two nanowires.

PubMed

Barois, T; Ayari, A; Vincent, P; Perisanu, S; Poncharal, P; Purcell, S T

2013-04-10

We report here the observation of a new self-oscillation mechanism in nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). A highly resistive nanowire was positioned to form a point-contact at a chosen vibration node of a silicon carbide nanowire resonator. Spontaneous and robust mechanical oscillations arise when a sufficient DC voltage is applied between the two nanowires. An original model predicting the threshold voltage is used to estimate the piezoresistivity of the point-contact in agreement with the observations. The measured input power is in the pW-range which is the lowest reported value for such systems. The simplicity of the contacting procedure and the low power consumption open a new route for integrable and low-loss self-excited NEMS devices.

Electromechanical Properties and Spontaneous Response of the Current in InAsP Nanowires.

PubMed

Lee, Jong Hoon; Pin, Min Wook; Choi, Su Ji; Jo, Min Hyeok; Shin, Jae Cheol; Hong, Seong-Gu; Lee, Seung Mi; Cho, Boklae; Ahn, Sang Jung; Song, Nam Woong; Yi, Seong-Hoon; Kim, Young Heon

2016-11-09

The electromechanical properties of ternary InAsP nanowires (NWs) were investigated by applying a uniaxial tensile strain in a transmission electron microscope (TEM). The electromechanical properties in our examined InAsP NWs were governed by the piezoresistive effect. We found that the electronic transport of the InAsP NWs is dominated by space-charge-limited transport, with a I ∞ V 2 relation. Upon increasing the tensile strain, the electrical current in the NWs increases linearly, and the piezoresistance gradually decreases nonlinearly. By analyzing the space-charge-limited I-V curves, we show that the electromechanical response is due to a mobility that increases with strain. Finally, we use dynamical measurements to establish an upper limit on the time scale for the electromechanical response.

Waveguide-integrated single- and multi-photon detection at telecom wavelengths using superconducting nanowires

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ferrari, Simone; Kahl, Oliver; Kovalyuk, Vadim

We investigate single- and multi-photon detection regimes of superconducting nanowire detectors embedded in silicon nitride nanophotonic circuits. At near-infrared wavelengths, simultaneous detection of up to three photons is observed for 120 nm wide nanowires biased far from the critical current, while narrow nanowires below 100 nm provide efficient single photon detection. A theoretical model is proposed to determine the different detection regimes and to calculate the corresponding internal quantum efficiency. The predicted saturation of the internal quantum efficiency in the single photon regime agrees well with plateau behavior observed at high bias currents.

Embedded Piezoresistive Microcantilever Sensors Functionalized for the Detection of Methyl Salicylate

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Porter, Timothy L.; Venedam, Richard J.

2013-03-01

Sensors designed to detect the presence of methyl salicylate (MeS) have been tested. These sensors use a sensor platform based on the embedded piezoresistive microcantilever (EPM) design. Sensing materials tested in this study included the polymer poly (ethylene vinyl acetate), or PEVA as well as a composite sensing material consisting of the enzyme SA-binding protein 2, or SABP-2. The SABP-2 was immobilized within a biocompatible Hypol gel matrix. The PEVA-based sensors exhibited slower but reversible responses to MeS vapors, recovering fully to their initial state after the analyte was removed. SABP-2 sensors exhibited faster overall response to the introduction ofmore » MeS, responding nearly instantly. These sensors, however, do not recover after exposures have ended. Sensors using the SABP-2 sensing materials act instead as integrating sensors, measuring irreversibly the total MeS dose obtained.« less

Bi nanowire-based thermal biosensor for the detection of salivary cortisol using the Thomson effect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Seunghyun; Hyun Lee, Jung; Kim, MinGin; Kim, Jeongmin; Song, Min-Jung; Jung, Hyo-Il; Lee, Wooyoung

2013-09-01

We present a study of a thermal biosensor based on bismuth nanowire that is fabricated for the detection of the human stress hormone cortisol using the Thomson effect. The Bi nanowire was grown using the On-Film Formation of Nanowires (OFF-ON) method. The thermal device was fabricated using photolithography, and the sensing area was modified with immobilized anti-cortisol antibodies conjugated with protein G for the detection of cortisol. The voltages were measured with two probe tips during surface modification to investigate the biochemical reactions in the fabricated thermal biosensor. The Bi nanowire-based thermal biosensor exhibited low detection limit and good selectivity for the detection of cortisol.

Silicon nanowire sensor for DNA detection and sequencing: an ab initio simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Wenchang; Li, Yan; Hodak, Miroslav; Xiao, Zhongcan; Bernholc, Jerry

Electrical sensors able to detect DNA replication and determine its sequence would enable fast and relatively cheap diagnosis of gene-related vulnerabilities and cancers. At present, it is already possible to electrically monitor DNA replication events using a Klenow fragment of polymerase I attached to a carbon nanotube. Since devices based on Si nanowires would be much easier to produce in quantity, we examine theoretically the sensitivity of a Si nanowire/Klenow fragment for electrical detection of nucleotide addition. A highly parallel real-space multigrid code is used for DFT-based non-equilibrium Green's function calculations involving up to 16,000 atoms, employing highly-accurate variationally-optimized localized orbitals. We find that the open and closed Klenow fragment configurations, prior and during nucleotide addition, respectively, screen the Si nanowire differently and result in a detectable current difference. The sensitivity is the largest in the subthreshold regime while the absolute current difference is maximized in the turn-on state. The sensitivity decreases with an increase of the nanowire size, as expected, but the current difference between different enzymatic states is nearly independent on the nanowire size up to 800 Å2 cross section.

Piezoresistive microcantilever based lab-on-a-chip system for detection of macronutrients in the soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patkar, Rajul S.; Ashwin, Mamta; Rao, V. Ramgopal

2017-12-01

Monitoring of soil nutrients is very important in precision agriculture. In this paper, we have demonstrated a micro electro mechanical system based lab-on-a-chip system for detection of various soil macronutrients which are available in ionic form K+, NO3-, and H2PO4-. These sensors are highly sensitive piezoresistive silicon microcantilevers coated with a polymer matrix containing methyltridodecylammonium nitrate ionophore/ nitrate ionophore VI for nitrate sensing, 18-crown-6 ether for potassium sensing and Tributyltin chloride for phosphate detection. A complete lab-on-a-chip system integrating a highly sensitive current excited Wheatstone's bridge based portable electronic setup along with arrays of microcantilever devices mounted on a printed circuit board with a liquid flow cell for on the site experimentation for soil test has been demonstrated.

Observation of nonlinear dissipation in piezoresistive diamond nanomechanical resonators by heterodyne down-mixing.

PubMed

Imboden, Matthias; Williams, Oliver A; Mohanty, Pritiraj

2013-09-11

We report the observation of nonlinear dissipation in diamond nanomechanical resonators measured by an ultrasensitive heterodyne down-mixing piezoresistive detection technique. The combination of a hybrid structure as well as symmetry breaking clamps enables sensitive piezoresistive detection of multiple orthogonal modes in a diamond resonator over a wide frequency and temperature range. Using this detection method, we observe the transition from purely linear dissipation at room temperature to strongly nonlinear dissipation at cryogenic temperatures. At high drive powers and below liquid nitrogen temperatures, the resonant structure dynamics follows the Pol-Duffing equation of motion. Instead of using the broadening of the full width at half-maximum, we propose a nonlinear dissipation backbone curve as a method to characterize the strength of nonlinear dissipation in devices with a nonlinear spring constant.

Use of self-sensing piezoresistive Si cantilever sensor for determining carbon nanoparticle mass

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wasisto, H. S.; Merzsch, S.; Stranz, A.; Waag, A.; Uhde, E.; Kirsch, I.; Salthammer, T.; Peiner, E.

2011-06-01

A silicon cantilever with slender geometry based Micro Electro Mechanical System (MEMS) for nanoparticles mass detection is presented in this work. The cantilever is actuated using a piezoactuator at the bottom end of the cantilever supporting frame. The oscillation of the microcantilever is detected by a self-sensing method utilizing an integrated full Wheatstone bridge as a piezoresistive strain gauge for signal read out. Fabricated piezoresistive cantilevers of 1.5 mm long, 30 μm wide and 25 μm thick have been employed. This self-sensing cantilever is used due to its simplicity, portability, high-sensitivity and low-cost batch microfabrication. In order to investigate air pollution sampling, a nanoparticles collection test of the piezoresistive cantilever sensor is performed in a sealed glass chamber with a stable carbon aerosol inside. The function principle of cantilever sensor is based on detecting the resonance frequency shift that is directly induced by an additional carbon nanoparticles mass deposited on it. The deposition of particles is enhanced by an electrostatic field. The frequency measurement is performed off-line under normal atmospheric conditions, before and after carbon nanoparticles sampling. The calculated equivalent mass-induced resonance frequency shift of the experiment is measured to be 11.78 +/- 0.01 ng and a mass sensitivity of 8.33 Hz/ng is obtained. The proposed sensor exhibits an effective mass of 2.63 μg, a resonance frequency of 43.92 kHz, and a quality factor of 1230.68 +/- 78.67. These results and analysis indicate that the proposed self-sensing piezoresistive silicon cantilever can offer the necessary potential for a mobile nanoparticles monitor.

Detection of heart-type fatty acid-binding protein (h-FABP) using piezoresistive polymer microcantilevers functionalized by a dry method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agarwal, Dilip Kumar; Prasad, Abhinav; Vinchurkar, Madhuri; Gandhi, Sahir; Prabhakar, Deepika; Mukherji, Soumyo; Rao, V. Ramgopal

2018-03-01

Piezoresistive microcantilever-based sensor platform is being used for the last two decades due to their low cost, rapid response and label-free detection system. In this work, we are reporting a microfabricated piezoresistive SU-8/carbon black (polymer cantilever)-based sensor platform for the detection of a clinically important early-stage cardiac marker, i.e., fatty acid-binding protein. It is a most preferred cardiac marker for the diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. The embodiment of the sensor is a SU-8 microcantilever chip with an integrated nanoparticle composite (carbon black) as a piezoresistor for on-chip electrical transduction. Prior to improving the sensing and susceptibility towards the specific target biomolecule (i.e., h-FABP), the fabricated SU-8 polymer cantilevers were subjected to tailored functionalization. This includes the use of an in-house dry method of hot wire chemical vapour deposition technique to graft amine groups onto the SU-8 surface. The surface-modified microcantilevers were further integrated with a polydimethylsiloxane liquid flow cell and connected externally with an electrical read-out system. Immobilization of the antibody corresponding to the marker protein on the microcantilever surface and subsequent recording of the signal generated upon the antibody-antigen interaction were carried out inside the liquid flow cell. Using our optimized immobilization protocol with this experimental set-up, we were successfully able to detect h-FABP concentration as low as 100 ng/ml.

Biomolecule recognition using piezoresistive nanomechanical force probes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tosolini, Giordano; Scarponi, Filippo; Cannistraro, Salvatore; Bausells, Joan

2013-06-01

Highly sensitive sensors are one of the enabling technologies for the biomarker detection in early stage diagnosis of pathologies. We have developed a self-sensing nanomechanical force probe able for detecting the unbinding of single couples of biomolecular partners in nearly physiological conditions. The embedding of a piezoresistive transducer into a nanomechanical cantilever enabled high force measurement capability with sub 10-pN resolution. Here, we present the design, microfabrication, optimization, and complete characterization of the sensor. The exceptional electromechanical performance obtained allowed us to detect biorecognition specific events underlying the biotin-avidin complex formation, by integrating the sensor in a commercial atomic force microscope.

Detection of electrically neutral and nonpolar molecules in ionic solutions using silicon nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Ying-Pin; Chu, Chia-Jung; Tsai, Li-Chu; Su, Ya-Wen; Chen, Pei-Hua; Moodley, Mathew K.; Huang, Ding; Chen, Yit-Tsong; Yang, Ying-Jay; Chen, Chii-Dong

2017-04-01

We report on a technique that can extend the use of nanowire sensors to the detection of interactions involving nonpolar and neutral molecules in an ionic solution environment. This technique makes use of the fact that molecular interactions result in a change in the permittivity of the molecules involved. For the interactions taking place at the surface of nanowires, this permittivity change can be determined from the analysis of the measured complex impedance of the nanowire. To demonstrate this technique, histidine was detected using different charge polarities controlled by the pH value of the solution. This included the detection of electrically neutral histidine at a sensitivity of 1 pM. Furthermore, it is shown that nonpolar molecules, such as hexane, can also be detected. The technique is applicable to the use of nanowires with and without a surface-insulating oxide. We show that information about the changes in amplitude and the phase of the complex impedance reveals the fundamental characteristics of the molecular interactions, including the molecular field and the permittivity.

Electrical, Elastic, and Piezoresistive Properties of Nanocomposites of Poly(dimethylsiloxane) and Poly(phenylmethylsiloxane)-Functionalized Graphene Nanoplatelets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Biao; Li, Buyin; Jiang, Shenglin

2017-10-01

High-performance piezoresistive materials can detect pressures in the finger-sensing regime (0 kPa to 100 kPa). Piezoresistive nanocomposites of poly(phenylmethylsiloxane) (PPMS)-functionalized graphene nanoplatelets (P-GNPs) as conductive filler and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as polymer matrix have been prepared and their electrical, elastic, and piezoresistive properties investigated. GNPs were π-π stacked with PPMS by noncovalent functionalization, and P-GNPs/PDMS nanocomposites were prepared by solution casting. The results showed that P-GNPs with sandwiched nanostructures (PPMS/GNPs/PPMS) exhibited improved dispersibility and compatibility in the PDMS matrix. Compared with GNPs/PDMS nanocomposites, low percolation threshold (2.96 vol.%) was obtained for the P-GNPs/PDMS nanocomposites. P-GNPs/PDMS nanocomposite with 3.00 vol.% P-GNPs showed remarkable negative piezoresistivity with high sensitivity of -105.22 × 10-3 kPa-1 (0 kPa to 10 kPa), low Young's modulus of 408.26 kPa, and high electrical conductivity of 1.28 × 10-6 S/m. These results demonstrate a simple and low-cost method for preparation of high-performance nanocomposites and facilitate wide application of such piezoresistive materials, especially in cheap and flexible tactile sensors.

The Hubbard Model and Piezoresistivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Celebonovic, V.; Nikolic, M. G.

2018-02-01

Piezoresistivity was discovered in the nineteenth century. Numerous applications of this phenomenon exist nowadays. The aim of the present paper is to explore the possibility of applying the Hubbard model to theoretical work on piezoresistivity. Results are encouraging, in the sense that numerical values of the strain gauge obtained by using the Hubbard model agree with results obtained by other methods. The calculation is simplified by the fact that it uses results for the electrical conductivity of 1D systems previously obtained within the Hubbard model by one of the present authors.

Graphical Representation and Origin of Piezoresistance Effect in Germanium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsuda, K.; Nagaoka, S.; Kanda, Y.

2017-06-01

The longitudinal and transverse piezoresistance coefficients of Ge at room temperature are represented graphically as a function of the crystal directions for orientation (001), (110) and (211) planes. Many valley model of conduction band and stress decoupling decoupling of the degenerate valence band into two bands of prolate and oblate ellipsoidal energy surface are shown to explain origin of the piezoresistance. One this basis, comparison between piezoresistance coefficient and theoretical model is discussed.

Piezoresistive effect observed in flexible amorphous carbon films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, B.; Jiang, Y. C.; Zhao, R.; Liu, G. Z.; He, A. P.; Gao, J.

2018-05-01

Amorphous carbon (a-C) films, deposited on Si substrates at 500 °C, were transferred onto flexible polyethylene (PE) substrates by a lift-off method, which overcomes the limit of deposition temperature. After transferring, a-C films exhibited a large piezoresistive effect. Such flexible samples could detect the change of bending angle by attaching them onto Cu foils. The ratio of the bending and non-bending resistances reaches as large as ~27.8, which indicates a potential application as a pressure sensor. Also, the a-C/PE sample revealed an enhanced sensitivity to gas pressure compared with the a-C/Si one. By controlling the bending angle, the sensitivity range can be tuned to shift to a low- or high-pressure region. The fatigue test shows a less than 1% change in resistance after 10 000 bending cycles. Our work provides a route to prepare the flexible and piezoresistive carbon-based devices with high sensitivity, controllable pressure-sensing and high stability.

Flexible and Compressible PEDOT:PSS@Melamine Conductive Sponge Prepared via One-Step Dip Coating as Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor for Human Motion Detection.

PubMed

Ding, Yichun; Yang, Jack; Tolle, Charles R; Zhu, Zhengtao

2018-05-09

Flexible and wearable pressure sensor may offer convenient, timely, and portable solutions to human motion detection, yet it is a challenge to develop cost-effective materials for pressure sensor with high compressibility and sensitivity. Herein, a cost-efficient and scalable approach is reported to prepare a highly flexible and compressible conductive sponge for piezoresistive pressure sensor. The conductive sponge, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)@melamine sponge (MS), is prepared by one-step dip coating the commercial melamine sponge (MS) in an aqueous dispersion of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS). Due to the interconnected porous structure of MS, the conductive PEDOT:PSS@MS has a high compressibility and a stable piezoresistive response at the compressive strain up to 80%, as well as good reproducibility over 1000 cycles. Thereafter, versatile pressure sensors fabricated using the conductive PEDOT:PSS@MS sponges are attached to the different parts of human body; the capabilities of these devices to detect a variety of human motions including speaking, finger bending, elbow bending, and walking are evaluated. Furthermore, prototype tactile sensory array based on these pressure sensors is demonstrated.

Piezoresistivity, mechanisms and model of cement-based materials with CNT/NCB composite fillers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Liqing; Ding, Siqi; Dong, Sufen; Li, Zhen; Ouyang, Jian; Yu, Xun; Han, Baoguo

2017-12-01

The use of conductive cement-based materials as sensors has attracted intense interest over past decades. In this paper, carbon nanotube (CNT)/nano carbon black (NCB) composite fillers made by electrostatic self-assembly are used to fabricate conductive cement-based materials. Electrical and piezoresistive properties of the fabricated cement-based materials are investigated. Effect of filler content, load amplitudes and rate on piezoresistive property within elastic regime and piezoresistive behaviors during compressive loading to destruction are explored. Finally, a model describing piezoresistive property of cement-based materials with CNT/NCB composite fillers is established based on the effective conductive path and tunneling effect theory. The research results demonstrate that filler content and load amplitudes have obvious effect on piezoresistive property of the composites materials, while load rate has little influence on piezoresistive property. During compressive loading to destruction, the composites also show sensitive piezoresistive property. Therefore, the cement-based composites can be used to monitor the health state of structures during their whole life. The built model can well describe the piezoresistive property of the composites during compressive loading to destruction. The good match between the model and experiment data indicates that tunneling effect actually contributes to piezoresistive phenomenon.

Piezoresistive effect of the carbon nanotube yarn embedded axially into the 3D braided composite

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Xin; Cao, Xiaona

2018-06-01

A new method for monitoring 3D braided composite structure health in real time by embedding the carbon nanotube yarn, based on its piezoresistivity, in the composite axially has been designed. The experimental system for piezoresistive effect detection of the carbon nanotube yarn in the 3D braided composite was built, and the sensing characteristics has been analyzed for further research. Compared with other structural health monitoring methods, the monitoring technique with carbon nanotubes yarns is more suitable for internal damage detection immediately, in addition the strength of the composite can be increased by embedding carbon nanotubes yarns. This method can also be used for strain sensing, the development of intelligent materials and structure systems.

Nanowire-based detector

DOEpatents

Berggren, Karl K; Hu, Xiaolong; Masciarelli, Daniele

2014-06-24

Systems, articles, and methods are provided related to nanowire-based detectors, which can be used for light detection in, for example, single-photon detectors. In one aspect, a variety of detectors are provided, for example one including an electrically superconductive nanowire or nanowires constructed and arranged to interact with photons to produce a detectable signal. In another aspect, fabrication methods are provided, including techniques to precisely reproduce patterns in subsequently formed layers of material using a relatively small number of fabrication steps. By precisely reproducing patterns in multiple material layers, one can form electrically insulating materials and electrically conductive materials in shapes such that incoming photons are redirected toward a nearby electrically superconductive materials (e.g., electrically superconductive nanowire(s)). For example, one or more resonance structures (e.g., comprising an electrically insulating material), which can trap electromagnetic radiation within its boundaries, can be positioned proximate the nanowire(s). The resonance structure can include, at its boundaries, electrically conductive material positioned proximate the electrically superconductive nanowire such that light that would otherwise be transmitted through the sensor is redirected toward the nanowire(s) and detected. In addition, electrically conductive material can be positioned proximate the electrically superconductive nanowire (e.g. at the aperture of the resonant structure), such that light is directed by scattering from this structure into the nanowire.

Disposable sensor based on enzyme-free Ni nanowire array electrode to detect glutamate.

PubMed

Jamal, Mamun; Hasan, Maksudul; Mathewson, Alan; Razeeb, Kafil M

2013-02-15

Enzyme free electrochemical sensor platform based on a vertically aligned nickel nanowire array (NiNAE) and Pt coated nickel nanowire array (Pt/NiNAE) have been developed to detect glutamate. Morphological characterisation of Ni electrodes was carried out using scanning and transmission electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and amperometry were used to evaluate the catalytic activity of the NiNAE and the Pt/NiNAE for glutamate. It has been found that both NiNAE and Pt/NiNAE electrodes showed remarkably enhanced electrocatalytic activity towards glutamate compared to planar Ni electrodes, and showed higher catalytic activity when compared to other metallic nanostructure electrodes such as gold nanowire array electrodes (AuNAE) and Pt coated gold nanowire array electrode (Pt/AuNAE). The sensitivity of NiNAE and Pt/NiNAE has been found to be 65 and 96 μA mM(-1) cm(-2), respectively, which is approximately 6 to 9 times higher than the state of the art glutamate sensor. Under optimal detection conditions, the as prepared sensors exhibited linear behaviour for glutamate detection in the concentration up to 8mM for both NiNAE and Pt/NiNAE with a limit of detection of 68 and 83 μM, respectively. Experimental results show that the vertically aligned ordered nickel nanowire array electrode (NiNAE) has significant promise for fabricating cost effective, enzyme-less, sensitive, stable and selective sensor platform. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

First-principles simulation on Seebeck coefficient in silicon nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakamura, Koichi

2017-06-01

The Seebeck coefficients of silicon nanowires (SiNWs) were simulated on the basis of first-principles calculation using various atomistic structure models. The electronic band structures of fully hydrogen-terminated SiNW models give the correct image of quantum mechanical confinement from bulk silicon to SiNW for each axial direction, and the change in the density of states by dimensional reduction to SiNW enhances the thermoelectric performance in terms of the Seebeck coefficient, compared with those of bulk silicon and silicon nanosheets. The uniaxial tensile strain for the SiNW models does not strongly affect the Seebeck coefficient even for the SiNW system with giant piezoresistivity. In contrast, dangling bonds on a wire wall sharply reduce the Seebeck coefficient of SiNW and totally degrade thermoelectric performance from the viewpoint of the power factor. The exclusion of dangling bonds is a key element for the design and application of high-performance thermoelectric nanowires of semiconducting materials.

Piezoresistive Cantilever Performance—Part I: Analytical Model for Sensitivity

PubMed Central

Park, Sung-Jin; Doll, Joseph C.; Pruitt, Beth L.

2010-01-01

An accurate analytical model for the change in resistance of a piezoresistor is necessary for the design of silicon piezoresistive transducers. Ion implantation requires a high-temperature oxidation or annealing process to activate the dopant atoms, and this treatment results in a distorted dopant profile due to diffusion. Existing analytical models do not account for the concentration dependence of piezoresistance and are not accurate for nonuniform dopant profiles. We extend previous analytical work by introducing two nondimensional factors, namely, the efficiency and geometry factors. A practical benefit of this efficiency factor is that it separates the process parameters from the design parameters; thus, designers may address requirements for cantilever geometry and fabrication process independently. To facilitate the design process, we provide a lookup table for the efficiency factor over an extensive range of process conditions. The model was validated by comparing simulation results with the experimentally determined sensitivities of piezoresistive cantilevers. We performed 9200 TSUPREM4 simulations and fabricated 50 devices from six unique process flows; we systematically explored the design space relating process parameters and cantilever sensitivity. Our treatment focuses on piezoresistive cantilevers, but the analytical sensitivity model is extensible to other piezoresistive transducers such as membrane pressure sensors. PMID:20336183

Piezoresistive Cantilever Performance-Part I: Analytical Model for Sensitivity.

PubMed

Park, Sung-Jin; Doll, Joseph C; Pruitt, Beth L

2010-02-01

An accurate analytical model for the change in resistance of a piezoresistor is necessary for the design of silicon piezoresistive transducers. Ion implantation requires a high-temperature oxidation or annealing process to activate the dopant atoms, and this treatment results in a distorted dopant profile due to diffusion. Existing analytical models do not account for the concentration dependence of piezoresistance and are not accurate for nonuniform dopant profiles. We extend previous analytical work by introducing two nondimensional factors, namely, the efficiency and geometry factors. A practical benefit of this efficiency factor is that it separates the process parameters from the design parameters; thus, designers may address requirements for cantilever geometry and fabrication process independently. To facilitate the design process, we provide a lookup table for the efficiency factor over an extensive range of process conditions. The model was validated by comparing simulation results with the experimentally determined sensitivities of piezoresistive cantilevers. We performed 9200 TSUPREM4 simulations and fabricated 50 devices from six unique process flows; we systematically explored the design space relating process parameters and cantilever sensitivity. Our treatment focuses on piezoresistive cantilevers, but the analytical sensitivity model is extensible to other piezoresistive transducers such as membrane pressure sensors.

Nanowire sensors and arrays for chemical/biomolecule detection

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yun, Minhee; Lee, Choonsup; Vasquez, Richard P.; Ramanathan, K.; Bangar, M. A.; Chen, W.; Mulchandan, A.; Myung, N. V.

2005-01-01

We report electrochemical growth of single nanowire based sensors using e-beam patterned electrolyte channels, potentially enabling the controlled fabrication of individually addressable high density arrays. The electrodeposition technique results in nanowires with controlled dimensions, positions, alignments, and chemical compositions. Using this technique, we have fabricated single palladium nanowires with diameters ranging between 75 nm and 300 nm and conducting polymer nanowires (polypyrrole and polyaniline) with diameters between 100 nm and 200 nm. Using these single nanowires, we have successfully demonstrated gas sensing with Pd nanowires and pH sensing with polypirrole nanowires.

Glucose oxidase immobilization on different modified surfaces of platinum nanowire for application in glucose detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thanh Tuyen Le, Thi; Duy Tran, Phu; Pham, Xuan Tung; Hien Tong, Duy; Chien Dang, Mau

2010-09-01

In this work, the surface of platinum (Pt) nanowires was modified by using several chemicals, including a compound of gelatin gel with SiO2, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with Prussian blue (PB) mediator and cysteamine self-assembled monolayers (SAM). Then, glucose oxidase (GOD) enzyme was immobilized on the modified surfaces of Pt nanowire electrodes by using techniques of electrochemical adsorption and chemical binding. The GOD immobilized Pt nanowires were used for application in glucose detection by performing a cyclic voltammetry measurement. The detection results showed that GOD was immobilized on all of the tested surfaces and the highest glucose detection sensitivity of 60 μM was obtained when the Pt nanowires were modified by PVA with PB mediator. Moreover, the sensors showed very high current response when the Pt nanowires were modified with the cysteamine SAM. The stability and catalyst activity of GOD are also reported here. For instance, the catalyst activity of GOD retained about 60% of its initial value after it was stored at 4 °C in a 100 mM PBS buffer solution with a pH of 7.2 for a period of 30 days.

Multisegment nanowire sensors for the detection of DNA molecules.

PubMed

Wang, Xu; Ozkan, Cengiz S

2008-02-01

We describe a novel application for detecting specific single strand DNA sequences using multisegment nanowires via a straightforward surface functionalization method. Nanowires comprising CdTe-Au-CdTe segments are fabricated using electrochemical deposition, and electrical characterization indicates a p-type behavior for the multisegment nanostructures, in a back-to-back Schottky diode configuration. Such nanostructures modified with thiol-terminated probe DNA fragments could function as high fidelity sensors for biomolecules at very low concentration. The gold segment is utilized for functionalization and binding of single strand DNA (ssDNA) fragments while the CdTe segments at both ends serve to modulate the equilibrium Fermi level of the heterojunction device upon hybridization of the complementary DNA fragments (cDNA) to the ssDNA over the Au segment. Employing such multisegment nanowires could lead to the fabrication more sophisticated and high multispecificity biosensors via selective functionalization of individual segments for biowarfare sensing and medical diagnostics applications.

Piezoresistive effect in metal-semiconductor-metal structures on p-type GaN

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaska, R.; Shur, M. S.; Bykhovski, A. D.; Yang, J. W.; Khan, M. A.; Kaminski, V. V.; Soloviov, S. M.

2000-06-01

We report on a strong piezoresistive effect in metal-semiconductor-metal structures fabricated on p-type GaN. The maximum measured gauge factor was 260, which is nearly two times larger than for piezoresistive silicon transducers. We attribute this large sensitivity to applied strain to the combination of two mechanisms: (i) a high piezoresistance of bulk p-GaN and (ii) a strong piezoresistive effect in a Schottky contact on p-GaN. The obtained results demonstrate that GaN-based structures can be suitable for stress/pressure sensor applications.

Detection of Prohibited Fish Drugs Using Silver Nanowires as Substrate for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

PubMed Central

Song, Jia; Huang, Yiqun; Fan, Yuxia; Zhao, Zhihui; Yu, Wansong; Rasco, Barbara A.; Lai, Keqiang

2016-01-01

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering or surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a promising detection technology, and has captured increasing attention. Silver nanowires were synthesized using a rapid polyol method and optimized through adjustment of the molar ratio of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) and silver nitrate in a glycerol system. Ultraviolet-visible spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy were used to characterize the silver nanowires. The optimal silver nanowires were used as a SERS substrate to detect prohibited fish drugs, including malachite green, crystal violet, furazolidone, and chloramphenicol. The SERS spectra of crystal violet could be clearly identified at concentrations as low as 0.01 ng/mL. The minimum detectable concentration for malachite green was 0.05 ng/mL, and for both furazolidone and chloramphenicol were 0.1 μg/mL. The results showed that the as-prepared Ag nanowires SERS substrate exhibits high sensitivity and activity. PMID:28335303

Highly sensitive wearable strain sensor based on silver nanowires and nanoparticles.

PubMed

Shengbo, Sang; Lihua, Liu; Aoqun, Jian; Qianqian, Duan; Jianlong, Ji; Qiang, Zhang; Wendong, Zhang

2018-06-22

Here, we propose a highly sensitive and stretchable strain sensor based on silver nanoparticles and nanowires (Ag NPs and NWs), advancing the rapid development of electronic skin. To improve the sensitivity of strain sensors based on silver nanowires (Ag NWs), Ag NPs and NWs were added to polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as an aid filler. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) increase the conductive paths for electrons, leading to the low resistance of the resulting sensor (14.9 Ω). The strain sensor based on Ag NPs and NWs showed strong piezoresistivity with a tunable gauge factor (GF) at 3766, and a change in resistance as the strain linearly increased from 0% to 28.1%. The high GF demonstrates the irreplaceable role of Ag NPs in the sensor. Moreover, the applicability of our high-performance strain sensor has been demonstrated by its ability to sense movements caused by human talking, finger bending, wrist raising and walking.

Highly sensitive wearable strain sensor based on silver nanowires and nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shengbo, Sang; Lihua, Liu; Aoqun, Jian; Qianqian, Duan; Jianlong, Ji; Qiang, Zhang; Wendong, Zhang

2018-06-01

Here, we propose a highly sensitive and stretchable strain sensor based on silver nanoparticles and nanowires (Ag NPs and NWs), advancing the rapid development of electronic skin. To improve the sensitivity of strain sensors based on silver nanowires (Ag NWs), Ag NPs and NWs were added to polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) as an aid filler. Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) increase the conductive paths for electrons, leading to the low resistance of the resulting sensor (14.9 Ω). The strain sensor based on Ag NPs and NWs showed strong piezoresistivity with a tunable gauge factor (GF) at 3766, and a change in resistance as the strain linearly increased from 0% to 28.1%. The high GF demonstrates the irreplaceable role of Ag NPs in the sensor. Moreover, the applicability of our high-performance strain sensor has been demonstrated by its ability to sense movements caused by human talking, finger bending, wrist raising and walking.

Flexible Piezoresistive Sensors Embedded in 3D Printed Tires

PubMed Central

Emon, Md Omar Faruk; Choi, Jae-Won

2017-01-01

In this article, we report the development of a flexible, 3D printable piezoresistive pressure sensor capable of measuring force and detecting the location of the force. The multilayer sensor comprises of an ionic liquid-based piezoresistive intermediate layer in between carbon nanotube (CNT)-based stretchable electrodes. A sensor containing an array of different sensing units was embedded on the inner liner surface of a 3D printed tire to provide with force information at different points of contact between the tire and road. Four scaled tires, as well as wheels, were 3D printed using a flexible and a rigid material, respectively, which were later assembled with a 3D-printed chassis. Only one tire was equipped with a sensor and the chassis was driven through a motorized linear stage at different speeds and load conditions to evaluate the sensor performance. The sensor was fabricated via molding and screen printing processes using a commercially available 3D-printable photopolymer as 3D printing is our target manufacturing technique to fabricate the entire tire assembly with the sensor. Results show that the proposed sensors, inserted in the 3D printed tire assembly, could detect forces, as well as their locations, properly. PMID:28327533

Flexible Piezoresistive Sensors Embedded in 3D Printed Tires.

PubMed

Emon, Md Omar Faruk; Choi, Jae-Won

2017-03-22

In this article, we report the development of a flexible, 3D printable piezoresistive pressure sensor capable of measuring force and detecting the location of the force. The multilayer sensor comprises of an ionic liquid-based piezoresistive intermediate layer in between carbon nanotube (CNT)-based stretchable electrodes. A sensor containing an array of different sensing units was embedded on the inner liner surface of a 3D printed tire to provide with force information at different points of contact between the tire and road. Four scaled tires, as well as wheels, were 3D printed using a flexible and a rigid material, respectively, which were later assembled with a 3D-printed chassis. Only one tire was equipped with a sensor and the chassis was driven through a motorized linear stage at different speeds and load conditions to evaluate the sensor performance. The sensor was fabricated via molding and screen printing processes using a commercially available 3D-printable photopolymer as 3D printing is our target manufacturing technique to fabricate the entire tire assembly with the sensor. Results show that the proposed sensors, inserted in the 3D printed tire assembly, could detect forces, as well as their locations, properly.

Self-transducing silicon nanowire electromechanical systems at room temperature.

PubMed

He, Rongrui; Feng, X L; Roukes, M L; Yang, Peidong

2008-06-01

Electronic readout of the motions of genuinely nanoscale mechanical devices at room temperature imposes an important challenge for the integration and application of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). Here, we report the first experiments on piezoresistively transduced very high frequency Si nanowire (SiNW) resonators with on-chip electronic actuation at room temperature. We have demonstrated that, for very thin (~90 nm down to ~30 nm) SiNWs, their time-varying strain can be exploited for self-transducing the devices' resonant motions at frequencies as high as approximately 100 MHz. The strain of wire elongation, which is only second-order in doubly clamped structures, enables efficient displacement transducer because of the enhanced piezoresistance effect in these SiNWs. This intrinsically integrated transducer is uniquely suited for a class of very thin wires and beams where metallization and multilayer complex patterning on devices become impractical. The 30 nm thin SiNW NEMS offer exceptional mass sensitivities in the subzeptogram range. This demonstration makes it promising to advance toward NEMS sensors based on ultrathin and even molecular-scale SiNWs, and their monolithic integration with microelectronics on the same chip.

Highly sensitive piezo-resistive graphite nanoplatelet-carbon nanotube hybrids/polydimethylsilicone composites with improved conductive network construction.

PubMed

Zhao, Hang; Bai, Jinbo

2015-05-13

The constructions of internal conductive network are dependent on microstructures of conductive fillers, determining various electrical performances of composites. Here, we present the advanced graphite nanoplatelet-carbon nanotube hybrids/polydimethylsilicone (GCHs/PDMS) composites with high piezo-resistive performance. GCH particles were synthesized by the catalyst chemical vapor deposition approach. The synthesized GCHs can be well dispersed in the matrix through the mechanical blending process. Due to the exfoliated GNP and aligned CNTs coupling structure, the flexible composite shows an ultralow percolation threshold (0.64 vol %) and high piezo-resistive sensitivity (gauge factor ∼ 10(3) and pressure sensitivity ∼ 0.6 kPa(-1)). Slight motions of finger can be detected and distinguished accurately using the composite film as a typical wearable sensor. These results indicate that designing the internal conductive network could be a reasonable strategy to improve the piezo-resistive performance of composites.

Silicon nanowire field-effect transistors for the detection of proteins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madler, Carsten

In this dissertation I present results on our efforts to increase the sensitivity and selectivity of silicon nanowire ion-sensitive field-effect transistors for the detection of biomarkers, as well as a novel method for wireless power transfer based on metamaterial rectennas for their potential use as implantable sensors. The sensing scheme is based on changes in the conductance of the semiconducting nanowires upon binding of charged entities to the surface, which induces a field-effect. Monitoring the differential conductance thus provides information of the selective binding of biological molecules of interest to previously covalently linked counterparts on the nanowire surface. In order to improve on the performance of the nanowire sensing, we devised and fabricated a nanowire Wheatstone bridge, which allows canceling out of signal drift due to thermal fluctuations and dynamics of fluid flow. We showed that balancing the bridge significantly improves the signal-to-noise ratio. Further, we demonstrated the sensing of novel melanoma biomarker TROY at clinically relevant concentrations and distinguished it from nonspecific binding by comparing the reaction kinetics. For increased sensitivity, an amplification method was employed using an enzyme which catalyzes a signal-generating reaction by changing the redox potential of a redox pair. In addition, we investigated the electric double layer, which forms around charges in an electrolytic solution. It causes electrostatic screening of the proteins of interest, which puts a fundamental limitation on the biomarker detection in solutions with high salt concentrations, such as blood. We solved the coupled Nernst-Planck and Poisson equations for the electrolyte under influence of an oscillating electric field and discovered oscillations of the counterion concentration at a characteristic frequency. In addition to exploring different methods for improved sensing capabilities, we studied an innovative method to supply power

Thermal-Performance Instability in Piezoresistive Sensors: Inducement and Improvement

PubMed Central

Liu, Yan; Wang, Hai; Zhao, Wei; Qin, Hongbo; Fang, Xuan

2016-01-01

The field of piezoresistive sensors has been undergoing a significant revolution in terms of design methodology, material technology and micromachining process. However, the temperature dependence of sensor characteristics remains a hurdle to cross. This review focuses on the issues in thermal-performance instability of piezoresistive sensors. Based on the operation fundamental, inducements to the instability are investigated in detail and correspondingly available ameliorative methods are presented. Pros and cons of each improvement approach are also summarized. Though several schemes have been proposed and put into reality with favorable achievements, the schemes featuring simple implementation and excellent compatibility with existing techniques are still emergently demanded to construct a piezoresistive sensor with excellent comprehensive performance. PMID:27886125

Shielded piezoresistive cantilever probes for nanoscale topography and electrical imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yongliang; Ma, Eric Yue; Cui, Yong-Tao; Haemmerli, Alexandre; Lai, Keji; Kundhikanjana, Worasom; Harjee, Nahid; Pruitt, Beth L.; Kelly, Michael; Shen, Zhi-Xun

2014-04-01

This paper presents the design and fabrication of piezoresistive cantilever probes for microwave impedance microscopy (MIM) to enable simultaneous topographic and electrical imaging. Plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited Si3N4 cantilevers with a shielded center conductor line and nanoscale conductive tip apex are batch fabricated on silicon-on-insulator wafers. Doped silicon piezoresistors are integrated at the root of the cantilevers to sense their deformation. The piezoresistive sensitivity is 2 nm for a bandwidth of 10 kHz, enabling topographical imaging with reasonable speed. The aluminum center conductor has a low resistance (less than 5 Ω) and small capacitance (˜1.7 pF) to ground; these parameters are critical for high sensitivity MIM imaging. High quality piezoresistive topography and MIM images are simultaneously obtained with the fabricated probes at ambient and cryogenic temperatures. These new piezoresistive probes remarkably broaden the horizon of MIM for scientific applications by operating with an integrated feedback mechanism at low temperature and for photosensitive samples.

Specific and selective target detection of supra-genome 21 Mers Salmonella via silicon nanowires biosensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mustafa, Mohammad Razif Bin; Dhahi, Th S.; Ehfaed, Nuri. A. K. H.; Adam, Tijjani; Hashim, U.; Azizah, N.; Mohammed, Mohammed; Noriman, N. Z.

2017-09-01

The nano structure based on silicon can be surface modified to be used as label-free biosensors that allow real-time measurements. The silicon nanowire surface was functionalized using 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTES), which functions as a facilitator to immobilize biomolecules on the silicon nanowire surface. The process is simple, economical; this will pave the way for point-of-care applications. However, the surface modification and subsequent detection mechanism still not clear. Thus, study proposed step by step process of silicon nano surface modification and its possible in specific and selective target detection of Supra-genome 21 Mers Salmonella. The device captured the molecule with precisely; the approach took the advantages of strong binding chemistry created between APTES and biomolecule. The results indicated how modifications of the nanowires provide sensing capability with strong surface chemistries that can lead to specific and selective target detection.

Piezoresistive silicon pressure sensors in cryogenic environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kahng, Seun K.; Chapman, John J.

1989-01-01

This paper presents data on low-temperature measurements of silicon pressure sensors. It was found that both the piezoresistance coefficients and the charge-carrier mobility increase with decreasing temperature. For lightly doped semiconductor materials, the density of free charge carriers decreases with temperature and can freeze out eventually. However, the effect of carrier freeze-out can be minimized by increasing the impurity content to higher levels, at which the temperature dependency of piezoresistance coefficients is reduced. An impurity density of 1 x 10 to the 19th/cu cm was found to be optimal for cryogenic applications of pressure sensor dies.

Frequency stability improvement for piezoresistive micromechanical oscillators via synchronization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pu, Dong; Huan, Ronghua; Wei, Xueyong

2017-03-01

Synchronization phenomenon first discovered in Huygens' clock shows that the rhythms of oscillating objects can be adjusted via an interaction. Here we show that the frequency stability of a piezoresistive micromechanical oscillator can be enhanced via synchronization. The micromechanical clamped-clamped beam oscillator is built up using the electrostatic driving and piezoresistive sensing technique and the synchronization phenomenon is observed after coupling it to an external oscillator. An enhancement of frequency stability is obtained in the synchronization state. The influences of the synchronizing perturbation intensity and frequency detuning applied on the oscillator are studied experimentally. A theoretical analysis of phase noise leads to an analytical formula for predicting Allan deviation of the frequency output of the piezoresistive oscillator, which successfully explains the experimental observations and the mechanism of frequency stability enhancement via synchronization.

Piezoresistive in-line integrated force sensors for on-chip measurement and control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teichert, Kendall; Waterfall, Tyler; Jensen, Brian; Howell, Larry; McLain, Tim

2007-04-01

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and testing of a force sensor for integrated use with thermomechanical in-plane microactuators. The force sensor is designed to be integrated with the actuator and fabricated in the same batch fabrication process. This sensor uses the piezoresistive property of silicon as a sensing signal by directing the actuation force through two thin legs, producing a tensile stress. This tensile load produces a resistance change in the thin legs by the piezoresistive effect. The resistance change is linearly correlated with the applied force. The device presented was designed by considering both its piezoresistive sensitivity and out-of- plane torsional stability. A design trade-off exists between these two objectives in that longer legs are more sensitive yet less stable. Fabrication of the sensor design was done using the MUMPs process. This paper presents experimental results from this device and a basic model for comparison with previously attained piezoresistive data. The results validate the concept of integral sensing using the piezoresistive property of silicon.

Processing-structure-property relationships of carbon nanotube and nanoplatelet enabled piezoresistive sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luo, Sida

Individual carbon nanotubes (CNTs) possess excellent piezoresistive performance, which is manifested by the significant electrical resistance change when subject to mechanical deformation. In comparison to individual CNTs, the CNT thin films, formed by a random assembly of individual tubes or bundles, show much lower piezoresistive sensitivity. Given the progress made to date in developing CNT ensemble based-piezoresistive sensors, the related piezoresistive mechanism(s) are still not well understood. The crucial step to obtain a better understanding of this issue is to study the effects of CNT structure in the dispersion on the piezoresistivity of CNT ensemble based-piezoresistive sensors. To reach this goal, my Ph.D. research first focuses on establishing the processing-structure-property relationship of SWCNT thin film piezoresistive sensors. The key accomplishment contains: 1) developing the combined preparative ultracentrifuge method (PUM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) method to quantitatively characterized SWCNT particle size in dispersions under various sonication conditions; 2) designing combined ultrasonication and microfluidization processing protocol for high throughput and large-scale production of high quality SWCNT dispersions; 3) fabricating varied SWCNT thin film piezoresistive sensors through spray coating technique and immersion-drying post-treatment; and 4) investigating the effect of microstructures of SWCNTs on piezoresistivity of SWCNT thin film sensors. This experimental methodology for quantitative and systematic investigation of the processing-structure-property relationships provides a means for the performance optimization of CNT ensemble based piezoresistive sensors. As a start to understand the piezoresistive mechanism, the second focus of my Ph.D. research is studying charge transport behaviors in SWCNT thin films. It was found that the temperature-dependent sheet resistance of SWCNT thin films could be explained by a 3D variable

Piezoresistive AFM cantilevers surpassing standard optical beam deflection in low noise topography imaging

PubMed Central

Dukic, Maja; Adams, Jonathan D.; Fantner, Georg E.

2015-01-01

Optical beam deflection (OBD) is the most prevalent method for measuring cantilever deflections in atomic force microscopy (AFM), mainly due to its excellent noise performance. In contrast, piezoresistive strain-sensing techniques provide benefits over OBD in readout size and the ability to image in light-sensitive or opaque environments, but traditionally have worse noise performance. Miniaturisation of cantilevers, however, brings much greater benefit to the noise performance of piezoresistive sensing than to OBD. In this paper, we show both theoretically and experimentally that by using small-sized piezoresistive cantilevers, the AFM imaging noise equal or lower than the OBD readout noise is feasible, at standard scanning speeds and power dissipation. We demonstrate that with both readouts we achieve a system noise of ≈0.3 Å at 20 kHz measurement bandwidth. Finally, we show that small-sized piezoresistive cantilevers are well suited for piezoresistive nanoscale imaging of biological and solid state samples in air. PMID:26574164

High speed superconducting nanowire single-photon detector with nine interleaved nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Jia; Zhang, Weijun; You, Lixing; Zhang, Chengjun; Lv, Chaolin; Wang, Yong; Liu, Xiaoyu; Li, Hao; Wang, Zhen

2018-07-01

Count rate (CR) is one of the key parameters of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs). The practical SNSPDs usually have a CR of a few MHz to a few tens of MHz owing to the large kinetic inductance originating from the long nanowire, which is necessary for effectively coupling the photons. A feasible approach to decrease the kinetic inductance and consequently increase the detection speed is to replace a long single nanowire with multiple individual nanowires in an array. In this study, we report an SNSPD of nine interleaved nanowires with 70% system detection efficiency (SDE) and 200 Hz dark count rate at the low-photon-flux limit of 1550 nm. Owing to the small dead time (<6 ns) of each nanowire, the SNSPD achieved a maximum CR of 0.93 GHz at a photon flux of 1.26 × 1010 photons s‑1 with an SDE of ∼7.4%, and a CR of 200 MHz with an SDE of over 50%. Furthermore, a photon number resolvability of up to nine photons was also demonstrated.

Piezoresistive sensing of bistable micro mechanism state

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, Jeffrey K.; Howell, Larry L.; Wittwer, Jonathan W.; McLain, Timothy W.

2006-05-01

The objective of this work is to demonstrate the feasibility of on-chip sensing of bistable mechanism state using the piezoresistive properties of polysilicon, thus eliminating the need for electrical contacts. Changes in position are detected by observing changes in resistance across the mechanism. Sensing the state of bistable mechanisms is critical for various applications, including high-acceleration sensing arrays and alternative forms of nonvolatile memory. A fully compliant bistable micro mechanism was designed, fabricated and tested to demonstrate the feasibility of this sensing technique. Testing results from two fabrication processes, SUMMiT IV and MUMPs, are presented. The SUMMiT mechanism was then integrated into various Wheatstone bridge configurations to investigate their potential advantages and to demonstrate various design layouts. Repeatable and detectable results were found with independent mechanisms and with those integrated into Wheatstone bridges.

Chip-to-chip SnO2 nanowire network sensors for room temperature H2 detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Köck, A.; Brunet, E.; Mutinati, G. C.; Maier, T.; Steinhauer, S.

2012-06-01

The employment of nanowires is a very powerful strategy to improve gas sensor performance. We demonstrate a gas sensor device, which is based on silicon chip-to-chip synthesis of ultralong tin oxide (SnO2) nanowires. The sensor device employs an interconnected SnO2 nanowire network configuration, which exhibits a huge surface-to-volume ratio and provides full access of the target gas to the nanowires. The chip-to-chip SnO2 nanowire device is able to detect a H2 concentration of only 20 ppm in synthetic air with ~ 60% relative humidity at room temperature. At an operating temperature of 300°C a concentration of 50 ppm H2 results in a sensitivity of 5%. At this elevated temperature the sensor shows a linear response in a concentration range between 10 ppm and 100 ppm H2. The SnO2-nanowire fabrication procedure based on spray pyrolysis and subsequent annealing is performed at atmospheric pressure, requires no vacuum and allows upscale of the substrate to a wafer size. 3D-integration with CMOS chips is proposed as viable way for practical realization of smart nanowire based gas sensor devices for the consumer market.

Development of Si neural probe with piezoresistive force sensor for minimally invasive and precise monitoring of insertion forces

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harashima, Takuya; Morikawa, Takumi; Kino, Hisashi; Fukushima, Takafumi; Tanaka, Tetsu

2017-04-01

A Si neural probe is one of the most important tools for neurophysiology and brain science because of its various functions such as optical stimulation and drug delivery. However, the Si neural probe is not robust compared with a metal tetrode, and could be broken by mechanical stress caused by insertion to the brain. Therefore, the Si neural probe becomes more useful if it has a stress sensor that can measure mechanical forces applied to the probe so as not to be broken. In this paper, we proposed and fabricated the Si neural probe with a piezoresistive force sensor for minimally invasive and precise monitoring of insertion forces. The fabricated piezoresistive force sensor accurately measured forces and successfully detected insertion events without buckling or bending in the shank of the Si neural probe. This Si neural probe with a piezoresistive force sensor has become one of the most versatile tools for neurophysiology and brain science.

Nanowire Electron Scattering Spectroscopy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hunt, Brian; Bronikowsky, Michael; Wong, Eric; VonAllmen, Paul; Oyafuso, Fablano

2009-01-01

Nanowire electron scattering spectroscopy (NESS) has been proposed as the basis of a class of ultra-small, ultralow-power sensors that could be used to detect and identify chemical compounds present in extremely small quantities. State-of-the-art nanowire chemical sensors have already been demonstrated to be capable of detecting a variety of compounds in femtomolar quantities. However, to date, chemically specific sensing of molecules using these sensors has required the use of chemically functionalized nanowires with receptors tailored to individual molecules of interest. While potentially effective, this functionalization requires labor-intensive treatment of many nanowires to sense a broad spectrum of molecules. In contrast, NESS would eliminate the need for chemical functionalization of nanowires and would enable the use of the same sensor to detect and identify multiple compounds. NESS is analogous to Raman spectroscopy, the main difference being that in NESS, one would utilize inelastic scattering of electrons instead of photons to determine molecular vibrational energy levels. More specifically, in NESS, one would exploit inelastic scattering of electrons by low-lying vibrational quantum states of molecules attached to a nanowire or nanotube.

ZnO nanowires: Synthesis and charge transfer mechanism in the detection of ammonia vapour

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nancy Anna Anasthasiya, A.; Ramya, S.; Rai, P. K.; Jeyaprakash, B. G.

2018-01-01

ZnO nanowires with hexagonal wurtzite structure were grown on the glass substrate using Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) method. Both experimental and theoretical studies demonstrated that NH3 chemisorbed and transferred the charge to the surface of the nanowire via its nitrogen site to the zinc site of ZnO nanowires, leading to the detection of NH3 vapour. The adsorbed ammonia dissociated into NH2 and H due to steric repulsion, and then into N2 and H2 gas. The formation of the N2 gas during the desorption process confirmed by observing peak at 14 and 28 m/z in the GC-MS spectrum.

Properties of piezoresistive silicon nano-scale cantilevers with applications to BioNEMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arlett, Jessica Lynn

Over the last decade a great deal of interest has been raised in applications of Microelectromechanical Sensors [MEMS] for the detection of biological molecules and to the study of their forces of interaction. Experiments in these areas have included Force Spectroscopy (Chemical Force Microscopy), MEMS patch clamp technology, and surface stress sensors. All of these technologies suffer from limitations on temporal response and involve devices with active surface areas that are large compared to molecular dimensions. Biofunctionalized nanoelectromechanical systems (BioNEMS) have the potential to overcome both of these hurdles, offering important new prospects for single-molecule force assays that are amenable to large scale integration. Results are presented here on the characterization of piezoresistive silicon cantilevers with applications to BioNEMS devices. The cantilevers were characterized by studying their response in gaseous ambients under a number of drive conditions including magnetic, piezoelectric, and thermal actuation, in addition to passive detection of the thermomechanical response. The measurements were performed at liquid helium temperature, at room temperature, and over a range of pressures (atmospheric pressure to 30mT). Theoretical studies have been performed on the response of these devices to Brownian fluctuations in fluid, on the feasibility of these devices as surface stress sensors, and on improvements in device design as compared to piezoresistive surface stress sensors currently discussed in the literature. The devices were encapsulated in microfluidics and measurements were performed to show the noise floor in fluid. The piezoresistive response of the device in fluid was shown through the use of pulsatory fluidic drive. As a proof of concept, biodetection experiments are presented for biotin labeled beads. The biofunctionalization for the latter experiment was performed entirely within the microfluidics. A discussion of how these

Design optimization of piezoresistive cantilevers for force sensing in air and water

PubMed Central

Doll, Joseph C.; Park, Sung-Jin; Pruitt, Beth L.

2009-01-01

Piezoresistive cantilevers fabricated from doped silicon or metal films are commonly used for force, topography, and chemical sensing at the micro- and macroscales. Proper design is required to optimize the achievable resolution by maximizing sensitivity while simultaneously minimizing the integrated noise over the bandwidth of interest. Existing analytical design methods are insufficient for modeling complex dopant profiles, design constraints, and nonlinear phenomena such as damping in fluid. Here we present an optimization method based on an analytical piezoresistive cantilever model. We use an existing iterative optimizer to minimimize a performance goal, such as minimum detectable force. The design tool is available as open source software. Optimal cantilever design and performance are found to strongly depend on the measurement bandwidth and the constraints applied. We discuss results for silicon piezoresistors fabricated by epitaxy and diffusion, but the method can be applied to any dopant profile or material which can be modeled in a similar fashion or extended to other microelectromechanical systems. PMID:19865512

Single-Nanowire Electrochemical Probe Detection for Internally Optimized Mechanism of Porous Graphene in Electrochemical Devices.

PubMed

Hu, Ping; Yan, Mengyu; Wang, Xuanpeng; Han, Chunhua; He, Liang; Wei, Xiujuan; Niu, Chaojiang; Zhao, Kangning; Tian, Xiaocong; Wei, Qiulong; Li, Zijia; Mai, Liqiang

2016-03-09

Graphene has been widely used to enhance the performance of energy storage devices due to its high conductivity, large surface area, and excellent mechanical flexibility. However, it is still unclear how graphene influences the electrochemical performance and reaction mechanisms of electrode materials. The single-nanowire electrochemical probe is an effective tool to explore the intrinsic mechanisms of the electrochemical reactions in situ. Here, pure MnO2 nanowires, reduced graphene oxide/MnO2 wire-in-scroll nanowires, and porous graphene oxide/MnO2 wire-in-scroll nanowires are employed to investigate the capacitance, ion diffusion coefficient, and charge storage mechanisms in single-nanowire electrochemical devices. The porous graphene oxide/MnO2 wire-in-scroll nanowire delivers an areal capacitance of 104 nF/μm(2), which is 4.0 and 2.8 times as high as those of reduced graphene oxide/MnO2 wire-in-scroll nanowire and MnO2 nanowire, respectively, at a scan rate of 20 mV/s. It is demonstrated that the reduced graphene oxide wrapping around the MnO2 nanowire greatly increases the electronic conductivity of the active materials, but decreases the ion diffusion coefficient because of the shielding effect of graphene. By creating pores in the graphene, the ion diffusion coefficient is recovered without degradation of the electron transport rate, which significantly improves the capacitance. Such single-nanowire electrochemical probes, which can detect electrochemical processes and behavior in situ, can also be fabricated with other active materials for energy storage and other applications in related fields.

Direct observation of single-charge-detection capability of nanowire field-effect transistors.

PubMed

Salfi, J; Savelyev, I G; Blumin, M; Nair, S V; Ruda, H E

2010-10-01

A single localized charge can quench the luminescence of a semiconductor nanowire, but relatively little is known about the effect of single charges on the conductance of the nanowire. In one-dimensional nanostructures embedded in a material with a low dielectric permittivity, the Coulomb interaction and excitonic binding energy are much larger than the corresponding values when embedded in a material with the same dielectric permittivity. The stronger Coulomb interaction is also predicted to limit the carrier mobility in nanowires. Here, we experimentally isolate and study the effect of individual localized electrons on carrier transport in InAs nanowire field-effect transistors, and extract the equivalent charge sensitivity. In the low carrier density regime, the electrostatic potential produced by one electron can create an insulating weak link in an otherwise conducting nanowire field-effect transistor, modulating its conductance by as much as 4,200% at 31 K. The equivalent charge sensitivity, 4 × 10(-5) e Hz(-1/2) at 25 K and 6 × 10(-5) e Hz(-1/2) at 198 K, is orders of magnitude better than conventional field-effect transistors and nanoelectromechanical systems, and is just a factor of 20-30 away from the record sensitivity for state-of-the-art single-electron transistors operating below 4 K (ref. 8). This work demonstrates the feasibility of nanowire-based single-electron memories and illustrates a physical process of potential relevance for high performance chemical sensors. The charge-state-detection capability we demonstrate also makes the nanowire field-effect transistor a promising host system for impurities (which may be introduced intentionally or unintentionally) with potentially long spin lifetimes, because such transistors offer more sensitive spin-to-charge conversion readout than schemes based on conventional field-effect transistors.

A novel method of temperature compensation for piezoresistive microcantilever-based sensors.

PubMed

Han, Jianqiang; Wang, Xiaofei; Yan, Tianhong; Li, Yan; Song, Meixuan

2012-03-01

Microcantilever with integrated piezoresistor has been applied to in situ surface stress measurement in the field of biochemical sensors. It is well known that piezoresistive cantilever-based sensors are sensitive to ambient temperature changing due to highly temperature-dependent piezoresistive effect and mismatch in thermal expansion of composite materials. This paper proposes a novel method of temperature drift compensation for microcantilever-based sensors with a piezoresistive full Wheatstone bridge integrated at the clamped ends by subtracting the amplified output voltage of the reference cantilever from the output voltage of the sensing cantilever through a simple temperature compensating circuit. Experiments show that the temperature drift of microcantilever sensors can be significantly reduced by the method.

Quantum optics with nanowires (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zwiller, Val

2017-02-01

Nanowires offer new opportunities for nanoscale quantum optics; the quantum dot geometry in semiconducting nanowires as well as the material composition and environment can be engineered with unprecedented freedom to improve the light extraction efficiency. Quantum dots in nanowires are shown to be efficient single photon sources, in addition because of the very small fine structure splitting, we demonstrate the generation of entangled pairs of photons from a nanowire. By doping a nanowire and making ohmic contacts on both sides, a nanowire light emitting diode can be obtained with a single quantum dot as the active region. Under forward bias, this will act as an electrically pumped source of single photons. Under reverse bias, an avalanche effect can multiply photocurrent and enables the detection of single photons. Another type of nanowire under study in our group is superconducting nanowires for single photon detection, reaching efficiencies, time resolution and dark counts beyond currently available detectors. We will discuss our first attempts at combining semiconducting nanowire based single photon emitters and superconducting nanowire single photon detectors on a chip to realize integrated quantum circuits.

Two-probe versus van der Pauw method in studying the piezoresistivity of single-wall carbon nanotube thin films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Yanbo; Duan, Xiaoshuang; Luo, Jiangjiang; Liu, Tao

2017-11-01

The use of the van der Pauw (VDP) method for characterizing and evaluating the piezoresistive behavior of carbon nanomaterial enabled piezoresistive sensors have not been systematically studied. By using single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) thin films as a model system, herein we report a coupled electrical-mechanical experimental study in conjunction with a multiphysics finite element simulation as well as an analytic analysis to compare the two-probe and VDP testing configuration in evaluating the piezoresistive behavior of carbon nanomaterial enabled piezoresistive sensors. The key features regarding the sample aspect ratio dependent piezoresistive sensitivity or gauge factor were identified for the VDP testing configuration. It was found that the VDP test configuration offers consistently higher piezoresistive sensitivity than the two-probe testing method.

CuO nanowire/microflower/nanowire modified Cu electrode with enhanced electrochemical performance for non-enzymatic glucose sensing.

PubMed

Li, Changli; Yamahara, Hiroyasu; Lee, Yaerim; Tabata, Hitoshi; Delaunay, Jean-Jacques

2015-07-31

CuO nanowire/microflower structure on Cu foil is synthesized by annealing a Cu(OH)2 nanowire/CuO microflower structure at 250 °C in air. The nanowire/microflower structure with its large surface area leads to an efficient catalysis and charge transfer in glucose detection, achieving a high sensitivity of 1943 μA mM(-1) cm(-2), a wide linear range up to 4 mM and a low detection limit of 4 μM for amperometric glucose sensing in alkaline solution. With a second consecutive growth of CuO nanowires on the microflowers, the sensitivity of the obtained CuO nanowire/microflower/nanowire structure further increases to 2424 μA mM(-1) cm(-2), benefiting from an increased number of electrochemically active sites. The enhanced electrocatalytic performance of the CuO nanowire/microflower/nanowire electrode compared to the CuO nanowire/microflower electrode, CuO nanowire electrode and CuxO film electrode provides evidence for the significant role of available surface area for electrocatalysis. The rational combination of CuO nanowire and microflower nanostructures into a nanowire supporting microflower branching nanowires structure makes it a promising composite nanostructure for use in CuO based electrochemical sensors with promising analytical properties.

One step biofunctionalized electrospun multiwalled carbon nanotubes embedded zinc oxide nanowire interface for highly sensitive detection of carcinoma antigen-125.

PubMed

Paul, K Brince; Singh, Vikrant; Vanjari, Siva Rama Krishna; Singh, Shiv Govind

2017-02-15

Ovarian cancer is the most leading cause of cancer-related death in women . The carcinoma antigen-125, which is found on the surface of many ovarian cancer cells is known to be a gold standard clinical biomarker associated with life-threatening gynecological malignancy. In this work, we demonstrate a novel biosensor platform based on multiwalled carbon nanotubes embedded zinc oxide nanowire for the ultrasensitive detection of carcinoma antigen-125. Label free detection of the carcinoma antigen-125 was accomplished by differential voltammetry technique that demonstrated excellent sensitivity (90.14µA/(U/mL)/cm 2 ) with a detection limit of 0.00113UmL -1 concentration. The fabricated immunosensor exhibits good performance with wider detection range (0.001UmL -1 -1kUmL -1 ), reproducibility, selectivity, acceptable stability, and thus is a potential cost-effective methodology for point-of-care diagnosis. The multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) embedded highly oriented zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires were synthesized by simple, low cost electrospinning technique. Compared to pure ZnO nanowires, electrochemical activity of MWCNTs embedded ZnO nanowires was found to be much higher. The calcination temperature was optimized to avoid any decomposition of the CNTs and to obtain multiwalled carbon nanotubes embedded highly crystalline ZnO nanowires. The salient feature of this biosensing platform is that one step calcination process is enough to create the functional groups on MWCNT-ZnO nanowire surface that are effective for the covalent conjugation of antibody without further surface modification. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on MWCNT-ZnO nanowire based immunosensor explored for the detection of cancer biomarker. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fabrication of a P3HT-ZnO Nanowires Gas Sensor Detecting Ammonia Gas

PubMed Central

Kuo, Chin-Guo; Chen, Jung-Hsuan; Chao, Yi-Chieh; Chen, Po-Lin

2017-01-01

In this study, an organic-inorganic semiconductor gas sensor was fabricated to detect ammonia gas. An inorganic semiconductor was a zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowire array produced by atomic layer deposition (ALD) while an organic material was a p-type semiconductor, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). P3HT was suitable for the gas sensing application due to its high hole mobility, good stability, and good electrical conductivity. In this work, P3HT was coated on the zinc oxide nanowires by the spin coating to form an organic-inorganic heterogeneous interface of the gas sensor for detecting ammonia gas. The thicknesses of the P3HT were around 462 nm, 397 nm, and 277 nm when the speeds of the spin coating were 4000 rpm, 5000 rpm, and 6000 rpm, respectively. The electrical properties and sensing characteristics of the gas sensing device at room temperature were evaluated by Hall effect measurement and the sensitivity of detecting ammonia gas. The results of Hall effect measurement for the P3HT-ZnO nanowires semiconductor with 462 nm P3HT film showed that the carrier concentration and the mobility were 2.7 × 1019 cm−3 and 24.7 cm2∙V−1∙s−1 respectively. The gas sensing device prepared by the P3HT-ZnO nanowires semiconductor had better sensitivity than the device composed of the ZnO film and P3HT film. Additionally, this gas sensing device could reach a maximum sensitivity around 11.58 per ppm. PMID:29295573

Fabrication of a P3HT-ZnO Nanowires Gas Sensor Detecting Ammonia Gas.

PubMed

Kuo, Chin-Guo; Chen, Jung-Hsuan; Chao, Yi-Chieh; Chen, Po-Lin

2017-12-25

In this study, an organic-inorganic semiconductor gas sensor was fabricated to detect ammonia gas. An inorganic semiconductor was a zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowire array produced by atomic layer deposition (ALD) while an organic material was a p-type semiconductor, poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT). P3HT was suitable for the gas sensing application due to its high hole mobility, good stability, and good electrical conductivity. In this work, P3HT was coated on the zinc oxide nanowires by the spin coating to form an organic-inorganic heterogeneous interface of the gas sensor for detecting ammonia gas. The thicknesses of the P3HT were around 462 nm, 397 nm, and 277 nm when the speeds of the spin coating were 4000 rpm, 5000 rpm, and 6000 rpm, respectively. The electrical properties and sensing characteristics of the gas sensing device at room temperature were evaluated by Hall effect measurement and the sensitivity of detecting ammonia gas. The results of Hall effect measurement for the P3HT-ZnO nanowires semiconductor with 462 nm P3HT film showed that the carrier concentration and the mobility were 2.7 × 10 19 cm -3 and 24.7 cm²∙V -1 ∙s -1 respectively. The gas sensing device prepared by the P3HT-ZnO nanowires semiconductor had better sensitivity than the device composed of the ZnO film and P3HT film. Additionally, this gas sensing device could reach a maximum sensitivity around 11.58 per ppm.

Copper nanowire coated carbon fibers as efficient substrates for detecting designer drugs using SERS.

PubMed

Halouzka, Vladimir; Halouzkova, Barbora; Jirovsky, David; Hemzal, Dusan; Ondra, Peter; Siranidi, Eirini; Kontos, Athanassios G; Falaras, Polycarpos; Hrbac, Jan

2017-04-01

Miniature Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) sensors were fabricated by coating the carbon fiber microelectrodes with copper nanowires. The coating procedure, based on anodizing the copper wire in ultrapure water followed by cathodic deposition of the anode-derived material onto carbon fiber electrodes, provides a "clean" copper nanowire network. The developed miniature (10µm in diameter and 2mm in length) and nanoscopically rough SERS substrates are applicable in drug sensing, as shown by the detection and resolving of a range of seized designer drugs in trace amounts (microliter volumes of 10 -10 -10 -12 M solutions). The copper nanowire modified carbon microfiber substrates could also find further applications in biomedical and environmental sensing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Review on Surface Stress-Based Miniaturized Piezoresistive SU-8 Polymeric Cantilever Sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mathew, Ribu; Ravi Sankar, A.

2018-06-01

In the last decade, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) SU-8 polymeric cantilevers with piezoresistive readout combined with the advances in molecular recognition techniques have found versatile applications, especially in the field of chemical and biological sensing. Compared to conventional solid-state semiconductor-based piezoresistive cantilever sensors, SU-8 polymeric cantilevers have advantages in terms of better sensitivity along with reduced material and fabrication cost. In recent times, numerous researchers have investigated their potential as a sensing platform due to high performance-to-cost ratio of SU-8 polymer-based cantilever sensors. In this article, we critically review the design, fabrication, and performance aspects of surface stress-based piezoresistive SU-8 polymeric cantilever sensors. The evolution of surface stress-based piezoresistive cantilever sensors from solid-state semiconductor materials to polymers, especially SU-8 polymer, is discussed in detail. Theoretical principles of surface stress generation and their application in cantilever sensing technology are also devised. Variants of SU-8 polymeric cantilevers with different composition of materials in cantilever stacks are explained. Furthermore, the interdependence of the material selection, geometrical design parameters, and fabrication process of piezoresistive SU-8 polymeric cantilever sensors and their cumulative impact on the sensor response are also explained in detail. In addition to the design-, fabrication-, and performance-related factors, this article also describes various challenges in engineering SU-8 polymeric cantilevers as a universal sensing platform such as temperature and moisture vulnerability. This review article would serve as a guideline for researchers to understand specifics and functionality of surface stress-based piezoresistive SU-8 cantilever sensors.[Figure not available: see fulltext.

Reducing cross-sensitivity of TiO2-(B) nanowires to humidity using ultraviolet illumination for trace explosive detection.

PubMed

Wang, Danling; Chen, Antao; Jen, Alex K-Y

2013-04-14

Environmental humidity is an important factor that can influence the sensing performance of a metal oxide. TiO2-(B) in the form of nanowires has been demonstrated to be a promising material for the detection of explosive gases such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). However, the elimination of cross-sensitivity of the explosive detectors based on TiO2-(B) toward environmental humidity is still a major challenge. It was found that the cross-sensitivity could be effectively modulated when the thin film of TiO2-(B) nanowires was exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light during the detection of explosives under operating conditions. Such a modulation of sensing responses of TiO2-(B) nanowires to explosives by UV light was attributed to a photocatalytic effect, with which the water adsorbed on the TiO2-(B) nanowire surface was split and therefore the sensor response performance was less affected. It was revealed that the cross-sensitivity could be suppressed up to 51% when exposed to UV light of 365 nm wavelength with an intensity of 40 mW cm(-2). This finding proves that the reduction of cross-sensitivity to humidity through UV irradiation is an effective approach that can improve the performance of a sensor based on TiO2-(B) nanowires for the detection of explosive gas.

A label-free electrochemical sensor for detection of mercury(II) ions based on the direct growth of guanine nanowire.

PubMed

Huang, Yan Li; Gao, Zhong Feng; Jia, Jing; Luo, Hong Qun; Li, Nian Bing

2016-05-05

A simple, sensitive and label-free electrochemical sensor is developed for detection of Hg(2+) based on the strong and stable T-Hg(2+)-T mismatches. In the presence of Mg(2+), the parallel G-quadruplex structures could be specifically recognized and precipitated in parallel conformation. Therefore, the guanine nanowire was generated on the electrode surface, triggering the electrochemical H2O2-mediated oxidation of 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB). In this research, a new method of signal amplification for the quantitative detection of Hg(2+) was described based on the direct growth of guanine nanowire via guanine nanowire. Under optimum conditions, Hg(2+) was detected in the range of 100 pM-100 nM, and the detection limit is 33 pM. Compared to the traditional single G-quadruplex label unit, this electrochemical sensor showed high sensitivity and selectivity for detecting Hg(2+). Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Piezoresistive cantilever array sensor for consolidated bioprocess monitoring

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, Seonghwan Sam; Rahman, Touhidur; Senesac, Larry R

2009-01-01

Cellulolytic microbes occur in diverse natural niches and are being screened for industrial modification and utility. A microbe for Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) development can rapidly degrade pure cellulose and then ferment the resulting sugars into fuels. To identify and screen for novel microbes for CBP, we have developed a piezoresistive cantilever array sensor which is capable of simultaneous monitoring of glucose and ethanol concentration changes in a phosphate buffer solution. 4-mercaptophenylboronic acid (4-MPBA) and polyethyleneglycol (PEG)-thiol are employed to functionalize each piezoresistive cantilever for glucose and ethanol sensing, respectively. Successful concentration measurements of glucose and ethanol with minimal interferences aremore » obtained with our cantilever array sensor.« less

Piezoresistive Cantilever Performance—Part II: Optimization

PubMed Central

Park, Sung-Jin; Doll, Joseph C.; Rastegar, Ali J.; Pruitt, Beth L.

2010-01-01

Piezoresistive silicon cantilevers fabricated by ion implantation are frequently used for force, displacement, and chemical sensors due to their low cost and electronic readout. However, the design of piezoresistive cantilevers is not a straightforward problem due to coupling between the design parameters, constraints, process conditions, and performance. We systematically analyzed the effect of design and process parameters on force resolution and then developed an optimization approach to improve force resolution while satisfying various design constraints using simulation results. The combined simulation and optimization approach is extensible to other doping methods beyond ion implantation in principle. The optimization results were validated by fabricating cantilevers with the optimized conditions and characterizing their performance. The measurement results demonstrate that the analytical model accurately predicts force and displacement resolution, and sensitivity and noise tradeoff in optimal cantilever performance. We also performed a comparison between our optimization technique and existing models and demonstrated eight times improvement in force resolution over simplified models. PMID:20333323

Critical Role of Diels-Adler Adducts to Realise Stretchable Transparent Electrodes Based on Silver Nanowires and Silicone Elastomer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heo, Gaeun; Pyo, Kyoung-Hee; Lee, Da Hee; Kim, Youngmin; Kim, Jong-Woong

2016-05-01

This paper presents the successful fabrication of a transparent electrode comprising a sandwich structure of silicone/Ag nanowires (AgNWs)/silicone equipped with Diels-Alder (DA) adducts as crosslinkers to realise highly stable stretchability. Because of the reversible DA reaction, the crosslinked silicone successfully bonds with the silicone overcoat, which should completely seal the electrode. Thus, any surrounding liquid cannot leak through the interfaces among the constituents. Furthermore, the nanowires are protected by the silicone cover when they are stressed by mechanical loads such as bending, folding, and stretching. After delicate optimisation of the layered silicone/AgNW/silicone sandwich structure, a stretchable transparent electrode which can withstand 1000 cycles of 50% stretching-releasing with an exceptionally high stability and reversibility was fabricated. This structure can be used as a transparent strain sensor; it possesses a strong piezoresistivity with a gauge factor greater than 11.

Piezotronic Effect in Polarity-Controlled GaN Nanowires.

PubMed

Zhao, Zhenfu; Pu, Xiong; Han, Changbao; Du, Chunhua; Li, Linxuan; Jiang, Chunyan; Hu, Weiguo; Wang, Zhong Lin

2015-08-25

Using high-quality and polarity-controlled GaN nanowires (NWs), we studied the piezotronic effect in crystal orientation defined wurtzite structures. By applying a normal compressive force on c-plane GaN NWs with an atomic force microscopy tip, the Schottky barrier between the Pt tip and GaN can be effectively tuned by the piezotronic effect. In contrast, the normal compressive force cannot change the electron transport characteristics in m-plane GaN NWs whose piezoelectric polarization axis is turned in the transverse direction. This observation provided solid evidence for clarifying the difference between the piezotronic effect and the piezoresistive effect. We further demonstrated a high sensitivity of the m-plane GaN piezotronic transistor to collect the transverse force. The integration of c-plane GaN and m-plane GaN indicates an overall response to an external force in any direction.

Characterization of Piezoresistive PEDOT:PSS Pressure Sensors with Inter-Digitated and Cross-Point Electrode Structures

PubMed Central

Wang, Jer-Chyi; Karmakar, Rajat Subhra; Lu, Yu-Jen; Huang, Chiung-Yin; Wei, Kuo-Chen

2015-01-01

The piezoresistive characteristics of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) pressure sensors with inter-digitated (IDE) and cross-point electrode (CPE) structures have been investigated. A small variation of the resistance of the pressure sensors with IDE without bottom indium-tin-oxide (b-ITO) film and with CPE structures was observed owing to the single carrier-conducting pathway. For the IDE pressure sensors with b-ITO, the piezoresistive characteristics at low and high pressure were similar to those of the pressure sensors with IDE without b-ITO and with CPE structures, respectively, leading to increased piezoresistive pressure sensitivity as the PEDOT:PSS film thickness decreased. A maximum sensitivity of more than 42 kΩ/Pa was achieved. When the normal pressure was applied, the increased number of conducting points or the reduced distance between the PEDOT oligomers within the PEDOT:PSS film resulted in a decrease of the resistance. The piezoresistive pressure sensors with a single carrier-conducting pathway, i.e., IDE without b-ITO and CPE structures, exhibited a small relaxation time and a superior reversible operation, which can be advantageous for fast piezoresistive response applications. PMID:25569756

Characterization of piezoresistive PEDOT:PSS pressure sensors with inter-digitated and cross-point electrode structures.

PubMed

Wang, Jer-Chyi; Karmakar, Rajat Subhra; Lu, Yu-Jen; Huang, Chiung-Yin; Wei, Kuo-Chen

2015-01-05

The piezoresistive characteristics of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) pressure sensors with inter-digitated (IDE) and cross-point electrode (CPE) structures have been investigated. A small variation of the resistance of the pressure sensors with IDE without bottom indium-tin-oxide (b-ITO) film and with CPE structures was observed owing to the single carrier-conducting pathway. For the IDE pressure sensors with b-ITO, the piezoresistive characteristics at low and high pressure were similar to those of the pressure sensors with IDE without b-ITO and with CPE structures, respectively, leading to increased piezoresistive pressure sensitivity as the PEDOT:PSS film thickness decreased. A maximum sensitivity of more than 42 kΩ/Pa was achieved. When the normal pressure was applied, the increased number of conducting points or the reduced distance between the PEDOT oligomers within the PEDOT:PSS film resulted in a decrease of the resistance. The piezoresistive pressure sensors with a single carrier-conducting pathway, i.e., IDE without b-ITO and CPE structures, exhibited a small relaxation time and a superior reversible operation, which can be advantageous for fast piezoresistive response applications.

Piezoresistive strain sensing of carbon black /silicone composites above percolation threshold

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shang, Shuying; Yue, Yujuan; Wang, Xiaoer

2016-12-01

A series of flexible composites with a carbon black (CB) filled silicone rubber matrix were made by an improved process in this work. A low percolation threshold with a mass ratio of 2.99% CB was achieved. The piezoresistive behavior of CB/silicone composites above the critical value, with the mass ratio of carbon black to the silicone rubber ranging from 0.01 to 0.2, was studied. The piezoresistive behavior was different from each other for the composites with different CB contents. But, the composites show an excellent repeatability of piezoresistivity under cyclic compression, no matter with low filler content or with high filler content. The most interesting phenomena were that the plots of gauge factor versus strain of the composites with different CB contents constructed a master curve and the curve could be well fitted by a function. It was showed that the gauge factor of the composites was strain-controlled showing a promising prospect of application.

Multiscale Hierarchical Design of a Flexible Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor with High Sensitivity and Wide Linearity Range.

PubMed

Shi, Jidong; Wang, Liu; Dai, Zhaohe; Zhao, Lingyu; Du, Mingde; Li, Hongbian; Fang, Ying

2018-05-30

Flexible piezoresistive pressure sensors have been attracting wide attention for applications in health monitoring and human-machine interfaces because of their simple device structure and easy-readout signals. For practical applications, flexible pressure sensors with both high sensitivity and wide linearity range are highly desirable. Herein, a simple and low-cost method for the fabrication of a flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor with a hierarchical structure over large areas is presented. The piezoresistive pressure sensor consists of arrays of microscale papillae with nanoscale roughness produced by replicating the lotus leaf's surface and spray-coating of graphene ink. Finite element analysis (FEA) shows that the hierarchical structure governs the deformation behavior and pressure distribution at the contact interface, leading to a quick and steady increase in contact area with loads. As a result, the piezoresistive pressure sensor demonstrates a high sensitivity of 1.2 kPa -1 and a wide linearity range from 0 to 25 kPa. The flexible pressure sensor is applied for sensitive monitoring of small vibrations, including wrist pulse and acoustic waves. Moreover, a piezoresistive pressure sensor array is fabricated for mapping the spatial distribution of pressure. These results highlight the potential applications of the flexible piezoresistive pressure sensor for health monitoring and electronic skin. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

UV radiation and CH4 gas detection with a single ZnO:Pd nanowire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lupan, O.; Adelung, R.; Postica, V.; Ababii, N.; Chow, L.; Viana, B.; Pauporté, T.

2017-02-01

There is an increasing demand for sensors to monitor environmental levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation and pollutant gases. In this work, an individual nanowire of Pd modified ZnO nanowire (ZnO:Pd NW) was integrated in a nanosensor device for efficient and fast detection of UV light and CH4 gas at room temperature. Crystalline ZnO:Pd nanowire/nanorod arrays were synthesized onto fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) substrates by electrochemical deposition (ECD) at relative low-temperatures (90 °C) with different concentrations of PdCl2 in electrolyte solution and investigated by SEM and EDX. Nanodevices were fabricated using dual beam focused electron/ion beam (FIB/SEM) system and showed improved UV radiation response compared to pristine ZnO NW, reported previously by our group. The UV response was increased by one order in magnitude (≈ 11) for ZnO:Pd NW. Gas sensing measurements demonstrated a higher gas response and rapidity to methane (CH4 gas, 100 ppm) at room temperature, showing promising results for multifunctional applications. Also, due to miniature size and ultra-low power consumption of these sensors, it is possible to integrate them into portable devices easily, such as smartphones, digital clock, flame detection, missile lunching and other smart devices.

High Aspect Ratio Perforated Co₃O₄ Nanowires Derived from Cobalt-Carbonate-Hydroxide Nanowires with Enhanced Sensing Performance.

PubMed

Zhou, Tuantuan; Gao, Wanlin; Wang, Qiang; Umar, Ahmad

2018-05-01

Herein, we report the facile synthesis of high-aspect ratio perforated Co3O4 nanowires derived from cobalt-carbonate-hydroxide (Co(CO3)0.5(OH) 0.11H2O) nanowires. The Co(CO3)0.5(OH) 0.11H2O nanowires were synthesized by simple hydrothermal process at 120 °C while annealing of such nanowires at 400 °C leads the formation of perforated Co3O4 nanowires. The prepared nanowires were characterized by several techniques which confirmed the high aspect ratio and well-crystallinity for the synthesized nanowires. For application point of view, the prepared perforated Co3O4 nanowires were used as efficient electrode material to fabricate highly sensitive and selective hydrazine chemical sensor. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique was employed to confirm the successful modification of the electrode. The key parameters of chemical sensor, such as detection limit, sensitivity, and linear range, have been systematically explored. The fabricated hydrazine sensor displayed a rather low detection limit of 4.52 μM (S/N = 3), a good sensitivity of 25.70 μA · mM-1, and a wide linear range of 16.97-358.34 μM.

Label-Free Direct Detection of miRNAs with Poly-Silicon Nanowire Biosensors

PubMed Central

Gong, Changguo; Qi, Jiming; Xiao, Han; Jiang, Bin; Zhao, Yulan

2015-01-01

Background The diagnostic and prognostic value of microRNAs (miRNAs) in a variety of diseases is promising. The novel silicon nanowire (SiNW) biosensors have advantages in molecular detection because of their high sensitivity and fast response. In this study, poly-crystalline silicon nanowire field-effect transistor (poly-SiNW FET) device was developed to achieve specific and ultrasensitive detection of miRNAs without labeling and amplification. Methods The poly-SiNW FET was fabricated by a top–down Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) wafer fabrication based technique. Single strand DNA (ssDNA) probe was bind to the surface of the poly-SiNW device which was silanated and aldehyde-modified. By comparing the difference of resistance value before and after ssDNA and miRNA hybridization, poly-SiNW device can be used to detect standard and real miRNA samples. Results Poly-SiNW device with different structures (different line width and different pitch) was applied to detect standard Let-7b sample with a detection limitation of 1 fM. One-base mismatched sequence could be distinguished meanwhile. Furthermore, these poly-SiNW arrays can detect snRNA U6 in total RNA samples extracted from HepG2 cells with a detection limitation of 0.2 μg/mL. In general, structures with pitch showed better results than those without pitch in detection of both Let-7b and snRNA U6. Moreover, structures with smaller pitch showed better detection efficacy. Conclusion Our findings suggest that poly-SiNW arrays could detect standard and real miRNA sample without labeling or amplification. Poly-SiNW biosensor device is promising for miRNA detection. PMID:26709827

Effect of degree of crosslinking and polymerization of 3D printable polymer/ionic liquid composites on performance of stretchable piezoresistive sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Jeongwoo; Faruk Emon, Md Omar; Vatani, Morteza; Choi, Jae-Won

2017-03-01

Ionic liquid (IL)/polymer composites (1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EMIMBF4)/2-[[(butylamino)carbonyl]oxy]ethyl acrylate (BACOEA)) were fabricated to use as sensing materials for stretchable piezoresistive tactile sensors. The detectability of the IL/polymer composites was enhanced because the ionic transport properties of EMIMBF4 in the composites were improved by the synergic actions between the coordinate sites generated by the local motion of BACOEA chain segments under enough activation energy. The performance of the piezoresistive sensors was investigated with the degree of crosslinking and polymerization of the IL/polymer composites. As the compressive strain was increased, the distance between two electrodes decreased, and the motion of polymer chains and IL occurred, resulting in a decrease in the electrical resistance of the sensors. We have confirmed that the sensitivity of the sensors are affected by the degree of crosslink and polymerization of the IL/polymer composites. In addition, all of the materials (skins, sensing material, and electrode) used in this study are photo-curable, and thus the stretchable piezoresistive tactile sensors can be successfully fabricated by 3D printing.

Measurement of Swine H1N1 Hemagglutinin Peptide binding with Piezoresistive Microcantilever Arrays

DOE PAGES

Bajwa, Navdeep K; Maldonado, Carlos J.; Thundat, Thomas George; ...

2014-03-24

The effective detection of Swine H1N1 Hemagglutinin peptide is crucial as it could be used as a positive control to screen for highly infectious flu strains such as Swine-Origin Influenza A (H1N1). Piezoresistive microcantilever arrays present a pathway towards highly sensitive and label-free detection of biomolecules by transducing the antigen-antibody binding into change in resistivity via induced surface stress variation. We also demonstrate a mechanical transduction of Swine H1N1 Hemagglutinin peptide binding and suggest the employed technique may offer a potential platform for detection of the H1N1 virus, which could be clinically used to diagnose and provide subsequent relief.

Piezoresistive measurement of Swine H1N1 Hemagglutinin peptide binding with microcantilever arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bajwa, N.; Maldonado, C. J.; Thundat, T.; Passian, A.

2014-03-01

Effective detection of Swine H1N1 Hemagglutinin peptide is crucial as it could be used as a positive control to screen for highly infectious flu strains such as Swine-Origin Influenza A (H1N1). Piezoresistive microcantilever arrays present a pathway towards highly sensitive and label-free detection of biomolecules by transducing the antigen-antibody binding into change in resistivity via induced surface stress variation. We demonstrate a mechanical transduction of Swine H1N1 Hemagglutinin peptide binding and suggest the employed technique may offer a potential platform for detection of the H1N1 virus, which could be clinically used to diagnose and provide subsequent relief.

Measurement of Swine H1N1 Hemagglutinin Peptide binding with Piezoresistive Microcantilever Arrays

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bajwa, Navdeep K; Maldonado, Carlos J.; Thundat, Thomas George

The effective detection of Swine H1N1 Hemagglutinin peptide is crucial as it could be used as a positive control to screen for highly infectious flu strains such as Swine-Origin Influenza A (H1N1). Piezoresistive microcantilever arrays present a pathway towards highly sensitive and label-free detection of biomolecules by transducing the antigen-antibody binding into change in resistivity via induced surface stress variation. We also demonstrate a mechanical transduction of Swine H1N1 Hemagglutinin peptide binding and suggest the employed technique may offer a potential platform for detection of the H1N1 virus, which could be clinically used to diagnose and provide subsequent relief.

Scalable fabrication of nanomaterials based piezoresistivity sensors with enhanced performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoang, Phong Tran

Nanomaterials are small structures that have at least one dimension less than 100 nanometers. Depending on the number of dimensions that are not confined to the nanoscale range, nanomaterials can be classified into 0D, 1D and 2D types. Due to their small sizes, nanoparticles possess exceptional physical and chemical properties which opens a unique possibility for the next generation of strain sensors that are cheap, multifunctional, high sensitivity and reliability. Over the years, thanks to the development of new nanomaterials and the printing technologies, a number of printing techniques have been developed to fabricate a wide range of electronic devices on diverse substrates. Nanomaterials based thin film devices can be readily patterned and fabricated in a variety of ways, including printing, spraying and laser direct writing. In this work, we review the piezoresistivity of nanomaterials of different categories and study various printing approaches to utilize their excellent properties in the fabrication of scalable and printable thin film strain gauges. CNT-AgNP composite thin films were fabricated using a solution based screen printing process. By controlling the concentration ratio of CNTs to AgNPs in the nanocomposites and the supporting substrates, we were able to engineer the crack formation to achieve stable and high sensitivity sensors. The crack formation in the composite films lead to piezoresistive sensors with high GFs up to 221.2. Also, with a simple, low cost, and easy to scale up fabrication process they may find use as an alternative to traditional strain sensors. By using computer controlled spray coating system, we can achieve uniform and high quality CNTs thin films for the fabrication of strain sensors and transparent / flexible electrodes. A simple diazonium salt treatment of the pristine SWCNT thin film has been identified to be efficient in greatly enhancing the piezoresistive sensitivity of SWCNT thin film based piezoresistive sensors

Nanowire Aptasensors for Electrochemical Detection of Cell-Secreted Cytokines.

PubMed

Liu, Ying; Rahimian, Ali; Krylyuk, Sergiy; Vu, Tam; Crulhas, Bruno; Stybayeva, Gulnaz; Imanbekova, Meruyert; Shin, Dong-Sik; Davydov, Albert; Revzin, Alexander

2017-11-22

Cytokines are small proteins secreted by immune cells in response to pathogens/infections; therefore, these proteins can be used in diagnosing infectious diseases. For example, release of a cytokine interferon (IFN)-γ from T-cells is used for blood-based diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB). Our lab has previously developed an atpamer-based electrochemical biosensor for rapid and sensitive detection of IFN-γ. In this study, we explored the use of silicon nanowires (NWs) as a way to create nanostructured electrodes with enhanced sensitivity for IFN-γ. Si NWs were covered with gold and were further functionalized with thiolated aptamers specific for IFN-γ. Aptamer molecules were designed to form a hairpin and in addition to terminal thiol groups contained redox reporter molecules methylene blue. Binding of analyte to aptamer-modified NWs (termed here nanowire aptasensors) inhibited electron transfer from redox reporters to the electrode and caused electrochemical redox signal to decrease. In a series of experiments we demonstrate that NW aptasensors responded 3× faster and were 2× more sensitive to IFN-γ compared to standard flat electrodes. Most significantly, NW aptasensors allowed detection of IFN-γ from as few as 150 T-cells/mL while ELISA did not pick up signal from the same number of cells. One of the challenges faced by ELISA-based TB diagnostics is poor performance in patients whose T-cell numbers are low, typically HIV patients. Therefore, NW aptasensors developed here may be used in the future for more sensitive monitoring of IFN-γ responses in patients coinfected with HIV/TB.

Physical mechanisms of timing jitter in photon detection by current-carrying superconducting nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sidorova, Mariia; Semenov, Alexej; Hübers, Heinz-Wilhelm; Charaev, Ilya; Kuzmin, Artem; Doerner, Steffen; Siegel, Michael

2017-11-01

We studied timing jitter in the appearance of photon counts in meandering nanowires with different fractional amount of bends. Intrinsic timing jitter, which is the probability density function of the random time delay between photon absorption in current-carrying superconducting nanowire and appearance of the normal domain, reveals two different underlying physical mechanisms. In the deterministic regime, which is realized at large photon energies and large currents, jitter is controlled by position-dependent detection threshold in straight parts of meanders. It decreases with the increase in the current. At small photon energies, jitter increases and its current dependence disappears. In this probabilistic regime jitter is controlled by Poisson process in that magnetic vortices jump randomly across the wire in areas adjacent to the bends.

Single n+-i-n+ InP nanowires for highly sensitive terahertz detection.

PubMed

Peng, Kun; Parkinson, Patrick; Gao, Qian; Boland, Jessica L; Li, Ziyuan; Wang, Fan; Mokkapati, Sudha; Fu, Lan; Johnston, Michael B; Tan, Hark Hoe; Jagadish, Chennupati

2017-03-24

Developing single-nanowire terahertz (THz) electronics and employing them as sub-wavelength components for highly-integrated THz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) applications is a promising approach to achieve future low-cost, highly integrable and high-resolution THz tools, which are desirable in many areas spanning from security, industry, environmental monitoring and medical diagnostics to fundamental science. In this work, we present the design and growth of n + -i-n + InP nanowires. The axial doping profile of the n + -i-n + InP nanowires has been calibrated and characterized using combined optical and electrical approaches to achieve nanowire devices with low contact resistances, on which the highly-sensitive InP single-nanowire photoconductive THz detectors have been demonstrated. While the n + -i-n + InP nanowire detector has a only pA-level response current, it has a 2.5 times improved signal-to-noise ratio compared with the undoped InP nanowire detector and is comparable to traditional bulk THz detectors. This performance indicates a promising path to nanowire-based THz electronics for future commercial applications.

Remote activation and detection of up-converted luminescence via surface plasmon polaritons propagating in a silver nanowire.

PubMed

Prymaczek, A; Cwierzona, M; Grzelak, J; Kowalska, D; Nyk, M; Mackowski, S; Piatkowski, D

2018-06-27

In this paper, we demonstrate remote activation and detection of the 2-photon up-conversion luminescence via surface plasmon polaritons propagating in a long silver nanowire. The hybrid nanostructure was assembled by locally depositing a submicron droplet of nanocrystal-containing colloidal solution on one of the ends of the metallic nanowire. When - using a classic confocal microscope - the second end of the nanowire, without the nanocrystals, is illuminated with infrared laser light, we observe strong emission from the same end. Therefore, it indicates that surface plasmon polaritons activated with infrared light at the second end of the nanowire propagate along it and can excite nanocrystals in the droplet at the opposite end. Subsequently, the excited nanocrystals up-convert the energy and by launching surface plasmon polaritons can guide the up-converted luminescence back to the starting point. The emergence of this effect is much more pronounced for a laser polarized along the nanowire. The spectral and temporal character of this emission reveals strong interactions between surface plasmon polaritons and electronic states of the nanocrystals. The details of local and non-local aspects of the effects of remote excitation and guiding of energy in a silver nanowire are elucidated using a unique experimental setup, based on two microscope objectives for spatial separation and control of both excitation and emission beams.

An analytical model of joule heating in piezoresistive microcantilevers.

PubMed

Ansari, Mohd Zahid; Cho, Chongdu

2010-01-01

The present study investigates Joule heating in piezoresistive microcantilever sensors. Joule heating and thermal deflections are a major source of noise in such sensors. This work uses analytical and numerical techniques to characterise the Joule heating in 4-layer piezoresistive microcantilevers made of silicon and silicon dioxide substrates but with the same U-shaped silicon piezoresistor. A theoretical model for predicting the temperature generated due to Joule heating is developed. The commercial finite element software ANSYS Multiphysics was used to study the effect of electrical potential on temperature and deflection produced in the cantilevers. The effect of piezoresistor width on Joule heating is also studied. Results show that Joule heating strongly depends on the applied potential and width of piezoresistor and that a silicon substrate cantilever has better thermal characteristics than a silicon dioxide cantilever.

A Micromachined Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor with a Shield Layer

PubMed Central

Cao, Gang; Wang, Xiaoping; Xu, Yong; Liu, Sheng

2016-01-01

This paper presents a piezoresistive pressure sensor with a shield layer for improved stability. Compared with the conventional piezoresistive pressure sensors, the new one reported in this paper has an n-type shield layer that covers p-type piezoresistors. This shield layer aims to minimize the impact of electrical field and reduce the temperature sensitivity of piezoresistors. The proposed sensors have been successfully fabricated by bulk-micromachining techniques. A sensitivity of 0.022 mV/V/kPa and a maximum non-linearity of 0.085% FS are obtained in a pressure range of 1 MPa. After numerical simulation, the role of the shield layer has been experimentally investigated. It is demonstrated that the shield layer is able to reduce the drift caused by electrical field and ambient temperature variation. PMID:27529254

Multifunctional Magnetic Nanowires for Biomagnetic Interfacing Concepts

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-07-14

demonstration of both in vitro and in vivo gene delivery with nanowire carriers, magnetic detection of nanowires for biosensing applications, and extensions of...nanowire concentration. The end-to-end self-assembly of nanowires reported here is similar to the problem of step polymerization . The polymerization of...end-segment (A) with a biotin- terminated end-segment (B), L0 is the initial chain length, and p is the extent of reaction (or polymerization

Piezoresistive Strain Sensors and Multiplexed Arrays for Transportation Infrastructures

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-10-01

During Year 5 of SAFETEA-LU, ITI researcher Professor Yonggang Huang, an expert in : the science of stretchable and flexible electronics, collaborated with researchers at : University of Illinois to engineer stretchable and flexible piezoresistive st...

A Novel Piezoresistive Accelerometer with SPBs to Improve the Tradeoff between the Sensitivity and the Resonant Frequency

PubMed Central

Xu, Yu; Zhao, Libo; Jiang, Zhuangde; Ding, Jianjun; Peng, Niancai; Zhao, Yulong

2016-01-01

For improving the tradeoff between the sensitivity and the resonant frequency of piezoresistive accelerometers, the dependency between the stress of the piezoresistor and the displacement of the structure is taken into consideration in this paper. In order to weaken the dependency, a novel structure with suspended piezoresistive beams (SPBs) is designed, and a theoretical model is established for calculating the location of SPBs, the stress of SPBs and the resonant frequency of the whole structure. Finite element method (FEM) simulations, comparative simulations and experiments are carried out to verify the good agreement with the theoretical model. It is demonstrated that increasing the sensitivity greatly without sacrificing the resonant frequency is possible in the piezoresistive accelerometer design. Therefore, the proposed structure with SPBs is potentially a novel option for improving the tradeoff between the sensitivity and the resonant frequency of piezoresistive accelerometers. PMID:26861343

A Novel Piezoresistive Accelerometer with SPBs to Improve the Tradeoff between the Sensitivity and the Resonant Frequency.

PubMed

Xu, Yu; Zhao, Libo; Jiang, Zhuangde; Ding, Jianjun; Peng, Niancai; Zhao, Yulong

2016-02-06

For improving the tradeoff between the sensitivity and the resonant frequency of piezoresistive accelerometers, the dependency between the stress of the piezoresistor and the displacement of the structure is taken into consideration in this paper. In order to weaken the dependency, a novel structure with suspended piezoresistive beams (SPBs) is designed, and a theoretical model is established for calculating the location of SPBs, the stress of SPBs and the resonant frequency of the whole structure. Finite element method (FEM) simulations, comparative simulations and experiments are carried out to verify the good agreement with the theoretical model. It is demonstrated that increasing the sensitivity greatly without sacrificing the resonant frequency is possible in the piezoresistive accelerometer design. Therefore, the proposed structure with SPBs is potentially a novel option for improving the tradeoff between the sensitivity and the resonant frequency of piezoresistive accelerometers.

Frosted Slides Decorated with Silica Nanowires for Detecting Circulating Tumor Cells from Prostate Cancer Patients.

PubMed

Cui, Haijun; Wang, Binshuai; Wang, Wenshuo; Hao, Yuwei; Liu, Chuanyong; Song, Kai; Zhang, Shudong; Wang, Shutao

2018-06-13

Developing low-cost and highly efficient nanobiochips are important for liquid biopsies, real-time monitoring, and precision medicine. By in situ growth of silica nanowires on a commercial frosted slide, we develop a biochip for effective circulating tumor cells (CTCs) detection after modifying epithelial cell adhesion molecule antibody (anti-EpCAM). The biochip shows the specificity and high capture efficiency of 85.4 ± 8.3% for prostate cancer cell line (PC-3). The microsized frosted slides and silica nanowires allow enhanced efficiency in capture EpCAM positive cells by synergistic topographic interactions. And the capture efficiency of biochip increased with the increase of silica nanowires length on frosted slide. The biochip shows that micro/nanocomposite structures improve the capture efficiency of PC-3 more than 70% toward plain slide. Furthermore, the nanobiochip has been successfully applied to identify CTCs from whole blood specimens of prostate cancer patients. Thus, this frosted slide-based biochip may provide a cheap and effective way of clinical monitoring of CTCs.

Dielectrophoretic investigation of Bi₂Te₃ nanowires-a microfabricated thermoelectric characterization platform for measuring the thermoelectric and structural properties of single nanowires.

PubMed

Wang, Zhi; Kojda, Danny; Peranio, Nicola; Kroener, Michael; Mitdank, Rüdiger; Toellner, William; Nielsch, Kornelius; Fischer, Saskia F; Gutsch, Sebastian; Zacharias, Margit; Eibl, Oliver; Woias, Peter

2015-03-27

In this article a microfabricated thermoelectric nanowire characterization platform to investigate the thermoelectric and structural properties of single nanowires is presented. By means of dielectrophoresis (DEP), a method to manipulate and orient nanowires in a controlled way to assemble them onto our measurement platform is introduced. The thermoelectric platform fabricated with optimally designed DEP electrodes results in a yield of nanowire assembly of approximately 90% under an applied peak-to-peak ac signal Vpp = 10 V and frequency f = 20 MHz within a series of 200 experiments. Ohmic contacts between the aligned single nanowire and the electrodes on the platform are established by electron beam-induced deposition. The Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity of electrochemically synthesized Bi2Te3 nanowires are measured to be -51 μV K(-1) and (943 ± 160)/(Ω(-1) cm(-1)), respectively. Chemical composition and crystallographic structure are obtained using transmission electron microscopy. The selected nanowire is observed to be single crystalline over its entire length and no grain boundaries are detected. At the surface of the nanowire, 66.1 ± 1.1 at.% Te and 34.9 ± 1.1 at.% Bi are observed. In contrast, chemical composition of 64.2 at.% Te and 35.8 at.% Bi is detected in the thick center of the nanowire.

Single Zno Nanowire-Based Biofet Sensors for Ultrasensitive, Label-Free and Real-Time Detection of Uric Acid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Pei; Liu, Xi; Yan, Xiaoqin; Kang, Zhuo; Lei, Yang; Zhao, Yanguang

2012-08-01

Qualitative and quantitative detection of biological and chemical species is crucial in many areas, ranging from clinical diagnosis to homeland security. Due to the advantages of ultrahigh sensitivity, label-free, fast readout and easy fabrication over the traditional detection systems, semiconductor nanowire based electronic devices have emerged as a potential platform. In this paper, we fabricated a single ZnO nanowire-based bioFET sensor for the detection of low and high concentration uric acid solution at the same time. The addition of uric acid with the concentrations from 1 pM to 0.5 mM resulted in the electrical conductance changes of up to 227 nS, and the response time turns out to be in the order of millisecond. The ZnO NW biosensor could easily detect as low as 1 pM of the uric acid with 14.7 nS of conductance increase, which implied that the sensitivity of the biosensor can be below the 1pM concentration.

Self-heating in piezoresistive cantilevers

PubMed Central

Doll, Joseph C.; Corbin, Elise A.; King, William P.; Pruitt, Beth L.

2011-01-01

We report experiments and models of self-heating in piezoresistive microcantilevers that show how cantilever measurement resolution depends on the thermal properties of the surrounding fluid. The predicted cantilever temperature rise from a finite difference model is compared with detailed temperature measurements on fabricated devices. Increasing the fluid thermal conductivity allows for lower temperature operation for a given power dissipation, leading to lower force and displacement noise. The force noise in air is 76% greater than in water for the same increase in piezoresistor temperature. PMID:21731884

Self-heating in piezoresistive cantilevers.

PubMed

Doll, Joseph C; Corbin, Elise A; King, William P; Pruitt, Beth L

2011-05-30

We report experiments and models of self-heating in piezoresistive microcantilevers that show how cantilever measurement resolution depends on the thermal properties of the surrounding fluid. The predicted cantilever temperature rise from a finite difference model is compared with detailed temperature measurements on fabricated devices. Increasing the fluid thermal conductivity allows for lower temperature operation for a given power dissipation, leading to lower force and displacement noise. The force noise in air is 76% greater than in water for the same increase in piezoresistor temperature.

An Analytical Model of Joule Heating in Piezoresistive Microcantilevers

PubMed Central

Ansari, Mohd Zahid; Cho, Chongdu

2010-01-01

The present study investigates Joule heating in piezoresistive microcantilever sensors. Joule heating and thermal deflections are a major source of noise in such sensors. This work uses analytical and numerical techniques to characterise the Joule heating in 4-layer piezoresistive microcantilevers made of silicon and silicon dioxide substrates but with the same U-shaped silicon piezoresistor. A theoretical model for predicting the temperature generated due to Joule heating is developed. The commercial finite element software ANSYS Multiphysics was used to study the effect of electrical potential on temperature and deflection produced in the cantilevers. The effect of piezoresistor width on Joule heating is also studied. Results show that Joule heating strongly depends on the applied potential and width of piezoresistor and that a silicon substrate cantilever has better thermal characteristics than a silicon dioxide cantilever. PMID:22163433

Single conducting polymer nanowire based conductometric sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bangar, Mangesh Ashok

The detection of toxic chemicals, gases or biological agents at very low concentrations with high sensitivity and selectivity has been subject of immense interest. Sensors employing electrical signal readout as transduction mechanism offer easy, label-free detection of target analyte in real-time. Traditional thin film sensors inherently suffered through loss of sensitivity due to current shunting across the charge depleted/added region upon analyte binding to the sensor surface, due to their large cross sectional area. This limitation was overcome by use of nanostructure such as nanowire/tube as transducer where current shunting during sensing was almost eliminated. Due to their benign chemical/electrochemical fabrication route along with excellent electrical properties and biocompatibility, conducting polymers offer cost-effective alternative over other nanostructures. Biggest obstacle in using these nanostructures is lack of easy, scalable and cost-effective way of assembling these nanostructures on prefabricated micropatterns for device fabrication. In this dissertation, three different approaches have been taken to fabricate individual or array of single conducting polymer (and metal) nanowire based devices and using polymer by itself or after functionalization with appropriate recognition molecule they have been applied for gas and biochemical detection. In the first approach electrochemical fabrication of multisegmented nanowires with middle functional Ppy segment along with ferromagnetic nickel (Ni) and end gold segments for better electrical contact was studied. This multi-layered nanowires were used along with ferromagnetic contact electrode for controlled magnetic assembly of nanowires into devices and were used for ammonia gas sensing. The second approach uses conducting polymer, polypyrrole (Ppy) nanowires using simple electrophoretic alignment and maskless electrodeposition to anchor nanowire which were further functionalized with antibodies against

Direct electrodeposition of porous gold nanowire arrays for biosensing applications.

PubMed

Zhang, Xinyi; Li, Dan; Bourgeois, Laure; Wang, Huanting; Webley, Paul A

2009-02-02

Nanochannel alumina templates are used as templates for fabrication of porous gold nanowire arrays by a direct electrodeposition method. After modification with glucose oxidase, a porous gold nanowire-array electrode is shown to be an excellent electrochemical biosensor for the detection of glucose. The picture shows an SEM image of a nanowire array after removal of the alumina template by acid dissolution. We report the fabrication of porous gold nanowire arrays by means of a one-step electrodeposition method utilizing nanochannel alumina templates. The microstructure of gold nanowires depends strongly on the current density. The formation of porous gold nanowires is attributed to disperse crystallization under conditions of low nucleation rate. Interfacial electron transport through the porous gold nanowires is studied by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetric studies on the porous gold nanowire arrays reveal a low-potential electrocatalytic response towards hydrogen peroxide. The properties of the glucose oxidase modified porous gold nanowire array electrode are elucidated and compared with those of nonporous enzyme electrodes. The glucose oxidase modified porous gold nanowire-array electrode is shown to be an excellent electrochemical biosensor for the detection of glucose.

Fabricating nanowire devices on diverse substrates by simple transfer-printing methods.

PubMed

Lee, Chi Hwan; Kim, Dong Rip; Zheng, Xiaolin

2010-06-01

The fabrication of nanowire (NW) devices on diverse substrates is necessary for applications such as flexible electronics, conformable sensors, and transparent solar cells. Although NWs have been fabricated on plastic and glass by lithographic methods, the choice of device substrates is severely limited by the lithographic process temperature and substrate properties. Here we report three new transfer-printing methods for fabricating NW devices on diverse substrates including polydimethylsiloxane, Petri dishes, Kapton tapes, thermal release tapes, and many types of adhesive tapes. These transfer-printing methods rely on the differences in adhesion to transfer NWs, metal films, and devices from weakly adhesive donor substrates to more strongly adhesive receiver substrates. Electrical characterization of fabricated NW devices shows that reliable ohmic contacts are formed between NWs and electrodes. Moreover, we demonstrated that Si NW devices fabricated by the transfer-printing methods are robust piezoresistive stress sensors and temperature sensors with reliable performance.

Comparison of Ti-Based Coatings on Silicon Nanowires for Phosphopeptide Enrichment and Their Laser Assisted Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry Detection

PubMed Central

Kurylo, Ievgen; Hamdi, Abderrahmane; Addad, Ahmed; Coffinier, Yannick

2017-01-01

We created different TiO2-based coatings on silicon nanowires (SiNWs) by using either thermal metallization or atomic layer deposition (ALD). The fabricated surfaces were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and reflectivity measurements. Surfaces with different TiO2 based coating thicknesses were then used for phosphopeptide enrichment and subsequent detection by laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS). Results showed that the best enrichment and LDI-MS detection were obtained using the silicon nanowires covered with 10 nm of oxidized Ti deposited by means of thermal evaporation. This sample was also able to perform phosphopeptide enrichment and MS detection from serum. PMID:28914806

Rapid Real-time Electrical Detection of Proteins Using Single Conducting Polymer Nanowire-Based Microfluidic Aptasensor

PubMed Central

Huang, Jiyong; Luo, Xiliang; Lee, Innam; Hu, Yushi; Cui, Xinyan Tracy; Yun, Minhee

2011-01-01

Single polypyrrole (PPy) nanowire-based microfluidic aptasensors were fabricated using a one-step electrochemical deposition method. The successful incorporation of the aptamers into the PPy nanowire was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy image. The microfluidic aptasensor showed responses to IgE protein solutions in the range from 0.01 nM to 100 nM, and demonstrated excellent specificity and sensitivity with faster response and rapid stabilization times (~20 s). At the lowest examined IgE concentration of 0.01nM, the microfluidic aptasensor still exhibited ~0.32% change in the conductance. The functionality of this aptasensor was able to be regenerated using an acid treatment with no major change in sensitivity. In addition, the detection of cancer biomarker MUC1 was performed using another microfluidic aptasensor, which showed a very low detection limit of 2.66 nM MUC1 compared to commercially available MUC1 diagnosis assay (800 nM). PMID:21937215

Tellurium-nanowire-coated glassy carbon electrodes for selective and sensitive detection of dopamine.

PubMed

Tsai, Hsiang-Yu; Lin, Zong-Hong; Chang, Huan-Tsung

2012-05-15

Tellurium-nanowire-coated glassy carbon electrodes (TNGCEs) have been fabricated and employed for selective and sensitive detection of dopamine (DA). TNGCEs were prepared by direct deposition of tellurium nanowires, 600 ± 150 nm in length and 16 ± 3 nm in diameter, onto glassy carbon electrodes, which were further coated with Nafion to improve their selectivity and stability. Compared to the GCE, the TNGCE is more electroactive (by approximately 1.9-fold) for DA, and its selectivity toward DA over ascorbic acid (AA) and uric acid (UA) is also greater. By applying differential pulse voltammetry, at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3, the TNGCE provides a limit of detection of 1 nM for DA in the presence of 0.5mM AA and UA. Linearity (R(2)=0.9955) of the oxidation current at 0.19 V against the concentration of DA is found over the range 5 nM-1 μM. TNGCEs have been applied to determine the concentration of dopamine to be 0.59 ± 0.07 μM in PC12 cells. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Present State of Amperometric Nanowire Sensors for Chemical and Biological Detection

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-10-01

reported for a multi(nano)wire carbon monoxide 6 sensor (17). A single gallium oxide nanowire ethanol sensor with a 2.5 second response time has also...Covington, J. A.; Gardner, J. W.; Bartlett, P. N.; Toh, C-S. Conductive polymer gate FET devices for vapour sensing. IEE Proceedings - Circuits...detecting organic vapours . Sensors and Actuators B 2001, 77 (1–2), 155–162. 48. Malliaras G.; Friend, R. An organic electronics primer. Physics

Piezoresistance of flexible tunneling-percolation networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor-Harrod, Isaac; Nogaret, Alain

2017-07-01

We model changes in the conductivity of flexible composite films stressed by bending. By treating stress as a perturbation of the effective medium conductivity, we obtain an expression of the piezoresistance as a function of four material parameters. The model correctly predicts resistance spikes and their recovery under the action of viscoelastic forces, in good agreement with experimental observations over stress cycles. The theory may be used to design composite materials for high-sensitivity touch sensors.

Direct ultrasensitive electrical detection of prostate cancer biomarkers with CMOS-compatible n- and p-type silicon nanowire sensor arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Anran; Lu, Na; Dai, Pengfei; Fan, Chunhai; Wang, Yuelin; Li, Tie

2014-10-01

Sensitive and quantitative analysis of proteins is central to disease diagnosis, drug screening, and proteomic studies. Here, a label-free, real-time, simultaneous and ultrasensitive prostate-specific antigen (PSA) sensor was developed using CMOS-compatible silicon nanowire field effect transistors (SiNW FET). Highly responsive n- and p-type SiNW arrays were fabricated and integrated on a single chip with a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible anisotropic self-stop etching technique which eliminated the need for a hybrid method. The incorporated n- and p-type nanowires revealed complementary electrical response upon PSA binding, providing a unique means of internal control for sensing signal verification. The highly selective, simultaneous and multiplexed detection of PSA marker at attomolar concentrations, a level useful for clinical diagnosis of prostate cancer, was demonstrated. The detection ability was corroborated to be effective by comparing the detection results at different pH values. Furthermore, the real-time measurement was also carried out in a clinically relevant sample of blood serum, indicating the practicable development of rapid, robust, high-performance, and low-cost diagnostic systems.Sensitive and quantitative analysis of proteins is central to disease diagnosis, drug screening, and proteomic studies. Here, a label-free, real-time, simultaneous and ultrasensitive prostate-specific antigen (PSA) sensor was developed using CMOS-compatible silicon nanowire field effect transistors (SiNW FET). Highly responsive n- and p-type SiNW arrays were fabricated and integrated on a single chip with a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible anisotropic self-stop etching technique which eliminated the need for a hybrid method. The incorporated n- and p-type nanowires revealed complementary electrical response upon PSA binding, providing a unique means of internal control for sensing signal verification. The highly

Construction of a Piezoresistive Neural Sensor Array

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carlson, W. B.; Schulze, W. A.; Pilgrim, P. M.

1996-01-01

The construction of a piezoresistive - piezoelectric sensor (or actuator) array is proposed using 'neural' connectivity for signal recognition and possible actuation functions. A closer integration of the sensor and decision functions is necessary in order to achieve intrinsic identification within the sensor. A neural sensor is the next logical step in development of truly 'intelligent' arrays. This proposal will integrate 1-3 polymer piezoresistors and MLC electroceramic devices for applications involving acoustic identification. The 'intelligent' piezoresistor -piezoelectric system incorporates printed resistors, composite resistors, and a feedback for the resetting of resistances. A model of a design is proposed in order to simulate electromechanical resistor interactions. The goal of optimizing a sensor geometry for improving device reliability, training, & signal identification capabilities is the goal of this work. At present, studies predict performance of a 'smart' device with a significant control of 'effective' compliance over a narrow pressure range due to a piezoresistor percolation threshold. An interesting possibility may be to use an array of control elements to shift the threshold function in order to change the level of resistance in a neural sensor array for identification, or, actuation applications. The proposed design employs elements of: (1) conductor loaded polymers for a 'fast' RC time constant response; and (2) multilayer ceramics for actuation or sensing and shifting of resistance in the polymer. Other material possibilities also exist using magnetoresistive layered systems for shifting the resistance. It is proposed to use a neural net configuration to test and to help study the possible changes required in the materials design of these devices. Numerical design models utilize electromechanical elements, in conjunction with structural elements in order to simulate piezoresistively controlled actuators and changes in resistance of sensors

Low temperature synthesis of seed mediated CuO bundle of nanowires, their structural characterisation and cholesterol detection.

PubMed

Ibupoto, Z H; Khun, K; Liu, X; Willander, M

2013-10-01

In this study, we have successfully synthesised CuO bundle of nanowires using simple, cheap and low temperature hydrothermal growth method. The growth parameters such as precursor concentration and time for duration of growth were optimised. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) has demonstrated that the CuO bundles of nanowires are highly dense, uniform and perpendicularly oriented to the substrate. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) has demonstrated that the CuO nanostructures consist of bundle of nanowires and their growth pattern is along the [010] direction. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique described that CuO bundle of nanowires possess the monoclinic crystal phase. The surface and chemical composition analyses were carried out with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique and the obtained results suggested the pure crystal state of CuO nanostructures. In addition, the CuO nanowires were used for the cholesterol sensing application by immobilising the cholesterol oxidase through electrostatic attraction. The infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy study has also revealed that CuO nanostructures are consisting of only CuO bonding and has also shown the possible interaction of cholesterol oxidase with the sharp edge surface of CuO bundle of nanowires. The proposed cholesterol sensor has demonstrated the wide range of detection of cholesterol with good sensitivity of 33.88±0.96 mV/decade. Moreover, the CuO bundle of nanowires based sensor electrode has revealed good repeatability, reproducibility, stability, selectivity and a fast response time of less than 10s. The cholesterol sensor based on the immobilised cholesterol oxidase has good potential applicability for the determination of cholesterol from the human serum and other biological samples. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A highly stable electrochemiluminescence sensing system of cadmium sulfide nanowires/graphene hybrid for supersensitive detection of pentachlorophenol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Yanan; Chang, Quanying; Yin, Kai; Liu, Chengbin; Wang, Ying

2017-10-01

A highly stable and effective electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensing system of cadmium sulfide nanowires/reduced graphene oxide (CdS NWS/rGO) hybrid is presented for supersensitive detection of pentachlorophenol (PCP). CdS nanowire is for the first time exploited in ECL sensing. The rGO served as both ECL signal amplifier and immobilization platform, can perfectly enhance the ECL intensity and stability of the sensing system. With S2O82- as coreactant, the ECL signal can be significantly quenched by the addition of PCP. The established ECL sensing system presents a wider linear range from 1.0 × 10-14 to 1.0 × 10-8 M and a much low detection limit of 2 × 10-15 M under the optimum test conditions (e.g., pH 7.0 and 100 mM S2O82-). Furthermore, the ECL sensing system displays a good selectivity for PCP detection. The practicability of the ECL sensing system in real water sample shows that this system could be promisingly applied in the analytical detection of PCP in real water environments.

Linear and Non-Linear Piezoresistance Coefficients in Cubic Semiconductors. I. Theoretical Formulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Durand, S.; Tellier, C. R.

1996-02-01

This paper constitutes the first part of a work devoted to applications of piezoresistance effects in germanium and silicon semiconductors. In this part, emphasis is placed on a formal explanation of non-linear effects. We propose a brief phenomenological description based on the multi-valleys model of semiconductors before to adopt a macroscopic tensorial model from which general analytical expressions for primed non-linear piezoresistance coefficients are derived. Graphical representations of linear and non-linear piezoresistance coefficients allows us to characterize the influence of the two angles of cut and of directions of alignment. The second part will primarily deal with specific applications for piezoresistive sensors. Cette publication constitue la première partie d'un travail consacré aux applications des effets piézorésistifs dans les semiconducteurs germanium et silicium. Cette partie traite essentiellement de la modélisation des effets non-linéaires. Après une description phénoménologique à partir du modèle de bande des semiconducteurs nous développons un modèle tensoriel macroscopique et nous proposons des équations générales analytiques exprimant les coefficients piézorésistifs non-linéaires dans des repères tournés. Des représentations graphiques des variations des coefficients piézorésistifs linéaires et non-linéaires permettent une pré-caractérisation de l'influence des angles de coupes et des directions d'alignement avant l'étude d'applications spécifiques qui feront l'objet de la deuxième partie.

3D Synergistical MXene/Reduced Graphene Oxide Aerogel for a Piezoresistive Sensor.

PubMed

Ma, Yanan; Yue, Yang; Zhang, Hang; Cheng, Feng; Zhao, Wanqiu; Rao, Jiangyu; Luo, Shijun; Wang, Jie; Jiang, Xueliang; Liu, Zhitian; Liu, Nishuang; Gao, Yihua

2018-04-24

A piezoresistive sensor based on ultralight and superelastic aerogel is reported to fabricate MXene/reduced graphene oxide (MX/rGO) hybrid 3D structures and utilize their pressure-sensitive characteristics. The MX/rGO aerogel not only combines the rGO's large specific surface area and the MXene's (Ti 3 C 2 T x ) high conductivity but also exhibits rich porous structure, which leads to performance better than that of single-component rGO or MXene in terms of the pressure sensor. The large nanosheets of rGO can prevent the poor oxidization of MXene by wrapping MXene inside the aerogel. More importantly, the piezoresistive sensor based on the MX/rGO aerogel shows extremely high sensitivity (22.56 kPa -1 ), fast response time (<200 ms), and good stability over 10 000 cycles. The piezoresistive sensor based on the MX/rGO hybrid 3D aerogel can easily capture the signal below 10 Pa, thus clearly testing the pulse of an adult at random. Based on its superior performance, it also demonstrates potential applications in measuring pressure distribution, distinguishing subtle strain, and monitoring healthy activity.

Towards metal chalcogenide nanowire-based colour-sensitive photodetectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Butanovs, Edgars; Butikova, Jelena; Zolotarjovs, Aleksejs; Polyakov, Boris

2018-01-01

In recent years, nanowires have been shown to exhibit high photosensitivities, and, therefore are of interest in a variety of optoelectronic applications, for example, colour-sensitive photodetectors. In this study, we fabricated two-terminal PbS, In2S3, CdS and ZnSe single-nanowire photoresistor devices and tested applicability of these materials under the same conditions for colour-sensitive (405 nm, 532 nm and 660 nm) light detection. Nanowires were grown via atmospheric pressure chemical vapour transport method, their structure and morphology were characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and optical properties were investigated with photoluminescence (PL) measurements. Single-nanowire photoresistors were fabricated via in situ nanomanipulations inside SEM, using focused ion beam (FIB) cutting and electron-beam-assisted platinum welding; their current-voltage characteristics and photoresponse values were measured. Applicability of the tested nanowire materials for colour-sensitive light detection is discussed.

High bandwidth piezoresistive force probes with integrated thermal actuation

PubMed Central

Doll, Joseph C.; Pruitt, Beth L.

2012-01-01

We present high-speed force probes with on-chip actuation and sensing for the measurement of pN-scale forces at the microsecond time scale. We achieve a high resonant frequency in water (1–100 kHz) with requisite low spring constants (0.3–40 pN/nm) and low integrated force noise (1–100 pN) by targeting probe dimensions on the order of 300 nm thick, 1–2 μm wide and 30–200 μm long. Forces are measured using silicon piezoresistors while the probes are actuated thermally with an aluminum unimorph and silicon heater. The piezoresistive sensors are designed using open source numerical optimization code that incorporates constraints on operating temperature. Parylene passivation enables operation in ionic media and we demonstrate simultaneous actuation and sensing. The improved design and fabrication techniques that we describe enable a 10–20 fold improvement in force resolution or measurement bandwidth over prior piezoresistive cantilevers of comparable thickness. PMID:23175616

Package analysis of 3D-printed piezoresistive strain gauge sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Sumit Kumar; Baptist, Joshua R.; Sahasrabuddhe, Ritvij; Lee, Woo H.; Popa, Dan O.

2016-05-01

Poly(3,4-ethyle- nedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) or PEDOT:PSS is a flexible polymer which exhibits piezo-resistive properties when subjected to structural deformation. PEDOT:PSS has a high conductivity and thermal stability which makes it an ideal candidate for use as a pressure sensor. Applications of this technology includes whole body robot skin that can increase the safety and physical collaboration of robots in close proximity to humans. In this paper, we present a finite element model of strain gauge touch sensors which have been 3D-printed onto Kapton and silicone substrates using Electro-Hydro-Dynamic ink-jetting. Simulations of the piezoresistive and structural model for the entire packaged sensor was carried out using COMSOLR , and compared with experimental results for validation. The model will be useful in designing future robot skin with predictable performances.

Conducting Polyaniline Nanowire and Its Applications in Chemiresistive Sensing

PubMed Central

Song, Edward; Choi, Jin-Woo

2013-01-01

One dimensional polyaniline nanowire is an electrically conducting polymer that can be used as an active layer for sensors whose conductivity change can be used to detect chemical or biological species. In this review, the basic properties of polyaniline nanowires including chemical structures, redox chemistry, and method of synthesis are discussed. A comprehensive literature survey on chemiresistive/conductometric sensors based on polyaniline nanowires is presented and recent developments in polyaniline nanowire-based sensors are summarized. Finally, the current limitations and the future prospect of polyaniline nanowires are discussed. PMID:28348347

Influence of oxygen-vacancy complex /A center/ on piezoresistance of n-type silicon.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Littlejohn, M. A.; Loggins, C. D., Jr.

1972-01-01

Changes in both magnitude and temperature dependence of the piezoresistance of electron-irradiated n-type silicon, induced by the latter's oxygen-vacancy complex (A center), are shown to be due to the fact that the presence of the A center causes the total conduction-band electron concentration to change with an applied stress. This change in electron concentration leads to an additional piezoresistance contribution that is expected to be important in certain many-valley semiconductors. This offers the possibility of tailoring the thermal variations of semiconductor mechanical sensors to more desirable values over limited temperature ranges.

All-printable band-edge modulated ZnO nanowire photodetectors with ultra-high detectivity

PubMed Central

Liu, Xi; Gu, Leilei; Zhang, Qianpeng; Wu, Jiyuan; Long, Yunze; Fan, Zhiyong

2014-01-01

High-performance photodetectors are critical for high-speed optical communication and environmental sensing, and flexible photodetectors can be used for a wide range of portable or wearable applications. Here we demonstrate the all-printable fabrication of polycrystalline nanowire-based high-performance photodetectors on flexible substrates. Systematic investigations have shown their ultra-high photoconductive gain, responsivity and detectivity up to 3.3 × 1017 Jones. Further analysis shows that their high performance originates from the unique band-edge modulation along the nanowire axial direction, where the existence of Schottky barriers in series leads to highly suppressed dark current of the device and also gives rise to fast photoelectric response to low-intensity optical signal owing to barrier height modulation. The discovered rationale in this work can be utilized as guideline to design high-performance photodetectors with other nanomaterial systems. The developed fabrication scheme opens up possibility for future flexible and high-performance integrated optoelectronic sensor circuitry. PMID:24898081

All-printable band-edge modulated ZnO nanowire photodetectors with ultra-high detectivity.

PubMed

Liu, Xi; Gu, Leilei; Zhang, Qianpeng; Wu, Jiyuan; Long, Yunze; Fan, Zhiyong

2014-06-05

High-performance photodetectors are critical for high-speed optical communication and environmental sensing, and flexible photodetectors can be used for a wide range of portable or wearable applications. Here we demonstrate the all-printable fabrication of polycrystalline nanowire-based high-performance photodetectors on flexible substrates. Systematic investigations have shown their ultra-high photoconductive gain, responsivity and detectivity up to 3.3 × 10(17) Jones. Further analysis shows that their high performance originates from the unique band-edge modulation along the nanowire axial direction, where the existence of Schottky barriers in series leads to highly suppressed dark current of the device and also gives rise to fast photoelectric response to low-intensity optical signal owing to barrier height modulation. The discovered rationale in this work can be utilized as guideline to design high-performance photodetectors with other nanomaterial systems. The developed fabrication scheme opens up possibility for future flexible and high-performance integrated optoelectronic sensor circuitry.

Effects of Nanowire Length and Surface Roughness on the Electrochemical Sensor Properties of Nafion-Free, Vertically Aligned Pt Nanowire Array Electrodes

PubMed Central

Li, Zhiyang; Leung, Calvin; Gao, Fan; Gu, Zhiyong

2015-01-01

In this paper, vertically aligned Pt nanowire arrays (PtNWA) with different lengths and surface roughnesses were fabricated and their electrochemical performance toward hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) detection was studied. The nanowire arrays were synthesized by electroplating Pt in nanopores of anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template. Different parameters, such as current density and deposition time, were precisely controlled to synthesize nanowires with different surface roughnesses and various lengths from 3 μm to 12 μm. The PtNWA electrodes showed better performance than the conventional electrodes modified by Pt nanowires randomly dispersed on the electrode surface. The results indicate that both the length and surface roughness can affect the sensing performance of vertically aligned Pt nanowire array electrodes. Generally, longer nanowires with rougher surfaces showed better electrochemical sensing performance. The 12 μm rough surface PtNWA presented the largest sensitivity (654 μA·mM−1·cm−2) among all the nanowires studied, and showed a limit of detection of 2.4 μM. The 12 μm rough surface PtNWA electrode also showed good anti-interference property from chemicals that are typically present in the biological samples such as ascorbic, uric acid, citric acid, and glucose. The sensing performance in real samples (river water) was tested and good recovery was observed. These Nafion-free, vertically aligned Pt nanowires with surface roughness control show great promise as versatile electrochemical sensors and biosensors. PMID:26404303

Occupant Motion Sensors : Development and Testing of Piezoresistive Mouthpiece Rotational Accelerometer

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1973-07-01

A miniature piezoresistive mouthpiece rotational accelerometer has been developed to measure the angular acceleration of a head during a simulated vehicle crash. Corrections have been electronically applied to the rotational accelerometer to reduce i...

Piezoresistive Strain Sensors Made from Carbon Nanotubes Based Polymer Nanocomposites

PubMed Central

Alamusi; Hu, Ning; Fukunaga, Hisao; Atobe, Satoshi; Liu, Yaolu; Li, Jinhua

2011-01-01

In recent years, nanocomposites based on various nano-scale carbon fillers, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs), are increasingly being thought of as a realistic alternative to conventional smart materials, largely due to their superior electrical properties. Great interest has been generated in building highly sensitive strain sensors with these new nanocomposites. This article reviews the recent significant developments in the field of highly sensitive strain sensors made from CNT/polymer nanocomposites. We focus on the following two topics: electrical conductivity and piezoresistivity of CNT/polymer nanocomposites, and the relationship between them by considering the internal conductive network formed by CNTs, tunneling effect, aspect ratio and piezoresistivity of CNTs themselves, etc. Many recent experimental, theoretical and numerical studies in this field are described in detail to uncover the working mechanisms of this new type of strain sensors and to demonstrate some possible key factors for improving the sensor sensitivity. PMID:22346667

Hybrid piezoresistive-optical tactile sensor for simultaneous measurement of tissue stiffness and detection of tissue discontinuity in robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bandari, Naghmeh M.; Ahmadi, Roozbeh; Hooshiar, Amir; Dargahi, Javad; Packirisamy, Muthukumaran

2017-07-01

To compensate for the lack of touch during minimally invasive and robotic surgeries, tactile sensors are integrated with surgical instruments. Surgical tools with tactile sensors have been used mainly for distinguishing among different tissues and detecting malignant tissues or tumors. Studies have revealed that malignant tissue is most likely stiffer than normal. This would lead to the formation of a sharp discontinuity in tissue mechanical properties. A hybrid piezoresistive-optical-fiber sensor is proposed. This sensor is investigated for its capabilities in tissue distinction and detection of a sharp discontinuity. The dynamic interaction of the sensor and tissue is studied using finite element method. The tissue is modeled as a two-term Mooney-Rivlin hyperelastic material. For experimental verification, the sensor was microfabricated and tested under the same conditions as of the simulations. The simulation and experimental results are in a fair agreement. The sensor exhibits an acceptable linearity, repeatability, and sensitivity in characterizing the stiffness of different tissue phantoms. Also, it is capable of locating the position of a sharp discontinuity in the tissue. Due to the simplicity of its sensing principle, the proposed hybrid sensor could also be used for industrial applications.

Lightweight, compressible and electrically conductive polyurethane sponges coated with synergistic multiwalled carbon nanotubes and graphene for piezoresistive sensors.

PubMed

Ma, Zhonglei; Wei, Ajing; Ma, Jianzhong; Shao, Liang; Jiang, Huie; Dong, Diandian; Ji, Zhanyou; Wang, Qian; Kang, Songlei

2018-04-19

Lightweight, compressible and highly sensitive pressure/strain sensing materials are highly desirable for the development of health monitoring, wearable devices and artificial intelligence. Herein, a very simple, low-cost and solution-based approach is presented to fabricate versatile piezoresistive sensors based on conductive polyurethane (PU) sponges coated with synergistic multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and graphene. These sensor materials are fabricated by convenient dip-coating layer-by-layer (LBL) electrostatic assembly followed by in situ reduction without using any complicated microfabrication processes. The resultant conductive MWCNT/RGO@PU sponges exhibit very low densities (0.027-0.064 g cm-3), outstanding compressibility (up to 75%) and high electrical conductivity benefiting from the porous PU sponges and synergistic conductive MWCNT/RGO structures. In addition, the MWCNT/RGO@PU sponges present larger relative resistance changes and superior sensing performances under external applied pressures (0-5.6 kPa) and a wide range of strains (0-75%) compared with the RGO@PU and MWCNT@PU sponges, due to the synergistic effect of multiple mechanisms: "disconnect-connect" transition of nanogaps, microcracks and fractured skeletons at low compression strain and compressive contact of the conductive skeletons at high compression strain. The electrical and piezoresistive properties of MWCNT/RGO@PU sponges are strongly associated with the dip-coating cycle, suspension concentration, and the applied pressure and strain. Fully functional applications of MWCNT/RGO@PU sponge-based piezoresistive sensors in lighting LED lamps and detecting human body movements are demonstrated, indicating their excellent potential for emerging applications such as health monitoring, wearable devices and artificial intelligence.

Integration of a highly ordered gold nanowires array with glucose oxidase for ultra-sensitive glucose detection.

PubMed

Cui, Jiewu; Adeloju, Samuel B; Wu, Yucheng

2014-01-27

A highly sensitive amperometric nanobiosensor has been developed by integration of glucose oxidase (GO(x)) with a gold nanowires array (AuNWA) by cross-linking with a mixture of glutaraldehyde (GLA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA). An initial investigation of the morphology of the synthesized AuNWA by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and field emission transmission electron microscopy (FETEM) revealed that the nanowires array was highly ordered with rough surface, and the electrochemical features of the AuNWA with/without modification were also investigated. The integrated AuNWA-BSA-GLA-GO(x) nanobiosensor with Nafion membrane gave a very high sensitivity of 298.2 μA cm(-2) mM(-1) for amperometric detection of glucose, while also achieving a low detection limit of 0.1 μM, and a wide linear range of 5-6000 μM. Furthermore, the nanobiosensor exhibited excellent anti-interference ability towards uric acid (UA) and ascorbic acid (AA) with the aid of Nafion membrane, and the results obtained for the analysis of human blood serum indicated that the device is capable of glucose detection in real samples. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A high performance three-phase enzyme electrode based on superhydrophobic mesoporous silicon nanowire arrays for glucose detection.

PubMed

Xu, Chenlong; Song, Zhiqian; Xiang, Qun; Jin, Jian; Feng, Xinjian

2016-04-14

We describe here a high performance oxygen-rich three-phase enzyme electrode based on superhydrophobic mesoporous silicon nanowire arrays for glucose detection. We demonstrate that its linear detection upper limit is 30 mM, more than 15 times higher than that can be obtained on the normal enzyme-electrode. Notably, the three-phase enzyme electrode output is insensitive to the significant oxygen level fluctuation in analyte solution.

Conductive polymer nanowire gas sensor fabricated by nanoscale soft lithography.

PubMed

Tang, Ning; Jiang, Yang; Qu, Hemi; Duan, Xuexin

2017-12-01

Resistive devices composed of one-dimensional nanostructures are promising candidates for the next generation of gas sensors. However, the large-scale fabrication of nanowires is still challenging, which restricts the commercialization of such devices. Here, we report a highly efficient and facile approach to fabricating poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) nanowire chemiresistive gas sensors by nanoscale soft lithography. Well-defined sub-100 nm nanowires are fabricated on silicon substrate, which facilitates device integration. The nanowire chemiresistive gas sensor is demonstrated for NH 3 and NO 2 detection at room temperature and shows a limit of detection at ppb level, which is compatible with nanoscale PEDOT:PSS gas sensors fabricated with the conventional lithography technique. In comparison with PEDOT:PSS thin-film gas sensors, the nanowire gas sensor exhibits higher sensitivity and a much faster response to gas molecules.

Conductive polymer nanowire gas sensor fabricated by nanoscale soft lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Ning; Jiang, Yang; Qu, Hemi; Duan, Xuexin

2017-12-01

Resistive devices composed of one-dimensional nanostructures are promising candidates for the next generation of gas sensors. However, the large-scale fabrication of nanowires is still challenging, which restricts the commercialization of such devices. Here, we report a highly efficient and facile approach to fabricating poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) nanowire chemiresistive gas sensors by nanoscale soft lithography. Well-defined sub-100 nm nanowires are fabricated on silicon substrate, which facilitates device integration. The nanowire chemiresistive gas sensor is demonstrated for NH3 and NO2 detection at room temperature and shows a limit of detection at ppb level, which is compatible with nanoscale PEDOT:PSS gas sensors fabricated with the conventional lithography technique. In comparison with PEDOT:PSS thin-film gas sensors, the nanowire gas sensor exhibits higher sensitivity and a much faster response to gas molecules.

The application of a piezo-resistive cardiorespiratory sensor system in an automobile safety belt.

PubMed

Hamdani, Syed Talha Ali; Fernando, Anura

2015-03-30

Respiratory and heart failure are conditions that can occur with little warning and may also be difficult to predict. Therefore continuous monitoring of these bio-signals is advantageous for ensuring human health. The car safety belt is mainly designed to secure the occupants of the vehicle in the event of an accident. In the current research a prototype safety belt is developed, which is used to acquire respiratory and heart signals, under laboratory conditions. The current safety belt is constructed using a copper ink based nonwoven material, which works based on the piezo-resistive effect due to the pressure exerted on the sensor as a result of expansion of the thorax/abdomen area of the body for respiration and due to the principle of ballistocardiography (BCG) in heart signal sensing. In this research, the development of a theoretical model to qualitatively describe the piezo-resistive material is also presented in order to predict the relative change in the resistance of the piezo-resistive material due to the pressure applied.

The Application of a Piezo-Resistive Cardiorespiratory Sensor System in an Automobile Safety Belt

PubMed Central

Hamdani, Syed Talha Ali; Fernando, Anura

2015-01-01

Respiratory and heart failure are conditions that can occur with little warning and may also be difficult to predict. Therefore continuous monitoring of these bio-signals is advantageous for ensuring human health. The car safety belt is mainly designed to secure the occupants of the vehicle in the event of an accident. In the current research a prototype safety belt is developed, which is used to acquire respiratory and heart signals, under laboratory conditions. The current safety belt is constructed using a copper ink based nonwoven material, which works based on the piezo-resistive effect due to the pressure exerted on the sensor as a result of expansion of the thorax/abdomen area of the body for respiration and due to the principle of ballistocardiography (BCG) in heart signal sensing. In this research, the development of a theoretical model to qualitatively describe the piezo-resistive material is also presented in order to predict the relative change in the resistance of the piezo-resistive material due to the pressure applied. PMID:25831088

Single-photon imager based on a superconducting nanowire delay line

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Qing-Yuan; Zhu, Di; Calandri, Niccolò; Dane, Andrew E.; McCaughan, Adam N.; Bellei, Francesco; Wang, Hao-Zhu; Santavicca, Daniel F.; Berggren, Karl K.

2017-03-01

Detecting spatial and temporal information of individual photons is critical to applications in spectroscopy, communication, biological imaging, astronomical observation and quantum-information processing. Here we demonstrate a scalable single-photon imager using a single continuous superconducting nanowire that is not only a single-photon detector but also functions as an efficient microwave delay line. In this context, photon-detection pulses are guided in the nanowire and enable the readout of the position and time of photon-absorption events from the arrival times of the detection pulses at the nanowire's two ends. Experimentally, we slowed down the velocity of pulse propagation to ∼2% of the speed of light in free space. In a 19.7 mm long nanowire that meandered across an area of 286 × 193 μm2, we were able to resolve ∼590 effective pixels with a temporal resolution of 50 ps (full width at half maximum). The nanowire imager presents a scalable approach for high-resolution photon imaging in space and time.

Foil Strain Gauges Using Piezoresistive Carbon Nanotube Yarn: Fabrication and Calibration

PubMed Central

Góngora-Rubio, Mário R.; Kiyono, César Y.; Mello, Luis A. M.; Cardoso, Valtemar F.; Rosa, Reinaldo L. S.; Kuebler, Derek A.; Brodeur, Grace E.; Alotaibi, Amani H.; Coene, Marisa P.; Coene, Lauren M.; Jean, Elizabeth; Santiago, Rafael C.; Oliveira, Francisco H. A.; Rangel, Ricardo; Thomas, Gilles P.; Belay, Kalayu; da Silva, Luciana W.; Moura, Rafael T.; Seabra, Antonio C.; Silva, Emílio C. N.

2018-01-01

Carbon nanotube yarns are micron-scale fibers comprised by tens of thousands of carbon nanotubes in their cross section and exhibiting piezoresistive characteristics that can be tapped to sense strain. This paper presents the details of novel foil strain gauge sensor configurations comprising carbon nanotube yarn as the piezoresistive sensing element. The foil strain gauge sensors are designed using the results of parametric studies that maximize the sensitivity of the sensors to mechanical loading. The fabrication details of the strain gauge sensors that exhibit the highest sensitivity, based on the modeling results, are described including the materials and procedures used in the first prototypes. Details of the calibration of the foil strain gauge sensors are also provided and discussed in the context of their electromechanical characterization when bonded to metallic specimens. This characterization included studying their response under monotonic and cyclic mechanical loading. It was shown that these foil strain gauge sensors comprising carbon nanotube yarn are sensitive enough to capture strain and can replicate the loading and unloading cycles. It was also observed that the loading rate affects their piezoresistive response and that the gauge factors were all above one order of magnitude higher than those of typical metallic foil strain gauges. Based on these calibration results on the initial sensor configurations, new foil strain gauge configurations will be designed and fabricated, to increase the strain gauge factors even more. PMID:29401745

Electrical conductivity and piezoresistive response of 3D printed thermoplastic polyurethane/multiwalled carbon nanotube composites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hohimer, Cameron J.; Petrossian, Gayaneh; Ameli, Amir; Mo, Changki; Pötschke, Petra

2018-03-01

Additive manufacturing (AM) is an emerging field experiencing rapid growth. This paper presents a feasibility study of using fused-deposition modeling (FDM) techniques with smart materials to fabricate objects with sensing and actuating capabilities. The fabrication of objects with sensing typically requires the integration and assembly of multiple components. Incorporating sensing elements into a single FDM process has the potential to significantly simplify manufacturing. The integration of multiple materials, especially smart materials and those with multi-functional properties, into the FDM process is challenging and still requires further development. Previous works by the authors have demonstrated a good printability of thermoplastic polyurethane/multiwall carbon nanotubes (TPU/MWCNT) while maintaining conductivity and piezoresistive response. This research explores the effects of layer height, nozzle temperature, and bed temperature on the electrical conductivity and piezoresistive response of printed TPU/MWCNT nanocomposites. An impedance analyzer was used to determine the conductivity of printed samples under different printing conditions from 5Hz-13MHz. The samples were then tested under compression loads to measure the piezoresistive response. Results show the conductivity and piezoresistive response are only slightly affected by the print parameters and they can be largely considered independent of the print conditions within the examined ranges of print parameters. This behavior simplifies the printing process design for TPU/MWCNT complex structures. This work demonstrates the possibility of manufacturing embedded and multidirectional flexible strain sensors using an inexpensive and versatile method, with potential applications in soft robotics, flexible electronics, and health monitoring.

Piezoresistivity of mechanically drawn single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) thin films-: mechanism and optimizing principle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Obitayo, Waris

The individual carbon nanotube (CNT) based strain sensors have been found to have excellent piezoresistive properties with a reported gauge factor (GF) of up to 3000. This GF on the other hand, has been shown to be structurally dependent on the nanotubes. In contrast, to individual CNT based strain sensors, the ensemble CNT based strain sensors have very low GFs e.g. for a single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) thin film strain sensor, GF is ~1. As a result, studies which are mostly numerical/analytical have revealed the dependence of piezoresistivity on key parameters like concentration, orientation, length and diameter, aspect ratio, energy barrier height and Poisson ratio of polymer matrix. The fundamental understanding of the piezoresistive mechanism in an ensemble CNT based strain sensor still remains unclear, largely due to discrepancies in the outcomes of these numerical studies. Besides, there have been little or no experimental confirmation of these studies. The goal of my PhD is to study the mechanism and the optimizing principle of a SWCNT thin film strain sensor and provide experimental validation of the numerical/analytical investigations. The dependence of the piezoresistivity on key parameters like orientation, network density, bundle diameter (effective tunneling area), and length is studied, and how one can effectively optimize the piezoresistive behavior of a SWCNT thin film strain sensors. To reach this goal, my first research accomplishment involves the study of orientation of SWCNTs and its effect on the piezoresistivity of mechanically drawn SWCNT thin film based piezoresistive sensors. Using polarized Raman spectroscopy analysis and coupled electrical-mechanical test, a quantitative relationship between the strain sensitivity and SWCNT alignment order parameter was established. As compared to randomly oriented SWCNT thin films, the one with draw ratio of 3.2 exhibited ~6x increase on the GF. My second accomplishment involves studying the

Miniature piezoresistive solid state integrated pressure sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kahng, S. K.

1980-01-01

The characteristics of silicon pressure sensors with an ultra-small diaphragm are described. The pressure sensors utilize rectangular diaphragm as small as 0.0127 x 0.0254 cm and a p-type Wheatstone bridge consisting of diffused piezoresistive elements, 0.000254 cm by 0.00254 cm. These sensors exhibit as high as 0.5 MHz natural frequency and 1 mV/V/psi pressure sensitivity. Fabrication techniques and high frequency results from shock tube testing and low frequency comparison with microphones are presented.

Au-Assisted Substrate-Faceting for Inclined Nanowire Growth.

PubMed

Kang, Jung-Hyun; Krizek, Filip; Zaluska-Kotur, Magdalena; Krogstrup, Peter; Kacman, Perla; Beidenkopf, Haim; Shtrikman, Hadas

2018-06-12

We study the role of gold droplets in the initial stage of nanowire growth via the vapor-liquid-solid method. Apart from serving as a collections center for growth species, the gold droplets carry an additional crucial role that necessarily precedes the nanowire emergence, that is, they assist the nucleation of nanocraters with strongly faceted {111}B side walls. Only once these facets become sufficiently large and regular, the gold droplets start nucleating and guiding the growth of nanowires. We show that this dual role of the gold droplets can be detected and monitored by high-energy electron diffraction during growth. Moreover, gold-induced formation of craters and the onset of nanowires growth on the {111}B facets inside the craters are confirmed by the results of Monte Carlo simulations. The detailed insight into the growth mechanism of inclined nanowires will help to engineer new and complex nanowire-based device architectures.

Functionalised zinc oxide nanowire gas sensors: Enhanced NO(2) gas sensor response by chemical modification of nanowire surfaces.

PubMed

Waclawik, Eric R; Chang, Jin; Ponzoni, Andrea; Concina, Isabella; Zappa, Dario; Comini, Elisabetta; Motta, Nunzio; Faglia, Guido; Sberveglieri, Giorgio

2012-01-01

Surface coating with an organic self-assembled monolayer (SAM) can enhance surface reactions or the absorption of specific gases and hence improve the response of a metal oxide (MOx) sensor toward particular target gases in the environment. In this study the effect of an adsorbed organic layer on the dynamic response of zinc oxide nanowire gas sensors was investigated. The effect of ZnO surface functionalisation by two different organic molecules, tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (THMA) and dodecanethiol (DT), was studied. The response towards ammonia, nitrous oxide and nitrogen dioxide was investigated for three sensor configurations, namely pure ZnO nanowires, organic-coated ZnO nanowires and ZnO nanowires covered with a sparse layer of organic-coated ZnO nanoparticles. Exposure of the nanowire sensors to the oxidising gas NO(2) produced a significant and reproducible response. ZnO and THMA-coated ZnO nanowire sensors both readily detected NO(2) down to a concentration in the very low ppm range. Notably, the THMA-coated nanowires consistently displayed a small, enhanced response to NO(2) compared to uncoated ZnO nanowire sensors. At the lower concentration levels tested, ZnO nanowire sensors that were coated with THMA-capped ZnO nanoparticles were found to exhibit the greatest enhanced response. ΔR/R was two times greater than that for the as-prepared ZnO nanowire sensors. It is proposed that the ΔR/R enhancement in this case originates from the changes induced in the depletion-layer width of the ZnO nanoparticles that bridge ZnO nanowires resulting from THMA ligand binding to the surface of the particle coating. The heightened response and selectivity to the NO(2) target are positive results arising from the coating of these ZnO nanowire sensors with organic-SAM-functionalised ZnO nanoparticles.

Facile fabrication of a silicon nanowire sensor by two size reduction steps for detection of alpha-fetoprotein biomarker of liver cancer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Binh Pham, Van; ThanhTung Pham, Xuan; Nhat Khoa Phan, Thanh; Thanh Tuyen Le, Thi; Chien Dang, Mau

2015-12-01

We present a facile technique that only uses conventional micro-techniques and two size-reduction steps to fabricate wafer-scale silicon nanowire (SiNW) with widths of 200 nm. Initially, conventional lithography was used to pattern SiNW with 2 μm width. Then the nanowire width was decreased to 200 nm by two size-reduction steps with isotropic wet etching. The fabricated SiNW was further investigated when used with nanowire field-effect sensors. The electrical characteristics of the fabricated SiNW devices were characterized and pH sensitivity was investigated. Then a simple and effective surface modification process was carried out to modify SiNW for subsequent binding of a desired receptor. The complete SiNW-based biosensor was then used to detect alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), one of the medically approved biomarkers for liver cancer diagnosis. Electrical measurements showed that the developed SiNW biosensor could detect AFP with concentrations of about 100 ng mL-1. This concentration is lower than the necessary AFP concentration for liver cancer diagnosis.

Electrical Detection of C-Reactive Protein Using a Single Free-Standing, Thermally Controlled Piezoresistive Microcantilever for Highly Reproducible and Accurate Measurements

PubMed Central

Yen, Yi-Kuang; Lai, Yu-Cheng; Hong, Wei-Ting; Pheanpanitporn, Yotsapoom; Chen, Chuin-Shan; Huang, Long-Sun

2013-01-01

This study demonstrates a novel method for electrical detection of C-reactive protein (CRP) as a means of identifying an infection in the body, or as a cardiovascular disease risk assay. The method uses a single free-standing, thermally controlled piezoresistive microcantilever biosensor. In a commonly used sensing arrangement of conventional dual cantilevers in the Wheatstone bridge circuit, reference and gold-coated sensing cantilevers that inherently have heterogeneous surface materials and different multilayer structures may yield independent responses to the liquid environmental changes of chemical substances, flow field and temperature, leading to unwanted signal disturbance for biosensing targets. In this study, the single free-standing microcantilever for biosensing applications is employed to resolve the dual-beam problem of individual responses in chemical solutions and, in a thermally controlled system, to maintain its sensor performance due to the sensitive temperature effect. With this type of single temperature-controlled microcantilever sensor, the electrical detection of various CRP concentrations from 1 μg/mL to 200 μg/mL was performed, which covers the clinically relevant range. Induced surface stresses were measured at between 0.25 N/m and 3.4 N/m with high reproducibility. Moreover, the binding affinity (KD) of CRP and anti-CRP interaction was found to be 18.83 ± 2.99 μg/mL, which agreed with results in previous reported studies. This biosensing technique thus proves valuable in detecting inflammation, and in cardiovascular disease risk assays. PMID:23899933

Arrays of suspended silicon nanowires defined by ion beam implantation: mechanical coupling and combination with CMOS technology.

PubMed

Llobet, J; Rius, G; Chuquitarqui, A; Borrisé, X; Koops, R; van Veghel, M; Perez-Murano, F

2018-04-02

We present the fabrication, operation, and CMOS integration of arrays of suspended silicon nanowires (SiNWs). The functional structures are obtained by a top-down fabrication approach consisting in a resistless process based on focused ion beam irradiation, causing local gallium implantation and silicon amorphization, plus selective silicon etching by tetramethylammonium hydroxide, and a thermal annealing process in a boron rich atmosphere. The last step enables the electrical functionality of the irradiated material. Doubly clamped silicon beams are fabricated by this method. The electrical readout of their mechanical response can be addressed by a frequency down-mixing detection technique thanks to an enhanced piezoresistive transduction mechanism. Three specific aspects are discussed: (i) the engineering of mechanically coupled SiNWs, by making use of the nanometer scale overhang that it is inherently-generated with this fabrication process, (ii) the statistical distribution of patterned lateral dimensions when fabricating large arrays of identical devices, and (iii) the compatibility of the patterning methodology with CMOS circuits. Our results suggest that the application of this method to the integration of large arrays of suspended SiNWs with CMOS circuitry is interesting in view of applications such as advanced radio frequency band pass filters and ultra-high-sensitivity mass sensors.

Arrays of suspended silicon nanowires defined by ion beam implantation: mechanical coupling and combination with CMOS technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Llobet, J.; Rius, G.; Chuquitarqui, A.; Borrisé, X.; Koops, R.; van Veghel, M.; Perez-Murano, F.

2018-04-01

We present the fabrication, operation, and CMOS integration of arrays of suspended silicon nanowires (SiNWs). The functional structures are obtained by a top-down fabrication approach consisting in a resistless process based on focused ion beam irradiation, causing local gallium implantation and silicon amorphization, plus selective silicon etching by tetramethylammonium hydroxide, and a thermal annealing process in a boron rich atmosphere. The last step enables the electrical functionality of the irradiated material. Doubly clamped silicon beams are fabricated by this method. The electrical readout of their mechanical response can be addressed by a frequency down-mixing detection technique thanks to an enhanced piezoresistive transduction mechanism. Three specific aspects are discussed: (i) the engineering of mechanically coupled SiNWs, by making use of the nanometer scale overhang that it is inherently-generated with this fabrication process, (ii) the statistical distribution of patterned lateral dimensions when fabricating large arrays of identical devices, and (iii) the compatibility of the patterning methodology with CMOS circuits. Our results suggest that the application of this method to the integration of large arrays of suspended SiNWs with CMOS circuitry is interesting in view of applications such as advanced radio frequency band pass filters and ultra-high-sensitivity mass sensors.

Peptide–Nanowire Hybrid Materials for Selective Sensing of Small Molecules

PubMed Central

McAlpine, Michael C.; Agnew, Heather D.; Rohde, Rosemary D.; Blanco, Mario; Ahmad, Habib; Stuparu, Andreea D.; Goddard, William A.

2013-01-01

The development of a miniaturized sensing platform for the selective detection of chemical odorants could stimulate exciting scientific and technological opportunities. Oligopeptides are robust substrates for the selective recognition of a variety of chemical and biological species. Likewise, semiconducting nanowires are extremely sensitive gas sensors. Here we explore the possibilities and chemistries of linking peptides to silicon nanowire sensors for the selective detection of small molecules. The silica surface of the nanowires is passivated with peptides using amide coupling chemistry. The peptide/nanowire sensors can be designed, through the peptide sequence, to exhibit orthogonal responses to acetic acid and ammonia vapors, and can detect traces of these gases from “chemically camouflaged” mixtures. Through both theory and experiment, we find that this sensing selectivity arises from both acid/base reactivity and from molecular structure. These results provide a model platform for what can be achieved in terms of selective and sensitive “electronic noses.” PMID:18576642

Silicon nanowires: where mechanics and optics meet at the nanoscale.

PubMed

Ramos, Daniel; Gil-Santos, Eduardo; Malvar, Oscar; Llorens, Jose M; Pini, Valerio; San Paulo, Alvaro; Calleja, Montserrat; Tamayo, Javier

2013-12-06

Mechanical transducers based on nanowires promise revolutionary advances in biological sensing and force microscopy/spectroscopy. A crucial step is the development of simple and non-invasive techniques able to detect displacements with subpicometer sensitivity per unit bandwidth. Here, we design suspended tapered silicon nanowires supporting a range of optical resonances that confine and efficiently scatter light in the visible range. Then, we develop an optical method for efficiently coupling the evanescent field to the regular interference pattern generated by an incoming laser beam and the reflected beam from the substrate underneath the nanowire. This optomechanical coupling is here applied to measure the displacement of 50 nm wide nanowires with sensitivity on the verge of 1 fm/Hz(1/2) at room temperature with a simple laser interferometry set-up. This method opens the door to the measurement of the Brownian motion of ultrashort nanowires for the detection of single biomolecular recognition events in liquids, and single molecule spectroscopy in vacuum.

Optical readout of displacements of nanowires along two mutually perpendicular directions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fu, Chenghua

2017-05-01

Nanowires are good force transducers due to their low mass. The singleness of the direction of the motion detection in a certain system is an existing limitation, and to overcome the limitation is the key point in this article. Optical methods, such as polarized light interferometry and light scattering, are generally used for detecting the displacement of nanowires. Typically, either light interference or light scattering is considered when relating the displacement of a nanowire with the photodetector's measurements. In this work, we consider both the light interference along the optical axis and light scattering perpendicular to the optical axis of a micro-lens fiber optic interferometer. Identifying the displacement along the two directions and the corresponding vibration conversion efficiency coefficients for the nanowire is a significant part of our study. Our analysis shows that the optimal working point of the micro-lens fiber optic interferometer can realize the detection of displacement along the optical axis without the disturbance coming from the motion perpendicular to the optical axis, and vice versa. We use Mie scattering theory to calculate the scattering light for the reason that the size of the nanowire is comparable to the wavelength of light. Our results could provide a guide for optical readout experiments of the displacement of nanowires.

As-Grown Gallium Nitride Nanowire Electromechanical Resonators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Montague, Joshua R.

Technological development in recent years has led to a ubiquity of micro- and nano-scale electromechanical devices. Sensors for monitoring temperature, pressure, mass, etc., are now found in nearly all electronic devices at both the industrial and consumer levels. As has been true for integrated circuit electronics, these electromechanical devices have continued to be scaled down in size. For many nanometer-scale structures with large surface-to-volume ratio, dissipation (energy loss) becomes prohibitively large causing a decreasing sensitivity with decreasing sensor size. In this work, gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires are investigated as singly-clamped (cantilever) mechanical resonators with typical mechanical quality factors, Q (equal to the ratio of resonance frequency to peak full-width-at-half-maximum-power) and resonance frequencies, respectively, at or above 30,000, and near 1 MHz. These Q values---in vacuum at room temperature---indicate very low levels of dissipation; they are essentially the same as those for bulk quartz crystal resonators that form the basis of simple clocks and mass sensors. The GaN nanowires have lengths and diameters, respectively, of approximately 15 micrometers and hundreds of nanometers. As-grown GaN nanowire Q values are larger than other similarly-sized, bottom-up, cantilever resonators and this property makes them very attractive for use as resonant sensors. We demonstrate the capability of detecting sub-monolayer levels of atomic layer deposited (ALD) films, and the robust nature of the GaN nanowires structure that allows for their 'reuse' after removal of such layers. In addition to electron microscope-based measurement techniques, we demonstrate the successful capacitive detection of a single nanowire using microwave homodyne reflectometry. This technique is then extended to allow for simultaneous measurements of large ensembles of GaN nanowires on a single sample, providing statistical information about the distribution of

Artificial sensing intelligence with silicon nanowires for ultraselective detection in the gas phase.

PubMed

Wang, Bin; Cancilla, John C; Torrecilla, Jose S; Haick, Hossam

2014-02-12

The use of molecularly modified Si nanowire field effect transistors (SiNW FETs) for selective detection in the liquid phase has been successfully demonstrated. In contrast, selective detection of chemical species in the gas phase has been rather limited. In this paper, we show that the application of artificial intelligence on deliberately controlled SiNW FET device parameters can provide high selectivity toward specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The obtained selectivity allows identifying VOCs in both single-component and multicomponent environments as well as estimating the constituent VOC concentrations. The effect of the structural properties (functional group and/or chain length) of the molecular modifications on the accuracy of VOC detection is presented and discussed. The reported results have the potential to serve as a launching pad for the use of SiNW FET sensors in real-world counteracting conditions and/or applications.

The field effect transistor DNA biosensor based on ITO nanowires in label-free hepatitis B virus detecting compatible with CMOS technology.

PubMed

Shariati, Mohsen

2018-05-15

In this paper the field-effect transistor DNA biosensor for detecting hepatitis B virus (HBV) based on indium tin oxide nanowires (ITO NWs) in label free approach has been fabricated. Because of ITO nanowires intensive conductance and functional modified surface, the probe immobilization and target hybridization were increased strongly. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) measurement showed that ITO nanowires were crystalline and less than 50nm in diameter. The single-stranded hepatitis B virus DNA (SS-DNA) was immobilized as probe on the Au-modified nanowires. The DNA targets were measured in a linear concentration range from 1fM to 10µM. The detection limit of the DNA biosensor was about 1fM. The time of the hybridization process for defined single strand was 90min. The switching ratio of the biosensor between "on" and "off" state was ~ 1.1 × 10 5 . For sensing the specificity of the biosensor, non-complementary, mismatch and complementary DNA oligonucleotide sequences were clearly discriminated. The HBV biosensor confirmed the highly satisfied specificity for differentiating complementary sequences from non-complementary and the mismatch oligonucleotides. The response time of the DNA sensor was 37s with a high reproducibility. The stability and repeatability of the DNA biosensor showed that the peak current of the biosensor retained 98% and 96% of its initial response for measurements after three and five weeks, respectively. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Impact of Isolation and Immobilization Layers on the Electro-Mechanical Response of Piezoresistive Nano Cantilever Sensors.

PubMed

Mathew, Ribu; Sankar, A Ravi

2018-03-01

In the last decade, piezoresistive nano cantilever sensors have been extensively explored, especially for chemical and biological sensing applications. Piezoresistive cantilever sensors are multi-layer structures with different constituent materials. Performance of such sensors is a function of their geometry and constituent materials. For a fixed material set, the pre-requisite for optimizing the performance of a composite piezoresistive cantilever sensor is careful geometrical design of its constituent layers. Even though, treatise encompasses various designs of such sensors, typically for computational simplicity the functional layers i.e., the isolation and immobilization layers are neglected in the modeling stages. In this paper, we elucidate the impact of the functional layers on the electro-mechanical response of composite piezoresistive nano cantilever sensors. Systematic and detailed computations are performed using theoretical models and numerical simulations. Results show that both the isolation and immobilization layers play a critical role in governing the sensor performance. Simulation results depict that compared to a sensor with an isolation layer of thickness 100 nm, a sensor without isolation layer has 36.29% and 42.51% better deflection sensitivity and electrical sensitivity respectively. Furthermore, it is found that when an immobilization layer of thickness 40 nm is added atop the isolation layer, the deflection sensitivity and electrical sensitivity reduces by 12.98% and 15.83% respectively. Through our investigation it is shown that the isolation and immobilization layers not only play a vital role in determining the stability and electro-mechanical response of the sensor but their negligence in the design stages can be detrimental. Apart from investigating the impact of the immobilization layer thickness, to model the sensor closer to real time operational conditions, we have performed analysis to understand the impact of non-uniformity in

Direct ultrasensitive electrical detection of prostate cancer biomarkers with CMOS-compatible n- and p-type silicon nanowire sensor arrays.

PubMed

Gao, Anran; Lu, Na; Dai, Pengfei; Fan, Chunhai; Wang, Yuelin; Li, Tie

2014-11-07

Sensitive and quantitative analysis of proteins is central to disease diagnosis, drug screening, and proteomic studies. Here, a label-free, real-time, simultaneous and ultrasensitive prostate-specific antigen (PSA) sensor was developed using CMOS-compatible silicon nanowire field effect transistors (SiNW FET). Highly responsive n- and p-type SiNW arrays were fabricated and integrated on a single chip with a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) compatible anisotropic self-stop etching technique which eliminated the need for a hybrid method. The incorporated n- and p-type nanowires revealed complementary electrical response upon PSA binding, providing a unique means of internal control for sensing signal verification. The highly selective, simultaneous and multiplexed detection of PSA marker at attomolar concentrations, a level useful for clinical diagnosis of prostate cancer, was demonstrated. The detection ability was corroborated to be effective by comparing the detection results at different pH values. Furthermore, the real-time measurement was also carried out in a clinically relevant sample of blood serum, indicating the practicable development of rapid, robust, high-performance, and low-cost diagnostic systems.

Optimization of design parameters for bulk micromachined silicon membranes for piezoresistive pressure sensing application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belwanshi, Vinod; Topkar, Anita

2016-05-01

Finite element analysis study has been carried out to optimize the design parameters for bulk micro-machined silicon membranes for piezoresistive pressure sensing applications. The design is targeted for measurement of pressure up to 200 bar for nuclear reactor applications. The mechanical behavior of bulk micro-machined silicon membranes in terms of deflection and stress generation has been simulated. Based on the simulation results, optimization of the membrane design parameters in terms of length, width and thickness has been carried out. Subsequent to optimization of membrane geometrical parameters, the dimensions and location of the high stress concentration region for implantation of piezoresistors have been obtained for sensing of pressure using piezoresistive sensing technique.

Piezoresistive pressure sensor with high sensitivity for medical application using peninsula-island structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Tingzhong; Wang, Hongyan; Xia, Yong; Zhao, Zhiming; Huang, Mimi; Wang, Jiuhong; Zhao, Libo; Zhao, Yulong; Jiang, Zhuangde

2017-12-01

A novel micro-electromechanical systems piezoresistive pressure sensor with a diagonally positioned peninsula-island structure has high sensitivity for ultralow- pressure measurement. The pressure sensor was designed with a working range of 0-500 Pa and had a high sensitivity of 0.06 mV·V-1·Pa-1. The trade-off between high sensitivity and linearity was alleviated. Moreover, the influence of the installation angle on the sensing chip output was analyzed, and an application experiment of the sensor was conducted using the built pipettor test platform. Findings indicated that the proposed pressure sensor had sufficient resolution ability and accuracy to detect the pressure variation in the pipettor chamber. Therefore, the proposed pressure sensor has strong potential for medical equipment application.

Rhodium Nanoparticle-mesoporous Silicon Nanowire Nanohybrids for Hydrogen Peroxide Detection with High Selectivity

PubMed Central

Song, Zhiqian; Chang, Hucheng; Zhu, Weiqin; Xu, Chenlong; Feng, Xinjian

2015-01-01

Developing nanostructured electrocatalysts, with low overpotential, high selectivity and activity has fundamental and technical importance in many fields. We report here rhodium nanoparticle and mesoporous silicon nanowire (RhNP@mSiNW) hybrids for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) detection with high electrocatalytic activity and selectivity. By employing electrodes that loaded with RhNP@mSiNW nanohybrids, interference caused from both many electroactive substances and dissolved oxygen were eliminated by electrochemical assaying at an optimal potential of +75 mV. Furthermore, the electrodes exhibited a high detection sensitivity of 0.53 μA/mM and fast response (< 5 s). This high-performance nanohybrid electrocatalyst has great potential for future practical application in various oxidase-base biosensors. PMID:25588953

A High Performance Torque Sensor for Milling Based on a Piezoresistive MEMS Strain Gauge

PubMed Central

Qin, Yafei; Zhao, Yulong; Li, Yingxue; Zhao, You; Wang, Peng

2016-01-01

In high speed and high precision machining applications, it is important to monitor the machining process in order to ensure high product quality. For this purpose, it is essential to develop a dynamometer with high sensitivity and high natural frequency which is suited to these conditions. This paper describes the design, calibration and performance of a milling torque sensor based on piezoresistive MEMS strain. A detailed design study is carried out to optimize the two mutually-contradictory indicators sensitivity and natural frequency. The developed torque sensor principally consists of a thin-walled cylinder, and a piezoresistive MEMS strain gauge bonded on the surface of the sensing element where the shear strain is maximum. The strain gauge includes eight piezoresistances and four are connected in a full Wheatstone circuit bridge, which is used to measure the applied torque force during machining procedures. Experimental static calibration results show that the sensitivity of torque sensor has been improved to 0.13 mv/Nm. A modal impact test indicates that the natural frequency of torque sensor reaches 1216 Hz, which is suitable for high speed machining processes. The dynamic test results indicate that the developed torque sensor is stable and practical for monitoring the milling process. PMID:27070620

Polyaniline nanowires-gold nanoparticles hybrid network based chemiresistive hydrogen sulfide sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shirsat, Mahendra D.; Bangar, Mangesh A.; Deshusses, Marc A.; Myung, Nosang V.; Mulchandani, Ashok

2009-02-01

We report a sensitive, selective, and fast responding room temperature chemiresistive sensor for hydrogen sulfide detection and quantification using polyaniline nanowires-gold nanoparticles hybrid network. The sensor was fabricated by facile electrochemical technique. Initially, polyaniline nanowires with a diameter of 250-320 nm bridging the gap between a pair of microfabricated gold electrodes were synthesized using templateless electrochemical polymerization using a two step galvanostatic technique. Polyaniline nanowires were then electrochemically functionalized with gold nanoparticles using cyclic voltammetry technique. These chemiresistive sensors show an excellent limit of detection (0.1 ppb), wide dynamic range (0.1-100 ppb), and very good selectivity and reproducibility.

Growth Mechanism of Nanowires: Binary and Ternary Chalcogenides

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Singh, N. B.; Coriell, S. R.; Su, Ching-Hua; Hopkins, R. H.; Arnold, B.; Choa, Fow-Sen; Cullum, Brian

2016-01-01

Semiconductor nanowires exhibit very exciting optical and electrical properties including high transparency and a several order of magnitude better photocurrent than thin film and bulk materials. We present here the mechanism of nanowire growth from the melt-liquid-vapor medium. We describe preliminary results of binary and ternary selenide materials in light of recent theories. Experiments were performed with lead selenide and thallium arsenic selenide systems which are multifunctional material and have been used for detectors, acousto-optical, nonlinear and radiation detection applications. We observed that small units of nanocubes and elongated nanoparticles arrange and rearrange at moderate melt undercooling to form the building block of a nanowire. Since we avoided the catalyst, we observed self-nucleation and uncontrolled growth of wires from different places. Growth of lead selenide nanowires was performed by physical vapor transport method and thallium arsenic selenide nanowire by vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) method. In some cases very long wires (>mm) are formed. To achieve this goal experiments were performed to create situation where nanowires grew on the surface of solid thallium arsenic selenide itself.

Spatiotemporal Imaging of the Acoustic Field Emitted by a Single Copper Nanowire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jean, Cyril; Belliard, Laurent; Cornelius, Thomas W.; Thomas, Olivier; Pennec, Yan; Cassinelli, Marco; Toimil-Molares, Maria Eugenia; Perrin, Bernard

2016-10-01

The monochromatic and geometrically anisotropic acoustic field generated by 400 nm and 120 nm diameter copper nanowires simply dropped on a 10 $\\mu$m silicon membrane is investigated in transmission using three-dimensional time-resolved femtosecond pump-probe experiments. Two pump-probe time-resolved experiments are carried out at the same time on both side of the silicon substrate. In reflection, the first radial breathing mode of the nanowire is excited and detected. In transmission, the longitudinal and shear waves are observed. The longitudinal signal is followed by a monochromatic component associated with the relaxation of the nanowire's first radial breathing mode. Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulations are performed and accurately reproduce the diffracted field. A shape anisotropy resulting from the large aspect ratio of the nanowire is detected in the acoustic field. The orientation of the underlying nanowires is thus acoustically deduced.

Zinc phthalocyanine nanowires based flexible sensor for room temperature Cl2 detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Devi, Pooja; Saini, Rajan; Singh, Rajinder; Mahajan, A.; Bedi, R. K.; Aswal, D. K.; Debnath, A. K.

2018-04-01

We have fabricated highly sensitive and Cl2 selective flexible sensor by depositing solution processed zinc phthalocyanine nanowires onto the flexible PET substrate and studied its Cl2 sensing characteristics in Cl2 concentration range 5-1500 ppb. The flexible sensor has a minimum detection limit as low as 5 ppb of Cl2 and response as high as 550% within 10 seconds. Interestingly, the sensor exhibited enhanced and faster response kinetics under bending conditions. The gas sensing mechanism of sensor has been discussed on the basis of XPS and Raman spectroscopic studies which revealed that zinc ions were the preferred sites for Cl2 interactions.

Effects of microscale damage evolution on piezoresistive sensing in nanocomposite bonded explosives under dynamic loading via electromechanical peridynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prakash, Naveen; Seidel, Gary D.

2018-01-01

Polymer bonded explosives can sustain microstructural damage due to accidental impact, which may reduce their operational reliability or even cause unwanted ignition leading to detonation of the explosive. Therefore a nanocomposite piezoresistivity based sensing solution is discussed here that employs a carbon nanotube based nanocomposite binder in the explosive material by which in situ real-time sensing can be obtained. A coupled electromechanical peridynamics code is used to numerically obtain the piezoresistive response of such a material under dynamic conditions, which allows one to capture damage initiation and propagation mechanisms due to stress waves. The relative change in resistance at three locations along the length of the microstructure is monitored, and found to correlate well with deformation and damage mechanisms within the material. This response can depend on many factors, such as carbon nanotube content, electrical conductivity of the grain, impact velocity and fracture properties, which are explored through numerical simulations. For example, it is found that the piezoresistive response is highly dependent on preferential pathways of electrical current , i.e. the phase through which the current flows, which is in turn affected by the conductivity of the grain and the specific pattern of damage. It is found that the results qualitatively agree with experimental data on the dynamic piezoresistive response of nanocomposites and look promising as a sensing mechanism for explosive materials.

Ultrahigh Frequency Nanomechanical Piezoresistive Amplifiers for Direct Channel-Selective Receiver Front-Ends.

PubMed

Ramezany, Alireza; Pourkamali, Siavash

2018-04-11

Channel-selective filtering and amplification in ultrahigh frequency (UHF) receiver front-ends are crucial for realization of cognitive radio systems and the future of wireless communication. In the past decade, there have been significant advances in the performance of microscale electromechanical resonant devices. However, such devices have not yet been able to meet the requirements for direct channel selection at RF. They also occupy a relatively large area on the chip making implementation of large arrays to cover several frequency bands challenging. On the other hand, electromechanical piezoresistive resonant devices are active devices that have recently shown the possibility of simultaneous signal amplification and channel-select filtering at lower frequencies. It has been theoretically predicted that if scaled down into the nanoscale, they can operate in the UHF range with a very low power consumption. Here, for the first time nanomechanical piezoresistive amplifiers with active element dimensions as small as 50 nm × 200 nm are demonstrated. With a device area of less than 1.5 μm 2 a piezoresistive amplifier operating at 730 MHz shows effective quality factor ( Q) of 89,000 for a 50Ω load and gains as high as 10 dB and Q of 330,000 for a 250Ω load while consuming 189 μW of power. On the basis of the measurement results, it is shown that for piezoresistor dimensions of 30 nm × 100 nm it is possible to get a similar performance at 2.4 GHz with device footprint of less than 0.2 μm 2 .

Customization of Protein Single Nanowires for Optical Biosensing.

PubMed

Sun, Yun-Lu; Sun, Si-Ming; Wang, Pan; Dong, Wen-Fei; Zhang, Lei; Xu, Bin-Bin; Chen, Qi-Dai; Tong, Li-Min; Sun, Hong-Bo

2015-06-24

An all-protein single-nanowire optical biosensor is constructed by a facile and general femtosecond laser direct writing approach with nanoscale structural customization. As-formed protein single nanowires show excellent optical properties (fine waveguiding performance and bio-applicable transmission windows), and are utilized as evanescent optical nanobiosensors for label-free biotin detection. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

M13 Bacteriophage/Silver Nanowire Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Sensor for Sensitive and Selective Pesticide Detection.

PubMed

Koh, Eun Hye; Mun, ChaeWon; Kim, ChunTae; Park, Sung-Gyu; Choi, Eun Jung; Kim, Sun Ho; Dang, Jaejeung; Choo, Jaebum; Oh, Jin-Woo; Kim, Dong-Ho; Jung, Ho Sang

2018-03-28

A surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor comprising silver nanowires (AgNWs) and genetically engineered M13 bacteriophages expressing a tryptophan-histidine-tryptophan (WHW) peptide sequence (BPWHW) was fabricated by simple mixing of BPWHW and AgNW solutions, followed by vacuum filtration onto a glass-fiber filter paper (GFFP) membrane. The AgNWs stacked on the GFFP formed a high density of SERS-active hot spots at the points of nanowire intersections, and the surface-coated BPWHW functioned as a bioreceptor for selective pesticide detection. The BPWHW-functionalized AgNW (BPWHW/AgNW) sensor was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, confocal scanning fluorescence microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The Raman signal enhancement and the selective pesticide SERS detection properties of the BPWHW/AgNW sensor were investigated in the presence of control substrates such as wild-type M13 bacteriophage-decorated AgNWs (BPWT/AgNW) and undecorated AgNWs (AgNW). The BPWHW/AgNW sensor exhibited a significantly higher capture capability for pesticides, especially paraquat (PQ), than the control SERS substrates, and it also showed a relatively higher selectivity for PQ than for other bipyridylium pesticides such as diquat and difenzoquat. Furthermore, as a field application test, PQ was detected on the surface of PQ-pretreated apple peels, and the results demonstrated the feasibility of using a paper-based SERS substrate for on-site residual pesticide detection. The developed M13 bacteriophage-functionalized AgNW SERS sensor might be applicable for the detection of various pesticides and chemicals through modification of the M13 bacteriophage surface peptide sequence.

Construction of highly ordered polyaniline nanowires and their applications in DNA sensing.

PubMed

Hao, Yuanqiang; Zhou, Binbin; Wang, Fangbin; Li, Juan; Deng, Liu; Liu, You-Nian

2014-02-15

A novel electrochemical active polyaniline (PANI) nanowire was fabricated and utilized for the construction of a highly sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor for hepatitis B virus gene. The uniform PANI nanowire was prepared by the enzymatic polymerization of aniline monomers on the amyloid-like nanofiber (AP nanowire), which was self-assembled from an aniline-attached nonapeptide, aniline-GGAAKLVFF (AP). The prepared PANI nanowires were characterized by electron microscopy, UV-vis absorption spectra, and cyclic voltammetry (CV). These ultra-thin nanowires displayed high electrochemical activity. Then the nucleic acid biosensor was constructed by modifying a glass carbon electrode with AP nanowires which were functionalized by a designed hair-pin loop DNA. Upon the presence of target nucleic acid and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) labeled oligonucleotide, the HRP will catalyze the polymerization of aniline monomers conjugated in AP nanowires, leading to the formation of PANI nanowires which can bring about a dramatical increase in the current response of the biosensor. The dynamic range of the sensor for hepatitis B virus gene is 2.0-800.0 fM with a low detection limit of 1.0 fM (3σ, n=10). The biosensor also displayed highly selectivity and stability. All these excellent performances of the developed biosensor indicate that this platform can be easily extended to the detection of other nucleic acids. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Novel Method for Fabricating Wearable, Piezoresistive, and Pressure Sensors Based on Modified-Graphite/Polyurethane Composite Films

PubMed Central

He, Yin; Li, Wei; Yang, Guilin; Liu, Hao; Lu, Junyu; Zheng, Tongtong; Li, Xiaojiu

2017-01-01

A wearable, low-cost, highly repeatable piezoresistive sensor was fabricated by the synthesis of modified-graphite and polyurethane (PU) composites and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Graphite sheets functionalized by using a silane coupling agent (KH550) were distributed in PU/N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solution, which were then molded to modified-graphite/PU (MG/PU) composite films. Experimental results show that with increasing modified-graphite content, the tensile strength of the MG/PU films first increased and then decreased, and the elongation at break of the composite films showed a decreasing trend. The electrical conductivity of the composite films can be influenced by filler modification and concentration, and the percolation threshold of MG/PU was 28.03 wt %. Under liner uniaxial compression, the 30 wt % MG/PU composite films exhibited 0.274 kPa−1 piezoresistive sensitivity within the range of low pressure, and possessed better stability and hysteresis. The flexible MG/PU composite piezoresistive sensors have great potential for body motion, wearable devices for human healthcare, and garment pressure testing. PMID:28773047

Evaluating Plasmonic Transport in Current-carrying Silver Nanowires

PubMed Central

Song, Mingxia; Stolz, Arnaud; Zhang, Douguo; Arocas, Juan; Markey, Laurent; Colas des Francs, Gérard; Dujardin, Erik; Bouhelier, Alexandre

2013-01-01

Plasmonics is an emerging technology capable of simultaneously transporting a plasmonic signal and an electronic signal on the same information support1,2,3. In this context, metal nanowires are especially desirable for realizing dense routing networks4. A prerequisite to operate such shared nanowire-based platform relies on our ability to electrically contact individual metal nanowires and efficiently excite surface plasmon polaritons5 in this information support. In this article, we describe a protocol to bring electrical terminals to chemically-synthesized silver nanowires6 randomly distributed on a glass substrate7. The positions of the nanowire ends with respect to predefined landmarks are precisely located using standard optical transmission microscopy before encapsulation in an electron-sensitive resist. Trenches representing the electrode layout are subsequently designed by electron-beam lithography. Metal electrodes are then fabricated by thermally evaporating a Cr/Au layer followed by a chemical lift-off. The contacted silver nanowires are finally transferred to a leakage radiation microscope for surface plasmon excitation and characterization8,9. Surface plasmons are launched in the nanowires by focusing a near infrared laser beam on a diffraction-limited spot overlapping one nanowire extremity5,9. For sufficiently large nanowires, the surface plasmon mode leaks into the glass substrate9,10. This leakage radiation is readily detected, imaged, and analyzed in the different conjugate planes in leakage radiation microscopy9,11. The electrical terminals do not affect the plasmon propagation. However, a current-induced morphological deterioration of the nanowire drastically degrades the flow of surface plasmons. The combination of surface plasmon leakage radiation microscopy with a simultaneous analysis of the nanowire electrical transport characteristics reveals the intrinsic limitations of such plasmonic circuitry. PMID:24378340

Passive Resistor Temperature Compensation for a High-Temperature Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor.

PubMed

Yao, Zong; Liang, Ting; Jia, Pinggang; Hong, Yingping; Qi, Lei; Lei, Cheng; Zhang, Bin; Li, Wangwang; Zhang, Diya; Xiong, Jijun

2016-07-22

The main limitation of high-temperature piezoresistive pressure sensors is the variation of output voltage with operating temperature, which seriously reduces their measurement accuracy. This paper presents a passive resistor temperature compensation technique whose parameters are calculated using differential equations. Unlike traditional experiential arithmetic, the differential equations are independent of the parameter deviation among the piezoresistors of the microelectromechanical pressure sensor and the residual stress caused by the fabrication process or a mismatch in the thermal expansion coefficients. The differential equations are solved using calibration data from uncompensated high-temperature piezoresistive pressure sensors. Tests conducted on the calibrated equipment at various temperatures and pressures show that the passive resistor temperature compensation produces a remarkable effect. Additionally, a high-temperature signal-conditioning circuit is used to improve the output sensitivity of the sensor, which can be reduced by the temperature compensation. Compared to traditional experiential arithmetic, the proposed passive resistor temperature compensation technique exhibits less temperature drift and is expected to be highly applicable for pressure measurements in harsh environments with large temperature variations.

Passive Resistor Temperature Compensation for a High-Temperature Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor

PubMed Central

Yao, Zong; Liang, Ting; Jia, Pinggang; Hong, Yingping; Qi, Lei; Lei, Cheng; Zhang, Bin; Li, Wangwang; Zhang, Diya; Xiong, Jijun

2016-01-01

The main limitation of high-temperature piezoresistive pressure sensors is the variation of output voltage with operating temperature, which seriously reduces their measurement accuracy. This paper presents a passive resistor temperature compensation technique whose parameters are calculated using differential equations. Unlike traditional experiential arithmetic, the differential equations are independent of the parameter deviation among the piezoresistors of the microelectromechanical pressure sensor and the residual stress caused by the fabrication process or a mismatch in the thermal expansion coefficients. The differential equations are solved using calibration data from uncompensated high-temperature piezoresistive pressure sensors. Tests conducted on the calibrated equipment at various temperatures and pressures show that the passive resistor temperature compensation produces a remarkable effect. Additionally, a high-temperature signal-conditioning circuit is used to improve the output sensitivity of the sensor, which can be reduced by the temperature compensation. Compared to traditional experiential arithmetic, the proposed passive resistor temperature compensation technique exhibits less temperature drift and is expected to be highly applicable for pressure measurements in harsh environments with large temperature variations. PMID:27455271

A Low-Cost CMOS-MEMS Piezoresistive Accelerometer with Large Proof Mass

PubMed Central

Khir, Mohd Haris Md; Qu, Peng; Qu, Hongwei

2011-01-01

This paper reports a low-cost, high-sensitivity CMOS-MEMS piezoresistive accelerometer with large proof mass. In the device fabricated using ON Semiconductor 0.5 μm CMOS technology, an inherent CMOS polysilicon thin film is utilized as the piezoresistive sensing material. A full Wheatstone bridge was constructed through easy wiring allowed by the three metal layers in the 0.5 μm CMOS technology. The device fabrication process consisted of a standard CMOS process for sensor configuration, and a deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) based post-CMOS microfabrication for MEMS structure release. A bulk single-crystal silicon (SCS) substrate is included in the proof mass to increase sensor sensitivity. In device design and analysis, the self heating of the polysilicon piezoresistors and its effect to the sensor performance is also discussed. With a low operating power of 1.5 mW, the accelerometer demonstrates a sensitivity of 0.077 mV/g prior to any amplification. Dynamic tests have been conducted with a high-end commercial calibrating accelerometer as reference. PMID:22164052

A low-cost CMOS-MEMS piezoresistive accelerometer with large proof mass.

PubMed

Khir, Mohd Haris Md; Qu, Peng; Qu, Hongwei

2011-01-01

This paper reports a low-cost, high-sensitivity CMOS-MEMS piezoresistive accelerometer with large proof mass. In the device fabricated using ON Semiconductor 0.5 μm CMOS technology, an inherent CMOS polysilicon thin film is utilized as the piezoresistive sensing material. A full Wheatstone bridge was constructed through easy wiring allowed by the three metal layers in the 0.5 μm CMOS technology. The device fabrication process consisted of a standard CMOS process for sensor configuration, and a deep reactive ion etching (DRIE) based post-CMOS microfabrication for MEMS structure release. A bulk single-crystal silicon (SCS) substrate is included in the proof mass to increase sensor sensitivity. In device design and analysis, the self heating of the polysilicon piezoresistors and its effect to the sensor performance is also discussed. With a low operating power of 1.5 mW, the accelerometer demonstrates a sensitivity of 0.077 mV/g prior to any amplification. Dynamic tests have been conducted with a high-end commercial calibrating accelerometer as reference.

Mechanical behavior enhancement of ZnO nanowire by embedding different nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vazinishayan, Ali; Yang, Shuming; Lambada, Dasaradha Rao; Wang, Yiming

2018-06-01

In this work, we employed commercial finite element modeling (FEM) software package ABAQUS to analyze mechanical properties of ZnO nanowire before and after embedding with different kinds of nanowires, having different materials and cross-section models such as Au (circular), Ag (pentagonal) and Si (rectangular) using three point bending technique. The length and diameter of the ZnO nanowire were measured to be 12,280 nm and 103.2 nm, respectively. In addition, Au, Ag and Si nanowires were considered to have the length of 12,280 nm and the diameter of 27 nm. It was found that after embedding Si nanowire with rectangular cross-section into the ZnO nanowire, the distribution of Von Misses stresses criterion, displacement and strain were decreased than the other nanowires embedded. The highest stiffness, the elastic deformation and the high strength against brittle failure have been made by Si nanowire comparison to the Au and Ag nanowires, respectively.

Growth Mechanism of Nanowires: Ternary Chalcogenides

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Singh, N. B.; Coriell, S. R.; Hopkins, R. H.; Su, Ching Hua; Arnold, B.; Choa, Fow-Sen; Cullum, Brian

2016-01-01

In the past two decades there has been a large rise in the investment and expectations for nanotechnology use. Almost every area of research has projected improvements in sensors, or even a promise for the emergence of some novel device technologies. For these applications major focuses of research are in the areas of nanoparticles and graphene. Although there are some near term applications with nanowires in photodetectors and other low light detectors, there are few papers on the growth mechanism and fabrication of nanowire-based devices. Semiconductor nanowires exhibit very favorable and promising optical properties, including high transparency and a several order of magnitude better photocurrent than thin film and bulk materials. We present here an overview of the mechanism of nanowire growth from the melt, and some preliminary results for the thallium arsenic selenide material system. Thallium arsenic selenide (TAS) is a multifunctional material combining excellent acousto-optical, nonlinear and radiation detection properties. We observed that small units of (TAS) nanocubes arrange and rearrange at moderate melt undercooling to form the building block of a nanowire. In some cases very long wires (less than mm) are formed. Since we avoided the catalyst, we observed self-nucleation and uncontrolled growth of wires from different places.

Synthesis of InSb Nanowire Architectures - Building Blocks for Majorana Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Car, Diana

Breakthroughs in material development are playing a major role in the emerging field of topological quantum computation with Majorana Zero Modes (MZMs). Due to the strong spin-orbit interaction and large Landé g-factor InSb nanowires are one of the most promising one dimensional material systems in which to detect MZMs. The next generation of Majorana experiments should move beyond zero-mode detection and demonstrate the non-Abelian nature of MZMs by braiding. To achieve this goal advanced material platforms are needed: low-disorder, single-crystalline, planar networks of nanowires with high spin-orbit energy. In this talk I will discuss the formation and electronic properties of InSb nanowire networks. The bottom-up synthesis method we have developed is generic and can be employed to synthesize interconnected nanowire architectures of group III-V, II-VI and IV materials as long as they grow along a <111>direction.

Gas Sensors Based on Semiconducting Nanowire Field-Effect Transistors

PubMed Central

Feng, Ping; Shao, Feng; Shi, Yi; Wan, Qing

2014-01-01

One-dimensional semiconductor nanostructures are unique sensing materials for the fabrication of gas sensors. In this article, gas sensors based on semiconducting nanowire field-effect transistors (FETs) are comprehensively reviewed. Individual nanowires or nanowire network films are usually used as the active detecting channels. In these sensors, a third electrode, which serves as the gate, is used to tune the carrier concentration of the nanowires to realize better sensing performance, including sensitivity, selectivity and response time, etc. The FET parameters can be modulated by the presence of the target gases and their change relate closely to the type and concentration of the gas molecules. In addition, extra controls such as metal decoration, local heating and light irradiation can be combined with the gate electrode to tune the nanowire channel and realize more effective gas sensing. With the help of micro-fabrication techniques, these sensors can be integrated into smart systems. Finally, some challenges for the future investigation and application of nanowire field-effect gas sensors are discussed. PMID:25232915

Piezoresistivity of Resin-Impregnated Carbon Nanotube Film at High Temperatures.

PubMed

Li, Min; Zuo, Tianyi; Wang, Shaokai; Gu, Yizhuo; Gao, Limin; Li, Yanxia; Zhang, Zuoguang

2018-06-13

This paper presents the development of a continuous carbon nanotube (CNT) composite film sensor with a strain detecting range of 0-2% for structural composites. The strain-dependent resistance responses of continuous CNT film and its resin-impregnated composite films were investigated at temperatures as high as 200 °C. The results manifest that impregnation with resin leads to a much larger gauge factor than pristine film. Both the pristine and composite films show an increase in resistivity with increasing temperature. For different composite films, the ordering of gauge factors is consistent with that of the matrix moduli. This indicates that a resin matrix with higher modulus and strong interactions between CNTs/CNT bundles and the resin matrix are beneficial for enhancing the piezoresistive effect. The CNT/PAA composite film has a gauge factor of 4.3 at 150 °C, an order of magnitude higher than the metal foil sensor. Therefore, the CNT composite films have great potential for simultaneous application for reinforcement and as strain sensor to realise a multifunctional composite. © 2018 IOP Publishing Ltd.

A microfluidic device integrating dual CMOS polysilicon nanowire sensors for on-chip whole blood processing and simultaneous detection of multiple analytes.

PubMed

Kuan, Da-Han; Wang, I-Shun; Lin, Jiun-Rue; Yang, Chao-Han; Huang, Chi-Hsien; Lin, Yen-Hung; Lin, Chih-Ting; Huang, Nien-Tsu

2016-08-02

The hemoglobin-A1c test, measuring the ratio of glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) to hemoglobin (Hb) levels, has been a standard assay in diabetes diagnosis that removes the day-to-day glucose level variation. Currently, the HbA1c test is restricted to hospitals and central laboratories due to the laborious, time-consuming whole blood processing and bulky instruments. In this paper, we have developed a microfluidic device integrating dual CMOS polysilicon nanowire sensors (MINS) for on-chip whole blood processing and simultaneous detection of multiple analytes. The micromachined polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) microfluidic device consisted of a serpentine microchannel with multiple dam structures designed for non-lysed cells or debris trapping, uniform plasma/buffer mixing and dilution. The CMOS-fabricated polysilicon nanowire sensors integrated with the microfluidic device were designed for the simultaneous, label-free electrical detection of multiple analytes. Our study first measured the Hb and HbA1c levels in 11 clinical samples via these nanowire sensors. The results were compared with those of standard Hb and HbA1c measurement methods (Hb: the sodium lauryl sulfate hemoglobin detection method; HbA1c: cation-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography) and showed comparable outcomes. Finally, we successfully demonstrated the efficacy of the MINS device's on-chip whole blood processing followed by simultaneous Hb and HbA1c measurement in a clinical sample. Compared to current Hb and HbA1c sensing instruments, the MINS platform is compact and can simultaneously detect two analytes with only 5 μL of whole blood, which corresponds to a 300-fold blood volume reduction. The total assay time, including the in situ sample processing and analyte detection, was just 30 minutes. Based on its on-chip whole blood processing and simultaneous multiple analyte detection functionalities with a lower sample volume requirement and shorter process time, the MINS device can be

Piezoresistive Composite Silicon Dioxide Nanocantilever Surface Stress Sensor: Design and Optimization.

PubMed

Mathew, Ribu; Sankar, A Ravi

2018-05-01

In this paper, we present the design and optimization of a rectangular piezoresistive composite silicon dioxide nanocantilever sensor. Unlike the conventional design approach, we perform the sensor optimization by not only considering its electro-mechanical response but also incorporating the impact of self-heating induced thermal drift in its terminal characteristics. Through extensive simulations first we comprehend and quantify the inaccuracies due to self-heating effect induced by the geometrical and intrinsic parameters of the piezoresistor. Then, by optimizing the ratio of electrical sensitivity to thermal sensitivity defined as the sensitivity ratio (υ) we improve the sensor performance and measurement reliability. Results show that to ensure υ ≥ 1, shorter and wider piezoresistors are better. In addition, it is observed that unlike the general belief that high doping concentration of piezoresistor reduces thermal sensitivity in piezoresistive sensors, to ensure υ ≥ 1 doping concentration (p) should be in the range: 1E18 cm-3 ≤ p ≤ 1E19 cm-3. Finally, we provide a set of design guidelines that will help NEMS engineers to optimize the performance of such sensors for chemical and biological sensing applications.

Characterization of superconducting nanowire single-photon detector with artificial constrictions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Ling; Liu, Dengkuan; Wu, Junjie

2014-06-15

Statistical studies on the performance of different superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) on one chip suggested that random constrictions existed in the nanowire that were barely registered by scanning electron microscopy. With the aid of advanced e-beam lithography, artificial geometric constrictions were fabricated on SNSPDs as well as single nanowires. In this way, we studied the influence of artificial constrictions on SNSPDs in a straight forward manner. By introducing artificial constrictions with different wire widths in single nanowires, we concluded that the dark counts of SNSPDs originate from a single constriction. Further introducing artificial constrictions in SNSPDs, we studied themore » relationship between detection efficiency and kinetic inductance and the bias current, confirming the hypothesis that constrictions exist in SNSPDs.« less

The effect of nanowire length and diameter on the properties of transparent, conducting nanowire films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergin, Stephen M.; Chen, Yu-Hui; Rathmell, Aaron R.; Charbonneau, Patrick; Li, Zhi-Yuan; Wiley, Benjamin J.

2012-03-01

This article describes how the dimensions of nanowires affect the transmittance and sheet resistance of a random nanowire network. Silver nanowires with independently controlled lengths and diameters were synthesized with a gram-scale polyol synthesis by controlling the reaction temperature and time. Characterization of films composed of nanowires of different lengths but the same diameter enabled the quantification of the effect of length on the conductance and transmittance of silver nanowire films. Finite-difference time-domain calculations were used to determine the effect of nanowire diameter, overlap, and hole size on the transmittance of a nanowire network. For individual nanowires with diameters greater than 50 nm, increasing diameter increases the electrical conductance to optical extinction ratio, but the opposite is true for nanowires with diameters less than this size. Calculations and experimental data show that for a random network of nanowires, decreasing nanowire diameter increases the number density of nanowires at a given transmittance, leading to improved connectivity and conductivity at high transmittance (>90%). This information will facilitate the design of transparent, conducting nanowire films for flexible displays, organic light emitting diodes and thin-film solar cells.This article describes how the dimensions of nanowires affect the transmittance and sheet resistance of a random nanowire network. Silver nanowires with independently controlled lengths and diameters were synthesized with a gram-scale polyol synthesis by controlling the reaction temperature and time. Characterization of films composed of nanowires of different lengths but the same diameter enabled the quantification of the effect of length on the conductance and transmittance of silver nanowire films. Finite-difference time-domain calculations were used to determine the effect of nanowire diameter, overlap, and hole size on the transmittance of a nanowire network. For

Electrical detection of single viruses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patolsky, Fernando; Zheng, Gengfeng; Hayden, Oliver; Lakadamyali, Melike; Zhuang, Xiaowei; Lieber, Charles M.

2004-09-01

We report direct, real-time electrical detection of single virus particles with high selectivity by using nanowire field effect transistors. Measurements made with nanowire arrays modified with antibodies for influenza A showed discrete conductance changes characteristic of binding and unbinding in the presence of influenza A but not paramyxovirus or adenovirus. Simultaneous electrical and optical measurements using fluorescently labeled influenza A were used to demonstrate conclusively that the conductance changes correspond to binding/unbinding of single viruses at the surface of nanowire devices. pH-dependent studies further show that the detection mechanism is caused by a field effect, and that the nanowire devices can be used to determine rapidly isoelectric points and variations in receptor-virus binding kinetics for different conditions. Lastly, studies of nanowire devices modified with antibodies specific for either influenza or adenovirus show that multiple viruses can be selectively detected in parallel. The possibility of large-scale integration of these nanowire devices suggests potential for simultaneous detection of a large number of distinct viral threats at the single virus level.

Anisotropic piezoresistivity characteristics of aligned carbon nanotube-polymer nanocomposites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sengezer, Engin C.; Seidel, Gary D.; Bodnar, Robert J.

2017-09-01

Dielectrophoresis under the application of AC electric fields is one of the primary fabrication techniques for obtaining aligned carbon nanotube (CNT)-polymer nanocomposites, and is used here to generate long range alignment of CNTs at the structural level. The degree of alignment of CNTs within this long range architecture is observed via polarized Raman spectroscopy so that its influence on the electrical conductivity and piezoresistive response in both the alignment and transverse to alignment directions can be assessed. Nanocomposite samples consisting of randomly oriented, well dispersed single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and of long range electric field aligned SWCNTs in a photopolymerizable monomer blend (urethane dimethacrylate and 1,6-hexanediol dimethacrylate) are quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated. Piezoresistive sensitivities in form of gauge factors were measured for randomly oriented, well dispersed specimens with 0.03, 0.1 and 0.5 wt% SWCNTs and compared with gauge factors in both the axial and transverse to SWCNT alignment directions for electric field aligned 0.03 wt% specimens under both quasi-static monotonic and cyclic tensile loading. Gauge factors in the axial direction were observed to be on the order of 2, while gauge factors in the transverse direction demonstrated a 5 fold increase with values on the order of 10 for aligned specimens. Based on Raman analysis, it is believed the higher sensitivity of the transverse direction is related to architectural evolution of misaligned bridging structures which connect alignment structures under load due to Poisson’s contraction.

Nanowires of metal (Cd, Cu) halide complexes with 8-hydroxyquinoline for photoelectrochemical and electrochemiluminescence sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Shan; Pang, Guangming; Li, Xiangkui; Li, Jianping; Pan, Hongcheng

2017-12-01

Metal-hydroxyquinoline-halogen (MqX, M = Cd, Cu; q = 8-hydroxyquinoline; X = Cl, Br, I) nanowires are synthesized via a sonochemical-assisted method. The elemental analysis (EA), inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) support an M/q/X ratio of 1:1:1. The electron microscope images reveal a typical CdqX and CuqX nanowire diameter of 30-50 nm and a nanowire length of 400-600 nm. In addition, the synthesis of the MqX nanowires is only observed when there is an excess of halide ions (X/q molar ratio of 3 or greater). This halide deficiency results in the formation of micrometer-sized Mq2 sheets. We demonstrated the conversion of the MqX nanowires to Mq2 micro-sheets in an ultrasonic bath of 1 M 8-Hq ethanol solutions (50%, w/ w) at 50 °C for 2 h, but not vice versa. The MqX nanowires exhibited excellent properties for photoluminescence, electrochemiluminescence (ECL), and photoelectrochemistry (PEC). The CdqBr and CdqI nanowires were coated onto a glass carbon and a fluorine-doped tin oxide glass electrode to develop the above ECL and PEC methods for the detection of H2O2 and Cu2+, respectively. In the range of 2 to 14 μM, the ECL intensity of the CdqBr nanowires was inversely proportional to the concentration of H2O2 with a detection limit of 0.26 μM. For Cu2+ sensing, the photocurrent of the CdqI nanowires exhibited a linear response to Cu2+ over the range of 2 to 16 μM of which a detection limit of 0.2 μM was observed.

Development, Fabrication, and Characterization of Hydrogel Based Piezoresistive Pressure Sensors with Perforated Diaphragms

PubMed Central

Orthner, M.P.; Buetefisch, Sebastian; Magda, J.; Rieth, L.W.; Solzbacher, F.

2010-01-01

Hydrogels have been demonstrated to swell in response to a number of external stimuli including pH, CO2, glucose, and ionic strength making them useful for detection of metabolic analytes. To measure hydrogel swelling pressure, we have fabricated and tested novel perforated diaphragm piezoresistive pressure sensor arrays that couple the pressure sensing diaphragm with a perforated semi-permeable membrane. The 2×2 arrays measure approximately 3 × 5 mm2 and consist of four square sensing diaphragms with widths of 1.0, 1.25, and 1.5 mm used to measure full scale pressures of 50, 25, and 5 kPa, respectively. An optimized geometry of micro pores was etched in silicon diaphragm to allow analyte diffusion into the sensor cavity where the hydrogel material is located. The 14-step front side wafer process was carried out by a commercial foundry service (MSF, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany) and diaphragm pores were created using combination of potassium hydroxide (KOH) etching and deep reactive ion etching (DRIE). Sensor characterization was performed (without the use of hydrogels) using a custom bulge testing apparatus that simultaneously measured deflection, pressure, and electrical output. Test results are used to quantify the sensor sensitivity and demonstrate proof-of-concept. Simulations showed that the sensitivity was slightly improved for the perforated diaphragm designs while empirical electrical characterization showed that the perforated diaphragm sensors were slightly less sensitive than solid diaphragm sensors. This discrepancy is believed to be due to the influence of compressive stress found within passivation layers and poor etching uniformity. The new perforated diaphragm sensors were fully functional with sensitivities ranging from 23 to 252 μV/V-kPa (FSO= 5 to 80mV), and show a higher nonlinearity at elevated pressures than identical sensors with solid diaphragms. Sensors (1.5×1.5 mm2) with perforated diaphragms (pores=40 μm) have a nonlinearity of

Surface plasmon aided high sensitive non-enzymatic glucose sensor using Au/NiAu multilayered nanowire arrays.

PubMed

Wang, Lanfang; Zhu, Weiqi; Lu, Wenbo; Qin, Xiufang; Xu, Xiaohong

2018-07-15

A novel plasmon aided non-enzymatic glucose sensor was first constructed based on the unique half-rough Au/NiAu multilayered nanowire arrays. These multilayered and half-rough nanowires provide high chemical activity and large surface area for glucose oxidation in an alkaline solution. Under visible light irradiation, the surface plasmons originated from Au part enhance the electron transfer in the vertically aligned nanowires, leading to high sensitivity and wide detection range. The resulting sensor exhibits a wide glucose detection concentration range, low detection limit, and high sensitivity for plasmon aided non-enzymatic glucose sensor. Moreover, the detection sensitivity is enhanced by almost 2 folds compared to that in the dark, which significantly enhanced the performance of Au/NiAu multilayered nanowire arrays sensor. An excellent selectivity and acceptable stability were also achieved. These results indicate that surface plasmon aided nanostructures are promising new platforms for the construction of non-enzymatic glucose sensors. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Influence factors of the inter-nanowire thermal contact resistance in the stacked nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Dongxu; Huang, Congliang; Zhong, Jinxin; Lin, Zizhen

2018-05-01

The inter-nanowire thermal contact resistance is important for tuning the thermal conductivity of a nanocomposite for thermoelectric applications. In this paper, the stacked copper nanowires are applied for studying the thermal contact resistance. The stacked copper nanowires are firstly made by the cold-pressing method, and then the nanowire stacks are treated by sintering treatment. With the effect of the volumetric fraction of nanowires in the stack and the influence of the sintering-temperature on the thermal contact resistance discussed, results show that: The thermal conductivity of the 150-nm copper nanowires can be enlarged almost 2 times with the volumetric fraction increased from 32 to 56% because of the enlarged contact-area and contact number of a copper nanowire. When the sintering temperature increases from 293 to 673 K, the thermal conductivity of the stacked 300-nm nanowires could be enlarged almost 2.5 times by the sintering treatment, because of the improved lattice property of the contact zone. In conclusion, application of a high volumetric fraction or/and a sintering-treatment are effectivity to tune the inter-nanowire thermal contact resistance, and thus to tailor the thermal conductivity of a nanowire network or stack.

Nanowire-Assembled Hierarchical ZnCo2O4 Microstructure Integrated with a Low-Power Microheater for Highly Sensitive Formaldehyde Detection.

PubMed

Long, Hu; Harley-Trochimczyk, Anna; Cheng, Siyi; Hu, Hao; Chi, Won Seok; Rao, Ameya; Carraro, Carlo; Shi, Tielin; Tang, Zirong; Maboudian, Roya

2016-11-23

Nanowire-assembled 3D hierarchical ZnCo 2 O 4 microstructure is synthesized by a facile hydrothermal route and a subsequent annealing process. In comparison to simple nanowires, the resulting dandelion-like structure yields more open spaces between nanowires, which allow for better gas diffusion and provide more active sites for gas adsorption while maintaining good electrical conductivity. The hierarchical ZnCo 2 O 4 microstructure is integrated on a low-power microheater platform without using binders or conductive additives. The hierarchical structure of the ZnCo 2 O 4 sensing material provides reliable electrical connection across the sensing electrodes. The resulting sensor exhibits an ultralow detection limit of 3 ppb toward formaldehyde with fast response and recovery as well as good selectivity to CO, H 2 , and hydrocarbons such as n-pentane, propane, and CH 4 . The sensor only consumes ∼5.7 mW for continuous operation at 300 °C with good long-term stability. The excellent sensing performance of this hierarchical structure based sensor suggests the advantages of combining such structures with microfabricated heaters for practical low-power sensing applications.

Ultra-sensitive and selective detection of mercury ion (Hg2+) using free-standing silicon nanowire sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Yan; Gao, Anran; Jin, Qinghui; Li, Tie; Wang, Yuelin; Zhao, Jianlong

2018-04-01

In this paper, ultra-sensitive and highly selective Hg2+ detection in aqueous solutions was studied by free-standing silicon nanowire (SiNW) sensors. The all-around surface of SiNW arrays was functionalized with (3-Mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane serving as Hg2+ sensitive layer. Due to effective electrostatic control provided by the free-standing structure, a detection limit as low as 1 ppt was obtained. A linear relationship (R 2 = 0.9838) between log(CHg2+ ) and a device current change from 1 ppt to 5 ppm was observed. Furthermore, the developed SiNW sensor exhibited great selectivity for Hg2+ over other heavy metal ions, including Cd2+. Given the extraordinary ability for real-time Hg2+ detection, the small size and low cost of the SiNW device, it is expected to be a potential candidate in field detection of environmentally toxic mercury.

Spontaneous polarization induced electric field in zinc oxide nanowires and nanostars

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Farid, S., E-mail: sfarid3@uic.edu; Choi, M.; Datta, D.

We report on the detection mechanism of spontaneous polarization using electrostatic force microscopy in zinc oxide nanowires and nanostars grown by vapor-liquid-solid technique. Optical and structural properties are investigated in detail to understand the complex ZnO nanostructures comprehensively. Calculations are carried out to estimate the electric field from the change in interleave amplitude induced by the electrostatic force due to the spontaneous polarization effects. Attraction of the probe between the tip and the sample varies for different structures with a stronger attraction for nanostars as compared to nanowires. Strength of electric field is dependent on the orientation of nanowires andmore » nanostars c-axis with measured magnitude of electric field to be ∼10{sup 7 }V/m and 10{sup 8 }V/m respectively. This technique presents a unique detection mechanism of built-in spontaneous polarization and electric field from polar ZnO nanowires with applications in voltage gated ion channels, nano-bio interfaces, optoelectronic and photonic devices.« less

A flexible piezoresistive carbon black network in silicone rubber for wide range deformation and strain sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Jianxiong; Wang, Hai; Zhu, Yali

2018-01-01

This work presents the design, fabrication, and measurement of a piezoresistive device with a carbon black (CB) particle network in a highly flexible silicone rubber for large deformation and wide range strain sensing. The piezoresistive composite film was fabricated with a mixture of silicone rubber and CB filler particles. The test results showed that the CB particle network in the silicone rubber strongly affected the resistance of the device during the process of drawing and its recovery. We found that the 50% volume ratio of CB filler particles showed a lower relative resistance than the 33.3% volume ratio of CB filler particles, but with an advantage of good resistance recovery stability and a smaller perturbation error (smaller changed resistance) during the periodic back and forth linear motor test. With both having a 50% volume ratio of CB filler particles and a 33.3% volume ratio of CB filler particles, one can reach up to 200% strain with resistances 18 kΩ and 110 kΩ, respectively. We also found that the relative resistance increased in an approximately linear relationship corresponding to the value of step-increased instantaneous length for the reported device. Moreover, an application test through hand drawing was used to demonstrate the piezoresistive performance of the device, which showed that the reported device was capable of measuring the instantaneous length with large deformation.

Nanowire Photovoltaic Devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Forbes, David

2015-01-01

Firefly Technologies, in collaboration with the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, developed synthesis methods for highly strained nanowires. Two synthesis routes resulted in successful nanowire epitaxy: direct nucleation and growth on the substrate and a novel selective-epitaxy route based on nanolithography using diblock copolymers. The indium-arsenide (InAs) nanowires are implemented in situ within the epitaxy environment-a significant innovation relative to conventional semiconductor nanowire generation using ex situ gold nanoparticles. The introduction of these nanoscale features may enable an intermediate band solar cell while simultaneously increasing the effective absorption volume that can otherwise limit short-circuit current generated by thin quantized layers. The use of nanowires for photovoltaics decouples the absorption process from the current extraction process by virtue of the high aspect ratio. While no functional solar cells resulted from this effort, considerable fundamental understanding of the nanowire epitaxy kinetics and nanopatterning process was developed. This approach could, in principle, be an enabling technology for heterointegration of dissimilar materials. The technology also is applicable to virtual substrates. Incorporating nanowires onto a recrystallized germanium/metal foil substrate would potentially solve the problem of grain boundary shunting of generated carriers by restricting the cross-sectional area of the nanowire (tens of nanometers in diameter) to sizes smaller than the recrystallized grains (0.5 to 1 micron(exp 2).

Growth mechanism of surface roughed platinum nanowires through electrodeposition current control and their electrochemical applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruan, Dajiang

The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of current density on the grain size and surface morphology of electrodeposited platinum nanowires and their applications. Platinum (Pt) nanowires were fabricated by a galvanostatic electrodeposition method in a porous anodic alumina oxide (AAO) template with different current densities. Both direct current and pulse current electrodeposition were used to synthesize the Pt nanowires. The grain size and surface morphology of the Pt nanowires were studied by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microcopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The experimental results showed that the current density was the key factor to control the surface roughness. The surface of the Pt nanowires became rougher and the grain sizes were increased by increasing the current densities. From the experimental results, a growth mechanism of Pt nanowires based on progressive nucleation and crystallization was proposed in order to find out the relationship between the surface morphology and current density. The electrochemical properties and catalytic activities of these surface roughed Pt nanowires were investigated in the detection of H20 2 and for the methanol oxidation. Cyclic voltammograms of Pt nanowire modified electrodes were obtained using a potentiostat, which showed that rougher Pt nanowires have higher response and better activity than that of smooth nanowires. For H202 detection, the effect of scan rate and H202 concentration were studied and it was found that the peak current for hydrogen peroxide reduction became larger with the increasing of either scan rate or H202 concentration. It can be inferred that the process of electrocatalytic hydrogen peroxide reduction may be controlled by diffusion of hydrogen peroxide and the Pt nanowire modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) is well suited for the detection of H202. From the relationship between the peak current and square root of scan rates

CdS nanowires formed by chemical synthesis using conjugated single-stranded DNA molecules

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarangi, S. N.; Sahu, S. N.; Nozaki, S.

2018-03-01

CdS nanowires were successfully grown by chemical synthesis using two conjugated single-stranded (ss) DNA molecules, poly G (30) and poly C (30), as templates. During the early stage of the synthesis with the DNA molecules, the Cd 2+ interacts with Poly G and Poly C and produces the (Cd 2+)-Poly GC complex. As the growth proceeds, it results in nanowires. The structural analysis by grazing angle x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy confirmed the zinc-blende CdS nanowires with the growth direction of <220>. Although the nanowires are well surface-passivated with the DNA molecules, the photoluminescence quenching was caused by the electron transfer from the nanowires to the DNA molecules. The quenching can be used to detect and label the DNAs.

Why self-catalyzed nanowires are most suitable for large-scale hierarchical integrated designs of nanowire nanoelectronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noor Mohammad, S.

2011-10-01

Nanowires are grown by a variety of mechanisms, including vapor-liquid-solid, vapor-quasiliquid-solid or vapor-quasisolid-solid, oxide-assisted growth, and self-catalytic growth (SCG) mechanisms. A critical analysis of the suitability of self-catalyzed nanowires, as compared to other nanowires, for next-generation technology development has been carried out. Basic causes of superiority of self-catalyzed (SCG) nanowires over other nanowires have been described. Polytypism in nanowires has been studied, and a model for polytypism has been proposed. The model predicts polytypism in good agreement with available experiments. This model, together with various evidences, demonstrates lower defects, dislocations, and stacking faults in SCG nanowires, as compared to those in other nanowires. Calculations of carrier mobility due to dislocation scattering, ionized impurity scattering, and acoustic phonon scattering explain the impact of defects, dislocations, and stacking faults on carrier transports in SCG and other nanowires. Analyses of growth mechanisms for nanowire growth directions indicate SCG nanowires to exhibit the most controlled growth directions. In-depth investigation uncovers the fundamental physics underlying the control of growth direction by the SCG mechanism. Self-organization of nanowires in large hierarchical arrays is crucial for ultra large-scale integration (ULSI). Unique features and advantages of self-organized SCG nanowires, unlike other nanowires, for this ULSI have been discussed. Investigations of nanowire dimension indicate self-catalyzed nanowires to have better control of dimension, higher stability, and higher probability, even for thinner structures. Theoretical calculations show that self-catalyzed nanowires, unlike catalyst-mediated nanowires, can have higher growth rate and lower growth temperature. Nanowire and nanotube characteristics have been found also to dictate the performance of nanoelectromechanical systems. Defects, such as

Structural and optical properties of axial silicon-germanium nanowire heterojunctions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, X.; Tsybeskov, L., E-mail: tsybesko@njit.edu; Kamins, T. I.

2015-12-21

Detailed studies of the structural and optical properties of axial silicon-germanium nanowire heterojunctions show that despite the 4.2% lattice mismatch between Si and Ge they can be grown without a significant density of structural defects. The lattice mismatch induced strain is partially relieved due to spontaneous SiGe intermixing at the heterointerface during growth and lateral expansion of the Ge segment of the nanowire. The mismatch in Ge and Si coefficients of thermal expansion and low thermal conductivity of Si/Ge nanowire heterojunctions are proposed to be responsible for the thermally induced stress detected under intense laser radiation in photoluminescence and Ramanmore » scattering measurements.« less

Topological insulator nanowires and nanowire hetero-junctions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Haiming; Zhao, Lukas; Wade, Travis; Konczykowski, Marcin; Krusin-Elbaum, Lia

2014-03-01

The existing topological insulator materials (TIs) continue to present a number of challenges to complete understanding of the physics of topological spin-helical Dirac surface conduction channels, owing to a relatively large charge conduction in the bulk. One way to reduce the bulk contribution and to increase surface-to-volume ratio is by nanostructuring. Here we report on the synthesis and characterization of Sb2Te3, Bi2Te3 nanowires and nanotubes and Sb2Te3/Bi2Te3 heterojunctions electrochemically grown in porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes with varied (from 50 to 150 nm) pore diameters. Stoichiometric rigid polycrystalline nanowires with controllable cross-sections were obtained using cell voltages in the 30 - 150 mV range. Transport measurements in up to 14 T magnetic fields applied along the nanowires show Aharonov-Bohm (A-B) quantum oscillations with periods corresponding to the nanowire diameters. All nanowires were found to exhibit sharp weak anti-localization (WAL) cusps, a characteristic signature of TIs. In addition to A-B oscillations, new quantization plateaus in magnetoresistance (MR) at low fields (< 0 . 7T) were observed. The analysis of MR as well as I - V characteristics of heterojunctions will be presented. Supported in part by NSF-DMR-1122594, NSF-DMR-1312483-MWN, and DOD-W911NF-13-1-0159.

Nanowire structures and electrical devices

DOEpatents

Bezryadin, Alexey; Remeika, Mikas

2010-07-06

The present invention provides structures and devices comprising conductive segments and conductance constricting segments of a nanowire, such as metallic, superconducting or semiconducting nanowire. The present invention provides structures and devices comprising conductive nanowire segments and conductance constricting nanowire segments having accurately selected phases including crystalline and amorphous states, compositions, morphologies and physical dimensions, including selected cross sectional dimensions, shapes and lengths along the length of a nanowire. Further, the present invention provides methods of processing nanowires capable of patterning a nanowire to form a plurality of conductance constricting segments having selected positions along the length of a nanowire, including conductance constricting segments having reduced cross sectional dimensions and conductance constricting segments comprising one or more insulating materials such as metal oxides.

Nanowire-based thermoelectrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, Azhar; Chen, Yixi; Vasiraju, Venkata; Vaddiraju, Sreeram

2017-07-01

Research on thermoelectrics has seen a huge resurgence since the early 1990s. The ability of tuning a material’s electrical and thermal transport behavior upon nanostructuring has led to this revival. Nevertheless, thermoelectric performances of nanowires and related materials lag far behind those achieved with thin-film superlattices and quantum dot-based materials. This is despite the fact that nanowires offer many distinct advantages in enhancing the thermoelectric performances of materials. The simplicity of the strategy is the first and foremost advantage. For example, control of the nanowire diameters and their surface roughnesses will aid in enhancing their thermoelectric performances. Another major advantage is the possibility of obtaining high thermoelectric performances using simpler nanowire chemistries (e.g., elemental and binary compound semiconductors), paving the way for the fabrication of thermoelectric modules inexpensively from non-toxic elements. In this context, the topical review provides an overview of the current state of nanowire-based thermoelectrics. It concludes with a discussion of the future vision of nanowire-based thermoelectrics, including the need for developing strategies aimed at the mass production of nanowires and their interface-engineered assembly into devices. This eliminates the need for trial-and-error strategies and complex chemistries for enhancing the thermoelectric performances of materials.

Label-free SnO2 nanowire FET biosensor for protein detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jakob, Markus H.; Dong, Bo; Gutsch, Sebastian; Chatelle, Claire; Krishnaraja, Abinaya; Weber, Wilfried; Zacharias, Margit

2017-06-01

Novel tin oxide field-effect-transistors (SnO2 NW-FET) for pH and protein detection applicable in the healthcare sector are reported. With a SnO2 NW-FET the proof-of-concept of a bio-sensing device is demonstrated using the carrier transport control of the FET channel by a (bio-) liquid modulated gate. Ultra-thin Al2O3 fabricated by a low temperature atomic layer deposition (ALD) process represents a sensitive layer to H+ ions safeguarding the nanowire at the same time. Successful pH sensitivity is demonstrated for pH ranging from 3 to 10. For protein detection, the SnO2 NW-FET is functionalized with a receptor molecule which specifically interacts with the protein of interest to be detected. The feasibility of this approach is demonstrated via the detection of a biotinylated protein using a NW-FET functionalized with streptavidin. An immediate label-free electronic read-out of the signal is shown. The well-established Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method is used to determine the optimal experimental procedure which would enable molecular binding events to occur while being compatible with a final label-free electronic read-out on a NW-FET. Integration of the bottom-up fabricated SnO2 NW-FET pH- and biosensor into a microfluidic system (lab-on-a-chip) allows the automated analysis of small volumes in the 400 μl range as would be desired in portable on-site point-of-care (POC) devices for medical diagnosis.

Multiphase separation of copper nanowires

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Qian, Fang; Lan, Pui Ching; Olson, Tammy

Here, this communication reports a new method to purify copper nanowires with nearly 100% yield from undesired copper nanoparticle side-products formed during batch processes of copper nanowire synthesis. Also, this simple separation method can yield large quantities of long, uniform, high-purity copper nanowires to meet the requirements of nanoelectronics applications as well as provide an avenue for purifying copper nanowires in the industrial scale synthesis of copper nanowires, a key step for commercialization and application of nanowires.

Multiphase separation of copper nanowires

DOE PAGES

Qian, Fang; Lan, Pui Ching; Olson, Tammy; ...

2016-09-01

Here, this communication reports a new method to purify copper nanowires with nearly 100% yield from undesired copper nanoparticle side-products formed during batch processes of copper nanowire synthesis. Also, this simple separation method can yield large quantities of long, uniform, high-purity copper nanowires to meet the requirements of nanoelectronics applications as well as provide an avenue for purifying copper nanowires in the industrial scale synthesis of copper nanowires, a key step for commercialization and application of nanowires.

Top-Down Nanofabrication and Characterization of 20 nm Silicon Nanowires for Biosensing Applications

PubMed Central

M. N, M. Nuzaihan; Hashim, U.; Md Arshad, M. K.; Ruslinda, A. Rahim; Rahman, S. F. A.; Fathil, M. F. M.; Ismail, Mohd. H.

2016-01-01

A top-down nanofabrication approach is used to develop silicon nanowires from silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers and involves direct-write electron beam lithography (EBL), inductively coupled plasma-reactive ion etching (ICP-RIE) and a size reduction process. To achieve nanometer scale size, the crucial factors contributing to the EBL and size reduction processes are highlighted. The resulting silicon nanowires, which are 20 nm in width and 30 nm in height (with a triangular shape) and have a straight structure over the length of 400 μm, are fabricated precisely at the designed location on the device. The device is applied in biomolecule detection based on the changes in drain current (Ids), electrical resistance and conductance of the silicon nanowires upon hybridization to complementary target deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). In this context, the scaled-down device exhibited superior performances in terms of good specificity and high sensitivity, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 10 fM, enables for efficient label-free, direct and higher-accuracy DNA molecules detection. Thus, this silicon nanowire can be used as an improved transducer and serves as novel biosensor for future biomedical diagnostic applications. PMID:27022732

Programmability of nanowire networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bellew, A. T.; Bell, A. P.; McCarthy, E. K.; Fairfield, J. A.; Boland, J. J.

2014-07-01

Electrical connectivity in networks of nanoscale junctions must be better understood if nanowire devices are to be scaled up from single wires to functional material systems. We show that the natural connectivity behaviour found in random nanowire networks presents a new paradigm for creating multi-functional, programmable materials. In devices made from networks of Ni/NiO core-shell nanowires at different length scales, we discover the emergence of distinct behavioural regimes when networks are electrically stressed. We show that a small network, with few nanowire-nanowire junctions, acts as a unipolar resistive switch, demonstrating very high ON/OFF current ratios (>105). However, large networks of nanowires distribute an applied bias across a large number of junctions, and thus respond not by switching but instead by evolving connectivity. We demonstrate that these emergent properties lead to fault-tolerant materials whose resistance may be tuned, and which are capable of adaptively reconfiguring under stress. By combining these two behavioural regimes, we demonstrate that the same nanowire network may be programmed to act both as a metallic interconnect, and a resistive switch device with high ON/OFF ratio. These results enable the fabrication of programmable, multi-functional materials from random nanowire networks.Electrical connectivity in networks of nanoscale junctions must be better understood if nanowire devices are to be scaled up from single wires to functional material systems. We show that the natural connectivity behaviour found in random nanowire networks presents a new paradigm for creating multi-functional, programmable materials. In devices made from networks of Ni/NiO core-shell nanowires at different length scales, we discover the emergence of distinct behavioural regimes when networks are electrically stressed. We show that a small network, with few nanowire-nanowire junctions, acts as a unipolar resistive switch, demonstrating very high ON

Disordered array of Au covered Silicon nanowires for SERS biosensing combined with electrochemical detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Convertino, Annalisa; Mussi, Valentina; Maiolo, Luca

2016-04-01

We report on highly disordered array of Au coated silicon nanowires (Au/SiNWs) as surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) probe combined with electrochemical detection for biosensing applications. SiNWs, few microns long, were grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition on common microscope slides and covered by Au evaporated film, 150 nm thick. The capability of the resulting composite structure to act as SERS biosensor was studied via the biotin-avidin interaction: the Raman signal obtained from this structure allowed to follow each surface modification step as well as to detect efficiently avidin molecules over a broad range of concentrations from micromolar down to the nanomolar values. The metallic coverage wrapping SiNWs was exploited also to obtain a dual detection of the same bioanalyte by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Indeed, the SERS signal and impedance modifications induced by the biomolecule perturbations on the metalized surface of the NWs were monitored on the very same three-electrode device with the Au/SiNWs acting as both working electrode and SERS probe.

An open-source platform to study uniaxial stress effects on nanoscale devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Signorello, G.; Schraff, M.; Zellekens, P.; Drechsler, U.; Bürge, M.; Steinauer, H. R.; Heller, R.; Tschudy, M.; Riel, H.

2017-05-01

We present an automatic measurement platform that enables the characterization of nanodevices by electrical transport and optical spectroscopy as a function of the uniaxial stress. We provide insights into and detailed descriptions of the mechanical device, the substrate design and fabrication, and the instrument control software, which is provided under open-source license. The capability of the platform is demonstrated by characterizing the piezo-resistance of an InAs nanowire device using a combination of electrical transport and Raman spectroscopy. The advantages of this measurement platform are highlighted by comparison with state-of-the-art piezo-resistance measurements in InAs nanowires. We envision that the systematic application of this methodology will provide new insights into the physics of nanoscale devices and novel materials for electronics, and thus contribute to the assessment of the potential of strain as a technology booster for nanoscale electronics.

Homoepitaxial n-core: p-shell gallium nitride nanowires: HVPE overgrowth on MBE nanowires.

PubMed

Sanders, Aric; Blanchard, Paul; Bertness, Kris; Brubaker, Matthew; Dodson, Christopher; Harvey, Todd; Herrero, Andrew; Rourke, Devin; Schlager, John; Sanford, Norman; Chiaramonti, Ann N; Davydov, Albert; Motayed, Abhishek; Tsvetkov, Denis

2011-11-18

We present the homoepitaxial growth of p-type, magnesium doped gallium nitride shells by use of halide vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) on n-type gallium nitride nanowires grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Scanning electron microscopy shows clear dopant contrast between the core and shell of the nanowire. The growth of magnesium doped nanowire shells shows little or no effect on the lattice parameters of the underlying nanowires, as measured by x-ray diffraction (XRD). Photoluminescence measurements of the nanowires show the appearance of sub-bandgap features in the blue and the ultraviolet, indicating the presence of acceptors. Finally, electrical measurements confirm the presence of electrically active holes in the nanowires.

TiO2 nanowire-templated hierarchical nanowire network as water-repelling coating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hang, Tian; Chen, Hui-Jiuan; Xiao, Shuai; Yang, Chengduan; Chen, Meiwan; Tao, Jun; Shieh, Han-ping; Yang, Bo-ru; Liu, Chuan; Xie, Xi

2017-12-01

Extraordinary water-repelling properties of superhydrophobic surfaces make them novel candidates for a great variety of potential applications. A general approach to achieve superhydrophobicity requires low-energy coating on the surface and roughness on nano- and micrometre scale. However, typical construction of superhydrophobic surfaces with micro-nano structure through top-down fabrication is restricted by sophisticated fabrication techniques and limited choices of substrate materials. Micro-nanoscale topographies templated by conventional microparticles through surface coating may produce large variations in roughness and uncontrollable defects, resulting in poorly controlled surface morphology and wettability. In this work, micro-nanoscale hierarchical nanowire network was fabricated to construct self-cleaning coating using one-dimensional TiO2 nanowires as microscale templates. Hierarchical structure with homogeneous morphology was achieved by branching ZnO nanowires on the TiO2 nanowire backbones through hydrothermal reaction. The hierarchical nanowire network displayed homogeneous micro/nano-topography, in contrast to hierarchical structure templated by traditional microparticles. This hierarchical nanowire network film exhibited high repellency to both water and cell culture medium after functionalization with fluorinated organic molecules. The hierarchical structure templated by TiO2 nanowire coating significantly increased the surface superhydrophobicity compared to vertical ZnO nanowires with nanotopography alone. Our results demonstrated a promising strategy of using nanowires as microscale templates for the rational design of hierarchical coatings with desired superhydrophobicity that can also be applied to various substrate materials.

TiO2 nanowire-templated hierarchical nanowire network as water-repelling coating

PubMed Central

Hang, Tian; Chen, Hui-Jiuan; Xiao, Shuai; Yang, Chengduan; Chen, Meiwan; Tao, Jun; Shieh, Han-ping; Yang, Bo-ru; Liu, Chuan

2017-01-01

Extraordinary water-repelling properties of superhydrophobic surfaces make them novel candidates for a great variety of potential applications. A general approach to achieve superhydrophobicity requires low-energy coating on the surface and roughness on nano- and micrometre scale. However, typical construction of superhydrophobic surfaces with micro-nano structure through top-down fabrication is restricted by sophisticated fabrication techniques and limited choices of substrate materials. Micro-nanoscale topographies templated by conventional microparticles through surface coating may produce large variations in roughness and uncontrollable defects, resulting in poorly controlled surface morphology and wettability. In this work, micro-nanoscale hierarchical nanowire network was fabricated to construct self-cleaning coating using one-dimensional TiO2 nanowires as microscale templates. Hierarchical structure with homogeneous morphology was achieved by branching ZnO nanowires on the TiO2 nanowire backbones through hydrothermal reaction. The hierarchical nanowire network displayed homogeneous micro/nano-topography, in contrast to hierarchical structure templated by traditional microparticles. This hierarchical nanowire network film exhibited high repellency to both water and cell culture medium after functionalization with fluorinated organic molecules. The hierarchical structure templated by TiO2 nanowire coating significantly increased the surface superhydrophobicity compared to vertical ZnO nanowires with nanotopography alone. Our results demonstrated a promising strategy of using nanowires as microscale templates for the rational design of hierarchical coatings with desired superhydrophobicity that can also be applied to various substrate materials. PMID:29308265

Advances in nanowire bioelectronics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Wei; Dai, Xiaochuan; Lieber, Charles M.

2017-01-01

Semiconductor nanowires represent powerful building blocks for next generation bioelectronics given their attractive properties, including nanometer-scale footprint comparable to subcellular structures and bio-molecules, configurable in nonstandard device geometries readily interfaced with biological systems, high surface-to-volume ratios, fast signal responses, and minimum consumption of energy. In this review article, we summarize recent progress in the field of nanowire bioelectronics with a focus primarily on silicon nanowire field-effect transistor biosensors. First, the synthesis and assembly of semiconductor nanowires will be described, including the basics of nanowire FETs crucial to their configuration as biosensors. Second, we will introduce and review recent results in nanowire bioelectronics for biomedical applications ranging from label-free sensing of biomolecules, to extracellular and intracellular electrophysiological recording.

Silicon Nanowires with High-k Hafnium Oxide Dielectrics for Sensitive Detection of Small Nucleic Acid Oligomers

PubMed Central

Dorvel, Brian R.; Reddy, Bobby; Go, Jonghyun; Guevara, Carlos Duarte; Salm, Eric; Alam, Muhammad Ashraful; Bashir, Rashid

2012-01-01

Nanobiosensors based on silicon nanowire field effect transistors offer advantages of low cost, label-free detection, and potential for massive parallelization. As a result, these sensors have often been suggested as an attractive option for applications in Point-of-care (POC) medical diagnostics. Unfortunately, a number of performance issues such as gate leakage and current instability due to fluid contact, have prevented widespread adoption of the technology for routine use. High-k dielectrics, such as hafnium oxide (HfO2), have the known ability to address these challenges by passivating the exposed surfaces against destabilizing concerns of ion transport. With these fundamental stability issues addressed, a promising target for POC diagnostics and SiNWFET’s has been small oligonucleotides, more specifically microRNA (miRNA). MicroRNA’s are small RNA oligonucleotides which bind to messenger RNA’s, causing translational repression of proteins, gene silencing, and expressions are typically altered in several forms of cancer. In this paper, we describe a process for fabricating stable HfO2 dielectric based silicon nanowires for biosensing applications. Here we demonstrate sensing of single stranded DNA analogues to their microRNA cousins using miR-10b and miR-21 as templates, both known to be upregulated in breast cancer. We characterize the effect of surface functionalization on device performance using the miR-10b DNA analogue as the target sequence and different molecular weight poly-l-lysine as the functionalization layer. By optimizing the surface functionalization and fabrication protocol, we were able to achieve <100fM detection levels of miR-10b DNA analogue, with a theoretical limit of detection of 1fM. Moreover, the non-complementary DNA target strand, based on miR-21, showed very little response, indicating a highly sensitive and highly selective biosensing platform. PMID:22695179

A Versatile Nanowire Platform for Highly Efficient Isolation and Direct PCR-free Colorimetric Detection of Human Papillomavirus DNA from Unprocessed Urine

PubMed Central

Lee, HyungJae; Choi, Mihye; Hwang, Sang-Hyun; Cho, Youngnam

2018-01-01

Purpose: As human papillomavirus (HPV) is primarily responsible for the development of cervical cancer, significant efforts have been devoted to develop novel strategies for detecting and identifying HPV DNA in urine. The analysis of target DNA sequences in urine offers a potential alternative to conventional methods as a non-invasive clinical screening and diagnostic assessment tool for the detection of HPV. However, the lack of efficient approaches to isolate and directly detect HPV DNA in urine has restricted its potential clinical use. In this study, we demonstrated a novel approach of using polyethylenimine-conjugated magnetic polypyrrole nanowires (PEI-mPpy NWs) for the extraction, identification, and PCR-free colorimetric detection of high-risk strains of HPV DNA sequences, particularly HPV-16 and HPV-18, in urine specimens of cervical cancer patients. Materials and Methods: We fabricated and characterized polyethylenimine-conjugated magnetic nanowires (PEI/mPpy NWs). PEI/mPpy NWs-based HPV DNA isolation and detection strategy appears to be a cost-effective and practical technology with greater sensitivity and accuracy than other urine-based methods. Results: The analytical and clinical performance of PEI-mPpy NWs was evaluated and compared with those of cervical swabs, demonstrating a superior type-specific concordance rate of 100% between urine and cervical swabs, even when using a small volume of urine (300 µL). Conclusion: We envision that PEI-mPpy NWs provide substantive evidence for clinical diagnosis and management of HPV-associated disease with their excellent performance in the recovery and detection of HPV DNA from minimal amounts of urine samples. PMID:29290816

Zinc oxide nanowire gamma ray detector with high spatiotemporal resolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayo, Daniel C.; Nolen, J. Ryan; Cook, Andrew; Mu, Richard R.; Haglund, Richard F.

2016-03-01

Conventional scintillation detectors are typically single crystals of heavy-metal oxides or halides doped with rare-earth ions that record the recombination of electron-hole pairs by photon emission in the visible to ultraviolet. However, the light yields are typically low enough to require photomultiplier detection with the attendant instrumental complications. Here we report initial studies of gamma ray detection by zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowires, grown by vapor-solid deposition. The nanowires grow along the c-axis in a wurtzite structure; they are typically 80 nm in diameter and have lengths of 1- 2 μm. The nanowires are single crystals of high quality, with a photoluminescence (PL) yield from band-edge exciton emission in the ultraviolet that is typically one hundred times larger than the PL yield from defect centers in the visible. Nanowire ensembles were irradiated by 662 keV gamma rays from a Cs-137 source for periods of up to ten hours; gamma rays in this energy range interact by Compton scattering, which in ZnO creates F+ centers that relax to form singly-charged positive oxygen vacancies. Following irradiation, we fit the PL spectra of the visible emission with a sum of Gaussians at the energies of the known defects. We find highly efficient PL from the irradiated area, with a figure of merit approaching 106 photons/s/MeV of deposited energy. Over a period of days, the singly charged O+ vacancies relax to the more stable doubly charged O++ vacancies. However, the overall defect PL returns to pre-irradiation values after about a week, as the vacancies diffuse to the surface of these very thin nanowires, indicating that a self-healing process restores the nanowires to their original state.

Precise Placement of Metallic Nanowires on a Substrate by Localized Electric Fields and Inter-Nanowire Electrostatic Interaction

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Placing nanowires at the predetermined locations on a substrate represents one of the significant hurdles to be tackled for realization of heterogeneous nanowire systems. Here, we demonstrate spatially-controlled assembly of a single nanowire at the photolithographically recessed region at the electrode gap with high integration yield (~90%). Two popular routes, such as protruding electrode tips and recessed wells, for spatially-controlled nanowire alignment, are compared to investigate long-range dielectrophoretic nanowire attraction and short-range nanowire-nanowire electrostatic interaction for determining the final alignment of attracted nanowires. Furthermore, the post-assembly process has been developed and tested to make a robust electrical contact to the assembled nanowires, which removes any misaligned ones and connects the nanowires to the underlying electrodes of circuit. PMID:29048363

Nanowire Thermoelectric Devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Borshchevsky, Alexander; Fleurial, Jean-Pierre; Herman, Jennifer; Ryan, Margaret

2005-01-01

Nanowire thermoelectric devices, now under development, are intended to take miniaturization a step beyond the prior state of the art to exploit the potential advantages afforded by shrinking some device features to approximately molecular dimensions (of the order of 10 nm). The development of nanowire-based thermoelectric devices could lead to novel power-generating, cooling, and sensing devices that operate at relatively low currents and high voltages. Recent work on the theory of thermoelectric devices has led to the expectation that the performance of such a device could be enhanced if the diameter of the wires could be reduced to a point where quantum confinement effects increase charge-carrier mobility (thereby increasing the Seebeck coefficient) and reduce thermal conductivity. In addition, even in the absence of these effects, the large aspect ratios (length of the order of tens of microns diameter of the order of tens of nanometers) of nanowires would be conducive to the maintenance of large temperature differences at small heat fluxes. The predicted net effect of reducing diameters to the order of tens of nanometers would be to increase its efficiency by a factor of .3. Nanowires made of thermoelectric materials and devices that comprise arrays of such nanowires can be fabricated by electrochemical growth of the thermoelectric materials in templates that contain suitably dimensioned pores (10 to 100 nm in diameter and 1 to 100 microns long). The nanowires can then be contacted in bundles to form devices that look similar to conventional thermoelectric devices, except that a production version may contain nearly a billion elements (wires) per square centimeter, instead of fewer than a hundred as in a conventional bulk thermoelectric device or fewer than 100,000 as in a microdevice. It is not yet possible to form contacts with individual nanowires. Therefore, in fabricating a nanowire thermoelectric device, one forms contacts on nanowires in bundles of the

Electrothermal piezoresistive cantilever resonators for personal measurements of nanoparticles in workplace exposure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wasisto, Hutomo Suryo; Wu, Wenze; Uhde, Erik; Waag, Andreas; Peiner, Erwin

2015-05-01

Low-cost and low-power piezoresistive cantilever resonators with integrated electrothermal heaters are developed to support the sensing module enhancement of the second generation of handheld cantilever-based airborne nanoparticle (NP) detector (CANTOR-2). These sensors are used for direct-reading of exposure to carbon engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) at indoor workplaces. The cantilever structures having various shapes of free ends are created using silicon bulk micromachining technologies (i.e, rectangular, hammer-head, triangular, and U-shaped cantilevers). For a complete wearable CANTOR-2, all components of the proposed detector can be grouped into two main units depending on their packaging placements (i.e., the NP sampler head and the electronics mounted in a handy-format housing). In the NP sampler head, a miniaturized electrophoretic aerosol sampler and a resonant silicon cantilever mass sensor are employed to collect the ENPs from the air stream to the cantilever surfaces and measuring their mass concentration, respectively. After calibration, the detected ENP mass concentrations of CANTOR-2 show a standard deviation from fast mobility particle sizer (FMPS, TSI 3091) of 8-14%.

III-Nitride Nanowire Lasers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wright, Jeremy Benjamin

2014-07-01

In recent years there has been a tremendous interest in nanoscale optoelectronic devices. Among these devices are semiconductor nanowires whose diameters range from 10-100 nm. To date, nanowires have been grown using many semiconducting material systems and have been utilized as light emitting diodes, photodetectors, and solar cells. Nanowires possess a relatively large index contrast relative to their dielectric environment and can be used as lasers. A key gure of merit that allows for nanowire lasing is the relatively high optical con nement factor. In this work, I discuss the optical characterization of 3 types of III-nitride nanowire laser devices.more » Two devices were designed to reduce the number of lasing modes to achieve singlemode operation. The third device implements low-group velocity mode lasing with a photonic crystal constructed of an array of nanowires. Single-mode operation is necessary in any application where high beam quality and single frequency operation is required. III-Nitride nanowire lasers typically operate in a combined multi-longitudinal and multi-transverse mode state. Two schemes are introduced here for controlling the optical modes and achieving single-mode op eration. The rst method involves reducing the diameter of individual nanowires to the cut-o condition, where only one optical mode propagates in the wire. The second method employs distributed feedback (DFB) to achieve single-mode lasing by placing individual GaN nanowires onto substrates with etched gratings. The nanowire-grating substrate acted as a distributed feedback mirror producing single mode operation at 370 nm with a mode suppression ratio (MSR) of 17 dB. The usage of lasers for solid state lighting has the potential to further reduce U.S. lighting energy usage through an increase in emitter e ciency. Advances in nanowire fabrication, speci cally a two-step top-down approach, have allowed for the demonstration of a multi-color array of lasers on a single chip that

A High-Temperature Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor with an Integrated Signal-Conditioning Circuit.

PubMed

Yao, Zong; Liang, Ting; Jia, Pinggang; Hong, Yingping; Qi, Lei; Lei, Cheng; Zhang, Bin; Xiong, Jijun

2016-06-18

This paper focuses on the design and fabrication of a high-temperature piezoresistive pressure sensor with an integrated signal-conditioning circuit, which consists of an encapsulated pressure-sensitive chip, a temperature compensation circuit and a signal-conditioning circuit. A silicon on insulation (SOI) material and a standard MEMS process are used in the pressure-sensitive chip fabrication, and high-temperature electronic components are adopted in the temperature-compensation and signal-conditioning circuits. The entire pressure sensor achieves a hermetic seal and can be operated long-term in the range of -50 °C to 220 °C. Unlike traditional pressure sensor output voltage ranges (in the dozens to hundreds of millivolts), the output voltage of this sensor is from 0 V to 5 V, which can significantly improve the signal-to-noise ratio and measurement accuracy in practical applications of long-term transmission based on experimental verification. Furthermore, because this flexible sensor's output voltage is adjustable, general follow-up pressure transmitter devices for voltage converters need not be used, which greatly reduces the cost of the test system. Thus, the proposed high-temperature piezoresistive pressure sensor with an integrated signal-conditioning circuit is expected to be highly applicable to pressure measurements in harsh environments.

A High-Temperature Piezoresistive Pressure Sensor with an Integrated Signal-Conditioning Circuit

PubMed Central

Yao, Zong; Liang, Ting; Jia, Pinggang; Hong, Yingping; Qi, Lei; Lei, Cheng; Zhang, Bin; Xiong, Jijun

2016-01-01

This paper focuses on the design and fabrication of a high-temperature piezoresistive pressure sensor with an integrated signal-conditioning circuit, which consists of an encapsulated pressure-sensitive chip, a temperature compensation circuit and a signal-conditioning circuit. A silicon on insulation (SOI) material and a standard MEMS process are used in the pressure-sensitive chip fabrication, and high-temperature electronic components are adopted in the temperature-compensation and signal-conditioning circuits. The entire pressure sensor achieves a hermetic seal and can be operated long-term in the range of −50 °C to 220 °C. Unlike traditional pressure sensor output voltage ranges (in the dozens to hundreds of millivolts), the output voltage of this sensor is from 0 V to 5 V, which can significantly improve the signal-to-noise ratio and measurement accuracy in practical applications of long-term transmission based on experimental verification. Furthermore, because this flexible sensor’s output voltage is adjustable, general follow-up pressure transmitter devices for voltage converters need not be used, which greatly reduces the cost of the test system. Thus, the proposed high-temperature piezoresistive pressure sensor with an integrated signal-conditioning circuit is expected to be highly applicable to pressure measurements in harsh environments. PMID:27322288

Dynamic piezoresistive response of hybrid nanocomposites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gbaguidi, Audrey; Anees, Muhammad; Namilae, Sirish; Kim, Daewon

2017-04-01

Hybrid nanocomposites with carbon nanotubes and graphitic platelets as fillers are known to exhibit remarkable electrical and mechanical properties with many potential strain and damage sensing applications. In this work, we fabricate hybrid nanocomposites with carbon nanotube sheet and coarse graphite platelets as fillers with epoxy matrix. We then examine the electromechanical behavior of these nanocomposites under dynamic loading. The electrical resistivity responses of the nanocomposites are measured in frequency range of 1 Hz to 50 Hz with different levels of induced strains. Axial cycling loading is applied using a uniaxial electrodynamic shaker, and transverse loading is applied on end-clamped specimen using modified speakers. In addition, a dynamic mechanical analysis of nanocomposite specimen is performed to characterize the thermal and dynamic behavior of the nanocomposite. Our results indicate that these hybrid nanocomposites exhibit a distinct piezoresistive response under a wide range of dynamic loading conditions, which can be beneficial for potential sensing applications.

Transport properties of ultrathin YBa2Cu3O7 -δ nanowires: A route to single-photon detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arpaia, Riccardo; Golubev, Dmitri; Baghdadi, Reza; Ciancio, Regina; Dražić, Goran; Orgiani, Pasquale; Montemurro, Domenico; Bauch, Thilo; Lombardi, Floriana

2017-08-01

We report on the growth and characterization of ultrathin YBa2Cu3O7 -δ (YBCO) films on MgO (110) substrates, which exhibit superconducting properties at thicknesses down to 3 nm. YBCO nanowires, with thicknesses down to 10 nm and widths down to 65 nm, have also been successfully fabricated. The nanowires protected by a Au capping layer show superconducting properties close to the as-grown films and critical current densities, which are limited by only vortex dynamics. The 10-nm-thick YBCO nanowires without the Au capping present hysteretic current-voltage characteristics, characterized by a voltage switch which drives the nanowires directly from the superconducting to the normal state. We associate such bistability to the presence of localized normal domains within the superconductor. The presence of the voltage switch in ultrathin YBCO nanostructures, characterized by high sheet resistance values and high critical current values, makes our nanowires very attractive devices to engineer single-photon detectors.

Porous Silicon Nanowires

PubMed Central

Qu, Yongquan; Zhou, Hailong; Duan, Xiangfeng

2011-01-01

In this minreview, we summarize recent progress in the synthesis, properties and applications of a new type of one-dimensional nanostructures — single crystalline porous silicon nanowires. The growth of porous silicon nanowires starting from both p- and n-type Si wafers with a variety of dopant concentrations can be achieved through either one-step or two-step reactions. The mechanistic studies indicate the dopant concentration of Si wafers, oxidizer concentration, etching time and temperature can affect the morphology of the as-etched silicon nanowires. The porous silicon nanowires are both optically and electronically active and have been explored for potential applications in diverse areas including photocatalysis, lithium ion battery, gas sensor and drug delivery. PMID:21869999

Integrated amplifying nanowire FET for surface and bulk sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chui, Chi On; Shin, Kyeong-Sik

2011-10-01

For over one decade, numerous research have been performed on field-effect transistor (FET) sensors with a quasi-onedimensional (1D) nanostructure channel demonstrating highly sensitive surface and bulk sensing. The high surface and bulk sensing sensitivity respectively arises from the inherently large surface area-to-volume ratio and tiny channel volume. The generic nanowire FET sensors, however, have limitations such as impractically low output current levels especially near the limit of detection (LOD) that would require downstream remote amplification with an appreciable amount of added noise. We have recently proposed and experimentally demonstrated an innovative amplifying nanowire FET sensor structure that seamlessly integrates therein a sensing nanowire and a nanowire FET amplifier. This novel sensor structure embraces the same geometrical advantage in quasi-1D nanostructure yet it offers unprecedented closeproximity signal amplification with the lowest possible added noise. In this paper, we review the device operating principle and amplification mechanism. We also present the prototype fabrication procedures, and surface and bulk sensing experimental results showing significantly enhanced output current level difference as predicted.

Remote excitation and detection of surface-enhanced Raman scattering from graphene.

PubMed

Coca-López, Nicolás; Hartmann, Nicolai F; Mancabelli, Tobia; Kraus, Jürgen; Günther, Sebastian; Comin, Alberto; Hartschuh, Achim

2018-06-07

We demonstrate the remote excitation and detection of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) from graphene using a silver nanowire as a plasmonic waveguide. By investigating a nanowire touching a graphene sheet at only one terminal, we first show the remote excitation of SERS from graphene by propagating surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) launched by a focused laser over distances on the order of 10 μm. Remote detection of SERS is then demonstrated for the same nanowire by detecting light emission at the distal end of the nanowire that was launched by graphene Raman scattering and carried to the end of the nanowire by SPPs. We then show that the transfer of the excitation and Raman scattered light along the nanowire can also be visualized through spectrally selective back focal plane imaging. Back focal plane images detected upon focused laser excitation at one of the nanowire's tips reveal propagating surface plasmon polaritons at the laser energy and at the energies of the most prominent Raman bands of graphene. With this approach the identification of remote excitation and detection of SERS for nanowires completely covering the Raman scatterer is achieved, which is typically not possible by direct imaging.

Effect of nanowire curviness on the percolation resistivity of transparent, conductive metal nanowire networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hicks, Jeremy; Li, Junying; Ying, Chen; Ural, Ant

2018-05-01

We study the effect of nanowire curviness on the percolation resistivity of transparent, conductive metal nanowire networks by Monte Carlo simulations. We generate curvy nanowires as one-dimensional sticks using 3rd-order Bézier curves. The degree of curviness in the network is quantified by the concept of curviness angle and curl ratio. We systematically study the interaction between the effect of curviness and five other nanowire/device parameters on the network resistivity, namely nanowire density, nanowire length, device length, device width, and nanowire alignment. We find that the resistivity exhibits a power law dependence on the curl ratio, which is a signature of percolation transport. In each case, we extract the power-law scaling critical exponents and explain the results using geometrical and physical arguments. The value of the curl ratio critical exponent is not universal, but increases as the other nanowire/device parameters drive the network toward the percolation threshold. We find that, for randomly oriented networks, curviness is undesirable since it increases the resistivity. For well-aligned networks, on the other hand, some curviness is highly desirable, since the resistivity minimum occurs for partially curvy nanowires. We explain these results by considering the two competing effects of curviness on the percolation resistivity. The results presented in this work can be extended to any network, film, or nanocomposite consisting of one-dimensional nanoelements. Our results show that Monte Carlo simulations are an essential predictive tool for both studying the percolation transport and optimizing the electronic properties of transparent, conductive nanowire networks for a wide range of applications.

Understanding InP Nanowire Array Solar Cell Performance by Nanoprobe-Enabled Single Nanowire Measurements.

PubMed

Otnes, Gaute; Barrigón, Enrique; Sundvall, Christian; Svensson, K Erik; Heurlin, Magnus; Siefer, Gerald; Samuelson, Lars; Åberg, Ingvar; Borgström, Magnus T

2018-05-09

III-V solar cells in the nanowire geometry might hold significant synthesis-cost and device-design advantages as compared to thin films and have shown impressive performance improvements in recent years. To continue this development there is a need for characterization techniques giving quick and reliable feedback for growth development. Further, characterization techniques which can improve understanding of the link between nanowire growth conditions, subsequent processing, and solar cell performance are desired. Here, we present the use of a nanoprobe system inside a scanning electron microscope to efficiently contact single nanowires and characterize them in terms of key parameters for solar cell performance. Specifically, we study single as-grown InP nanowires and use electron beam induced current characterization to understand the charge carrier collection properties, and dark current-voltage characteristics to understand the diode recombination characteristics. By correlating the single nanowire measurements to performance of fully processed nanowire array solar cells, we identify how the performance limiting parameters are related to growth and/or processing conditions. We use this understanding to achieve a more than 7-fold improvement in efficiency of our InP nanowire solar cells, grown from a different seed particle pattern than previously reported from our group. The best cell shows a certified efficiency of 15.0%; the highest reported value for a bottom-up synthesized InP nanowire solar cell. We believe the presented approach have significant potential to speed-up the development of nanowire solar cells, as well as other nanowire-based electronic/optoelectronic devices.

Heterostructured ZnS/InP nanowires for rigid/flexible ultraviolet photodetectors with enhanced performance.

PubMed

Zhang, Kai; Ding, Jia; Lou, Zheng; Chai, Ruiqing; Zhong, Mianzeng; Shen, Guozhen

2017-10-19

Heterostructured ZnS/InP nanowires, composed of single-crystalline ZnS nanowires coated with a layer of InP shell, were synthesized via a one-step chemical vapor deposition process. As-grown heterostructured ZnS/InP nanowires exhibited an ultrahigh I on /I off ratio of 4.91 × 10 3 , a high photoconductive gain of 1.10 × 10 3 , a high detectivity of 1.65 × 10 13 Jones and high response speed even in the case of very weak ultraviolet light illumination (1.87 μW cm -2 ). The values are much higher than those of previously reported bare ZnS nanowires owing to the formation of core/shell heterostructures. Flexible ultraviolet photodetectors were also fabricated with the heterostructured ZnS/InP nanowires, which showed excellent mechanical flexibility, electrical stability and folding endurance besides excellent photoresponse properties. The results elucidated that the heterostructured ZnS/InP nanowires could find good applications in next generation flexible optoelectronic devices.

Nanowire-based single-cell endoscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Ruoxue; Park, Ji-Ho; Choi, Yeonho; Heo, Chul-Joon; Yang, Seung-Man; Lee, Luke P.; Yang, Peidong

2012-03-01

One-dimensional smart probes based on nanowires and nanotubes that can safely penetrate the plasma membrane and enter biological cells are potentially useful in high-resolution and high-throughput gene and drug delivery, biosensing and single-cell electrophysiology. However, using such probes for optical communication across the cellular membrane at the subwavelength level remains limited. Here, we show that a nanowire waveguide attached to the tapered tip of an optical fibre can guide visible light into intracellular compartments of a living mammalian cell, and can also detect optical signals from subcellular regions with high spatial resolution. Furthermore, we show that through light-activated mechanisms the endoscope can deliver payloads into cells with spatial and temporal specificity. Moreover, insertion of the endoscope into cells and illumination of the guided laser did not induce any significant toxicity in the cells.

A photonic crystal fiber glucose sensor filled with silver nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, X. C.; Lu, Y.; Wang, M. T.; Yao, J. Q.

2016-01-01

We report a photonic crystal fiber glucose sensor filled with silver nanowires in this paper. The proposed sensor is both analyzed by COMSOL multiphysics software and demonstrated by experiments. The extremely high average spectral sensitivity 19009.17 nm/RIU for experimental measurement is obtained, equivalent to 44.25 mg/dL of glucose in water, which is lower than 70 mg/dL for efficient detection of hypoglycemia episodes. The silver nanowires diameter which may affect the sensor's spectral sensitivity is also discussed and an optimal range of silver nanowires diameter 90-120 nm is obtained. We expect that the sensor can provide an effective platform for glucose sensing and potentially leading to a further development towards minimal-invasive glucose measurement.

Diamond nanowires for highly sensitive matrix-free mass spectrometry analysis of small molecules.

PubMed

Coffinier, Yannick; Szunerits, Sabine; Drobecq, Hervé; Melnyk, Oleg; Boukherroub, Rabah

2012-01-07

This paper reports on the use of boron-doped diamond nanowires (BDD NWs) as an inorganic substrate for matrix-free laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (LDI-MS) analysis of small molecules. The diamond nanowires are prepared by reactive ion etching (RIE) with oxygen plasma of highly boron-doped (the boron level is 10(19) B cm(-3)) or undoped nanocrystalline diamond substrates. The resulting diamond nanowires are coated with a thin silicon oxide layer that confers a superhydrophilic character to the surface. To minimize droplet spreading, the nanowires were chemically functionalized with octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) and then UV/ozone treated to reach a final water contact angle of 120°. The sub-bandgap absorption under UV laser irradiation and the heat confinement inside the nanowires allowed desorption/ionization, most likely via a thermal mechanism, and mass spectrometry analysis of small molecules. A detection limit of 200 zeptomole for verapamil was demonstrated.

Analysis of benzylpenicillin in milk using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry with top-down synthesized TiO2 nanowires as the solid matrix.

PubMed

Kim, Jo-Il; Park, Jong-Min; Noh, Joo-Yoon; Hwang, Seong-Ju; Kang, Min-Jung; Pyun, Jae-Chul

2016-01-01

In this work, the wet-corrosion process for the synthesis of titanium oxide (TiO2) nanowires in the anatase phase was optimized as the solid matrix in MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, and the solid matrix of the TiO2 nanowires was applied to the detection of antibiotics in a daily milk sample. The influence of the alkali concentration and the heat treatment temperature on the crystal structure of the TiO2 nanowires was investigated. The ionization activity of the TiO2 nanowires was estimated for each synthetic condition using amino acids as model analytes with low molecular weights. For the detection of antibiotics in milk, benzylpenicillin was spiked in daily milk samples, and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry with the TiO2 nanowires was demonstrated to detect the benzylpenicillin at the cut-off concentration of the EU directive. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In situ detection of dopamine using nitrogen incorporated diamond nanowire electrode.

PubMed

Shalini, Jayakumar; Sankaran, Kamatchi Jothiramalingam; Dong, Chung-Li; Lee, Chi-Young; Tai, Nyan-Hwa; Lin, I-Nan

2013-02-07

Significant difference was observed for the simultaneous detection of dopamine (DA), ascorbic acid (AA), and uric acid (UA) mixture using nitrogen incorporated diamond nanowire (DNW) film electrodes grown by microwave plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. For the simultaneous sensing of ternary mixtures of DA, AA, and UA, well-separated voltammetric peaks are obtained using DNW film electrodes in differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) measurements. Remarkable signals in cyclic voltammetry responses to DA, AA and UA (three well defined voltammetric peaks at potentials around 235, 30, 367 mV for DA, AA and UA respectively) and prominent enhancement of the voltammetric sensitivity are observed at the DNW electrodes. In comparison to the DPV results of graphite, glassy carbon and boron doped diamond electrodes, the high electrochemical potential difference is achieved via the use of the DNW film electrodes which is essential for distinguishing the aforementioned analytes. The enhancement in EC properties is accounted for by increase in sp(2) content, new C-N bonds at the diamond grains, and increase in the electrical conductivity at the grain boundary, as revealed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure measurements. Consequently, the DNW film electrodes provide a clear and efficient way for the selective detection of DA in the presence of AA and UA.

Piezoresistive effect in p-type 3C-SiC at high temperatures characterized using Joule heating

PubMed Central

Phan, Hoang-Phuong; Dinh, Toan; Kozeki, Takahiro; Qamar, Afzaal; Namazu, Takahiro; Dimitrijev, Sima; Nguyen, Nam-Trung; Dao, Dzung Viet

2016-01-01

Cubic silicon carbide is a promising material for Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) applications in harsh environ-ments and bioapplications thanks to its large band gap, chemical inertness, excellent corrosion tolerance and capability of growth on a Si substrate. This paper reports the piezoresistive effect of p-type single crystalline 3C-SiC characterized at high temperatures, using an in situ measurement method. The experimental results show that the highly doped p-type 3C-SiC possesses a relatively stable gauge factor of approximately 25 to 28 at temperatures varying from 300 K to 573 K. The in situ method proposed in this study also demonstrated that, the combination of the piezoresistive and thermoresistive effects can increase the gauge factor of p-type 3C-SiC to approximately 20% at 573 K. The increase in gauge factor based on the combination of these phenomena could enhance the sensitivity of SiC based MEMS mechanical sensors. PMID:27349378

Piezoresistive effect in p-type 3C-SiC at high temperatures characterized using Joule heating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phan, Hoang-Phuong; Dinh, Toan; Kozeki, Takahiro; Qamar, Afzaal; Namazu, Takahiro; Dimitrijev, Sima; Nguyen, Nam-Trung; Dao, Dzung Viet

2016-06-01

Cubic silicon carbide is a promising material for Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) applications in harsh environ-ments and bioapplications thanks to its large band gap, chemical inertness, excellent corrosion tolerance and capability of growth on a Si substrate. This paper reports the piezoresistive effect of p-type single crystalline 3C-SiC characterized at high temperatures, using an in situ measurement method. The experimental results show that the highly doped p-type 3C-SiC possesses a relatively stable gauge factor of approximately 25 to 28 at temperatures varying from 300 K to 573 K. The in situ method proposed in this study also demonstrated that, the combination of the piezoresistive and thermoresistive effects can increase the gauge factor of p-type 3C-SiC to approximately 20% at 573 K. The increase in gauge factor based on the combination of these phenomena could enhance the sensitivity of SiC based MEMS mechanical sensors.

Plasmonic engineering of metal-oxide nanowire heterojunctions in integrated nanowire rectification units

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Luchan; Zou, Guisheng; Liu, Lei; Duley, Walt W.; Zhou, Y. Norman

2016-05-01

We show that irradiation with femtosecond laser pulses can produce robust nanowire heterojunctions in coupled non-wetting metal-oxide Ag-TiO2 structures. Simulations indicate that joining arises from the effect of strong plasmonic localization in the region of the junction. Strong electric field effects occur in both Ag and TiO2 resulting in the modification of both surfaces and an increase in wettability of TiO2, facilitating the interconnection of Ag and TiO2 nanowires. Irradiation leads to the creation of a thin layer of highly defected TiO2 in the contact region between the Ag and TiO2 nanowires. The presence of this layer allows the formation of a heterojunction and offers the possibility of engineering the electronic characteristics of interfacial structures. Rectifying junctions with single and bipolar properties have been generated in Ag-TiO2 nanowire circuits incorporating asymmetrical and symmetrical interfacial structures, respectively. This fabrication technique should be applicable for the interconnection of other heterogeneous metal-oxide nanowire components and demonstrates that femtosecond laser irradiation enables interfacial engineering for electronic applications of integrated nanowire structures.

Template-Assisted Scalable Nanowire Networks.

PubMed

Friedl, Martin; Cerveny, Kris; Weigele, Pirmin; Tütüncüoglu, Gozde; Martí-Sánchez, Sara; Huang, Chunyi; Patlatiuk, Taras; Potts, Heidi; Sun, Zhiyuan; Hill, Megan O; Güniat, Lucas; Kim, Wonjong; Zamani, Mahdi; Dubrovskii, Vladimir G; Arbiol, Jordi; Lauhon, Lincoln J; Zumbühl, Dominik M; Fontcuberta I Morral, Anna

2018-04-11

Topological qubits based on Majorana Fermions have the potential to revolutionize the emerging field of quantum computing by making information processing significantly more robust to decoherence. Nanowires are a promising medium for hosting these kinds of qubits, though branched nanowires are needed to perform qubit manipulations. Here we report a gold-free templated growth of III-V nanowires by molecular beam epitaxy using an approach that enables patternable and highly regular branched nanowire arrays on a far greater scale than what has been reported thus far. Our approach relies on the lattice-mismatched growth of InAs on top of defect-free GaAs nanomembranes yielding laterally oriented, low-defect InAs and InGaAs nanowires whose shapes are determined by surface and strain energy minimization. By controlling nanomembrane width and growth time, we demonstrate the formation of compositionally graded nanowires with cross-sections less than 50 nm. Scaling the nanowires below 20 nm leads to the formation of homogeneous InGaAs nanowires, which exhibit phase-coherent, quasi-1D quantum transport as shown by magnetoconductance measurements. These results are an important advance toward scalable topological quantum computing.

Fabrication of Si3N4 nanowire membranes: free standing disordered nanopapers and aligned nanowire assemblies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Haitao; Fang, Minghao; Huang, Zhaohui; Huang, Juntong; Liu, Yan-gai; Wu, Xiaowen

2016-08-01

Herein, ultralong silicon nitride nanowires were synthesized via a chemical vapor deposition method by using the low-cost quartz and silicon powder as raw materials. Simple processes were used for the fabrication of disordered and ordered nanowire membranes of pure silicon nitride nanowires. The nanowires in the disordered nanopapers are intertwined with each other to form a paper-like structure which exhibit excellent flame retardancy and mechanical properties. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and thermal gravity analysis were employed to characterize the refractory performance of the disordered nanopapers. Highly ordered nanowire membranes were also assembled through a three-phase assembly approach which make the Si3N4 nanowires have potential use in textured ceramics and semiconductor field. Moreover, the surface nanowires can also be modified to be hydrophobic; this characteristic make the as-prepared nanowires have the potential to be assembled by the more effective Langmuir-Blodgett method and also make the disordered nanopapers possess a super-hydrophobic surface.

Organophosphonate-based PNA-functionalization of silicon nanowires for label-free DNA detection.

PubMed

Cattani-Scholz, Anna; Pedone, Daniel; Dubey, Manish; Neppl, Stefan; Nickel, Bert; Feulner, Peter; Schwartz, Jeffrey; Abstreiter, Gerhard; Tornow, Marc

2008-08-01

We investigated hydroxyalkylphosphonate monolayers as a novel platform for the biofunctionalization of silicon-based field effect sensor devices. This included a detailed study of the thin film properties of organophosphonate films on Si substrates using several surface analysis techniques, including AFM, ellipsometry, contact angle, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X-ray reflectivity, and current-voltage characteristics in electrolyte solution. Our results indicate the formation of a dense monolayer on the native silicon oxide that has excellent passivation properties. The monolayer was biofunctionalized with 12 mer peptide nucleic acid (PNA) receptor molecules in a two-step procedure using the heterobifunctional linker, 3-maleimidopropionic-acid-N-hydroxysuccinimidester. Successful surface modification with the probe PNA was verified by XPS and contact angle measurements, and hybridization with DNA was determined by fluorescence measurements. Finally, the PNA functionalization protocol was translated to 2 microm long, 100 nm wide Si nanowire field effect devices, which were successfully used for label-free DNA/PNA hybridization detection.

Directed growth of horizontally aligned gallium nitride nanowires for nanoelectromechanical resonator arrays.

PubMed

Henry, Tania; Kim, Kyungkon; Ren, Zaiyuan; Yerino, Christopher; Han, Jung; Tang, Hong X

2007-11-01

We report the growth of horizontally aligned arrays and networks of GaN nanowires (NWs) as resonant components in nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS). A combination of top-down selective area growth (SAG) and bottom-up vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) synthesis enables flexible fabrication of highly ordered nanowire arrays in situ with no postgrowth dispersion. Mechanical resonance of free-standing nanowires are measured, with quality factors (Q) ranging from 400 to 1000. We obtained a Young's modulus (E) of approximately 338 GPa from an array of NWs with varying diameters and lengths. The measurement allows detection of nanowire motion with a rotating frame and reveals dual fundamental resonant modes in two orthogonal planes. A universal ratio between the resonant frequencies of these two fundamental modes, irrespective of their dimensions, is observed and attributed to an isosceles cross section of GaN NWs.

Visualization of multipolar longitudinal and transversal surface plasmon modes in nanowire dimers.

PubMed

Alber, Ina; Sigle, Wilfried; Müller, Sven; Neumann, Reinhard; Picht, Oliver; Rauber, Markus; van Aken, Peter A; Toimil-Molares, Maria Eugenia

2011-12-27

We study the transversal and longitudinal localized surface plasmon resonances in single nanowires and nanowire dimers excited by the fast traveling electron beam in a transmission electron microscope equipped with high-resolution electron energy-loss spectroscopy. Bright and dark longitudinal modes up to the fifth order are resolved on individual metallic nanowires. On nanowire dimers, mode splitting into bonding and antibonding is measured up to the third order for several dimers with various aspect ratio and controlled gap size. We observe that the electric field maxima of the bonding modes are shifted toward the gap, while the electric field maxima of the antibonding modes are shifted toward the dimer ends. Finally, we observe that the transversal mode is not detected in the region of the dimer gap and decays away from the rod more rapidly than the longitudinal modes.

Fabrication and surface enhanced Raman scattering effect of centimeter level AgCuAu composite nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Dapeng; Zhang, Song; Yang, Wei; Chen, Jian

2017-10-01

Centimeter level AgCuAu composite nanowires were prepared by a solid-state ionics method under a direct current electric field (DCEF) using fast ionic conductor RbAg4I5 films and vacuum thermal evaporation method. The surface morphology and chemical composition of the AuAgCu composite nanowires were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), respectively. Raman enhancement performance of the AgCuAu composite nanowires substrates was detected by Rhodamine 6G (R6G) aqueous solutions as probe molecules. Long-range order and short-range order AgCuAu composite nanowires with the length of 1 cm were prepared. The nanowires were bamboo-shaped with high surface roughness and the diameters of nanowires ranged from 60 to 100 nm. The molar ratio of Ag:Cu:Au in composite nanowires is 15:2:1. The intrinsic Raman peaks of 10-16 mol/L R6G at 612, 773, 1125, 1182, 1307, 1361, 1418, 1506, 1545, 1575, 1597, 1650 cm-1 are all present when AgCuAu composite nanowires were used as the SERS substrates.

CONDUCTING-POLYMER NANOWIRE IMMUNOSENSOR ARRAYS FOR MICROBIAL PATHOGENS

EPA Science Inventory

The lack of methods for routine rapid and sensitive detection and quantification of specific pathogens has limited the amount of information available on their occurrence in drinking water and other environmental samples. The nanowire biosensor arrays developed in this study w...

Growing Oxide Nanowires and Nanowire Networks by Solid State Contact Diffusion into Solution-Processed Thin Films.

PubMed

Glynn, Colm; McNulty, David; Geaney, Hugh; O'Dwyer, Colm

2016-11-01

New techniques to directly grow metal oxide nanowire networks without the need for initial nanoparticle seed deposition or postsynthesis nanowire casting will bridge the gap between bottom-up formation and top-down processing for many electronic, photonic, energy storage, and conversion technologies. Whether etched top-down, or grown from catalyst nanoparticles bottom-up, nanowire growth relies on heterogeneous material seeds. Converting surface oxide films, ubiquitous in the microelectronics industry, to nanowires and nanowire networks by the incorporation of extra species through interdiffusion can provide an alternative deposition method. It is shown that solution-processed thin films of oxides can be converted and recrystallized into nanowires and networks of nanowires by solid-state interdiffusion of ionic species from a mechanically contacted donor substrate. NaVO 3 nanowire networks on smooth Si/SiO 2 and granular fluorine-doped tin oxide surfaces can be formed by low-temperature annealing of a Na diffusion species-containing donor glass to a solution-processed V 2 O 5 thin film, where recrystallization drives nanowire growth according to the crystal habit of the new oxide phase. This technique illustrates a new method for the direct formation of complex metal oxide nanowires on technologically relevant substrates, from smooth semiconductors, to transparent conducting materials and interdigitated device structures. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A silicon nanowire heater and thermometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Xingyan; Dan, Yaping

2017-07-01

In the thermal conductivity measurements of thermoelectric materials, heaters and thermometers made of the same semiconducting materials under test, forming a homogeneous system, will significantly simplify fabrication and integration. In this work, we demonstrate a high-performance heater and thermometer made of single silicon nanowires (SiNWs). The SiNWs are patterned out of a silicon-on-insulator wafer by CMOS-compatible fabrication processes. The electronic properties of the nanowires are characterized by four-probe and low temperature Hall effect measurements. The I-V curves of the nanowires are linear at small voltage bias. The temperature dependence of the nanowire resistance allows the nanowire to be used as a highly sensitive thermometer. At high voltage bias, the I-V curves of the nanowire become nonlinear due to the effect of Joule heating. The temperature of the nanowire heater can be accurately monitored by the nanowire itself as a thermometer.

Molybdenum disulfide nanoflake-zinc oxide nanowire hybrid photoinverter.

PubMed

Hosseini Shokouh, Seyed Hossein; Pezeshki, Atiye; Ali Raza, Syed Raza; Choi, Kyunghee; Min, Sung-Wook; Jeon, Pyo Jin; Lee, Hee Sung; Im, Seongil

2014-05-27

We demonstrate a hybrid inverter-type nanodevice composed of a MoS2 nanoflake field-effect transistor (FET) and ZnO nanowire Schottky diode on one substrate, aiming at a one-dimensional (1D)-two-dimensional (2D) hybrid integrated electronic circuit with multifunctional capacities of low power consumption, high gain, and photodetection. In the present work, we used a nanotransfer printing method using polydimethylsiloxane for the fabrication of patterned bottom-gate MoS2 nanoflake FETs, so that they could be placed near the ZnO nanowire Schottky diodes that were initially fabricated. The ZnO nanowire Schottky diode and MoS2 FET worked respectively as load and driver for a logic inverter, which exhibits a high voltage gain of ∼50 at a supply voltage of 5 V and also shows a low power consumption of less than 50 nW. Moreover, our inverter effectively operates as a photoinverter, detecting visible photons, since MoS2 FETs appear very photosensitive, while the serially connected ZnO nanowire Schottky diode was blind to visible light. Our 1D-2D hybrid nanoinverter would be quite promising for both logic and photosensing applications due to its performance and simple device configuration as well.

Wearable multifunctional sensors using printed stretchable conductors made of silver nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yao, Shanshan; Zhu, Yong

2014-01-01

Considerable efforts have been made to achieve highly sensitive and wearable sensors that can simultaneously detect multiple stimuli such as stretch, pressure, temperature or touch. Here we develop highly stretchable multifunctional sensors that can detect strain (up to 50%), pressure (up to ~1.2 MPa) and finger touch with high sensitivity, fast response time (~40 ms) and good pressure mapping function. The reported sensors utilize the capacitive sensing mechanism, where silver nanowires are used as electrodes (conductors) and Ecoflex is used as a dielectric. The silver nanowire electrodes are screen printed. Our sensors have been demonstrated for several wearable applications including monitoring thumb movement, sensing the strain of the knee joint in patellar reflex (knee-jerk) and other human motions such as walking, running and jumping from squatting, illustrating the potential utilities of such sensors in robotic systems, prosthetics, healthcare and flexible touch panels.Considerable efforts have been made to achieve highly sensitive and wearable sensors that can simultaneously detect multiple stimuli such as stretch, pressure, temperature or touch. Here we develop highly stretchable multifunctional sensors that can detect strain (up to 50%), pressure (up to ~1.2 MPa) and finger touch with high sensitivity, fast response time (~40 ms) and good pressure mapping function. The reported sensors utilize the capacitive sensing mechanism, where silver nanowires are used as electrodes (conductors) and Ecoflex is used as a dielectric. The silver nanowire electrodes are screen printed. Our sensors have been demonstrated for several wearable applications including monitoring thumb movement, sensing the strain of the knee joint in patellar reflex (knee-jerk) and other human motions such as walking, running and jumping from squatting, illustrating the potential utilities of such sensors in robotic systems, prosthetics, healthcare and flexible touch panels. Electronic

The piezoresistive effect in graphene-based polymeric composites.

PubMed

Tamburrano, A; Sarasini, F; De Bellis, G; D'Aloia, A G; Sarto, M S

2013-11-22

The strain-dependent electrical resistance of polyvinyl ester-based composites filled with different weight fractions of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) has been experimentally investigated. The GNP synthesis and nanocomposite fabrication process have been optimized in order to obtain highly homogeneous filler dispersion and outstanding electrical properties. The produced nanocomposites showed a low percolation threshold of 0.226 wt% and electrical conductivity of nearly 10 S m(-1) at only 4 wt% of GNPs. The piezoresistive response of thin nanocomposite laminae has been assessed by measuring the variation of the electrical resistance as a function of the flexural strain in three-point bending tests under both quasi-static monotonic and dynamic cyclic loading conditions. The obtained results showed higher strain sensitivity than traditional metal foil strain gauges or recently investigated carbon-based nanocomposite films.

High-Accuracy Readout Electronics for Piezoresistive Tactile Sensors

PubMed Central

Vidal-Verdú, Fernando

2017-01-01

The typical layout in a piezoresistive tactile sensor arranges individual sensors to form an array with M rows and N columns. While this layout reduces the wiring involved, it does not allow the values of the sensor resistors to be measured individually due to the appearance of crosstalk caused by the nonidealities of the array reading circuits. In this paper, two reading methods that minimize errors resulting from this phenomenon are assessed by designing an electronic system for array reading, and the results are compared to those obtained using the traditional method, obviating the nonidealities of the reading circuit. The different models were compared by testing the system with an array of discrete resistors. The system was later connected to a tactile sensor with 8 × 7 taxels. PMID:29104229

Embedding Piezoresistive Pressure Sensors to Obtain Online Pressure Profiles Inside Fiber Composite Laminates

PubMed Central

Kahali Moghaddam, Maryam; Breede, Arne; Brauner, Christian; Lang, Walter

2015-01-01

The production of large and complex parts using fiber composite materials is costly due to the frequent formation of voids, porosity and waste products. By embedding different types of sensors and monitoring the process in real time, the amount of wastage can be significantly reduced. This work focuses on developing a knowledge-based method to improve and ensure complete impregnation of the fibers before initiation of the resin cure. Piezoresistive and capacitive pressure sensors were embedded in fiber composite laminates to measure the real-time the pressure values inside the laminate. A change of pressure indicates resin infusion. The sensors were placed in the laminate and the resin was infused by vacuum. The embedded piezoresistive pressure sensors were able to track the vacuum pressure in the fiber composite laminate setup, as well as the arrival of the resin at the sensor. The pressure increase due to closing the resin inlet was also measured. In contrast, the capacitive type of sensor was found to be inappropriate for measuring these quantities. The following study demonstrates real-time monitoring of pressure changes inside the fiber composite laminate, which validate the use of Darcy’s law in porous media to control the resin flow during infusion. PMID:25825973

Embedding piezoresistive pressure sensors to obtain online pressure profiles inside fiber composite laminates.

PubMed

Moghaddam, Maryam Kahali; Breede, Arne; Brauner, Christian; Lang, Walter

2015-03-27

The production of large and complex parts using fiber composite materials is costly due to the frequent formation of voids, porosity and waste products. By embedding different types of sensors and monitoring the process in real time, the amount of wastage can be significantly reduced. This work focuses on developing a knowledge-based method to improve and ensure complete impregnation of the fibers before initiation of the resin cure. Piezoresistive and capacitive pressure sensors were embedded in fiber composite laminates to measure the real-time the pressure values inside the laminate. A change of pressure indicates resin infusion. The sensors were placed in the laminate and the resin was infused by vacuum. The embedded piezoresistive pressure sensors were able to track the vacuum pressure in the fiber composite laminate setup, as well as the arrival of the resin at the sensor. The pressure increase due to closing the resin inlet was also measured. In contrast, the capacitive type of sensor was found to be inappropriate for measuring these quantities. The following study demonstrates real-time monitoring of pressure changes inside the fiber composite laminate, which validate the use of Darcy's law in porous media to control the resin flow during infusion.

Waveguide integrated low noise NbTiN nanowire single-photon detectors with milli-Hz dark count rate

PubMed Central

Schuck, Carsten; Pernice, Wolfram H. P.; Tang, Hong X.

2013-01-01

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors are an ideal match for integrated quantum photonic circuits due to their high detection efficiency for telecom wavelength photons. Quantum optical technology also requires single-photon detection with low dark count rate and high timing accuracy. Here we present very low noise superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors based on NbTiN thin films patterned directly on top of Si3N4 waveguides. We systematically investigate a large variety of detector designs and characterize their detection noise performance. Milli-Hz dark count rates are demonstrated over the entire operating range of the nanowire detectors which also feature low timing jitter. The ultra-low dark count rate, in combination with the high detection efficiency inherent to our travelling wave detector geometry, gives rise to a measured noise equivalent power at the 10−20 W/Hz1/2 level. PMID:23714696

Single Nanowire Probe for Single Cell Endoscopy and Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Ruoxue

adaptable to average bio-lab environment. These probes are mechanically robust and flexible and can withstand repeated bending and deformation without significant deterioration in optical performance, which offers an ideal instrumental platform for out subsequent effort of using these nanoprobes in chemical sensing as well as single cell endoscopy and spot delivery. Parameters affecting the coupling efficiency and output power of the nanoprobe were studied and chemical etched of single mode fiber with small cone angle was established to be optimized for highly effective optical nanoprobes. The versatility of the nanoprobe design was first tested by transforming the nanowire probe into a pH sensor with near-field photopolymerization of a copolymer containing pH sensitive dye on the tip of the nanowire. The pH-sensitive nanoprobe was able to report the pH difference in micro-droplets containing buffer solution with the excitation of light waveguided on the nanoprobe with internal calibration, fast response time and good photostability and reversibility. Such nanoprobe sensors are ideal for high definition spatial and temporal sensing of concentration profile, especially for the kinetic processes in single cell studies for which chemical probes of minute sizes and fast response are desired. The nanoprobe was then applied into spot cargo delivery and in-situ single cell endoscopy. It was demonstrated that nanowire-based optical probe can deliver payloads into the cell with a high spatiotemporal precision, guide and confine visible light into intracellular compartments selectively and detect optical signals from the subcellular regions with high spatial resolution. The nanoprobe was proven to be biocompatible and non-invasive. The effective optical coupling between the fiber optics and the nanowire enables highly localized excitation and detection, limiting the probe volume to the close proximity of the nanowire. None the less, this versatile technique does not rely on any

Study of GaN nanowires converted from β-Ga2O3 and photoconduction in a single nanowire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Mukesh; Kumar, Sudheer; Chauhan, Neha; Sakthi Kumar, D.; Kumar, Vikram; Singh, R.

2017-08-01

The formation of GaN nanowires from β-Ga2O3 nanowires and photoconduction in a fabricated single GaN nanowire device has been studied. Wurtzite phase GaN were formed from monoclinic β-Ga2O3 nanowires with or without catalyst particles at their tips. The formation of faceted nanostructures from catalyst droplets presented on a nanowire tip has been discussed. The nucleation of GaN phases in β-Ga2O3 nanowires and their subsequent growth due to interfacial strain energy has been examined using a high resolution transmission electron microscope. The high quality of the converted GaN nanowire is confirmed by fabricating single nanowire photoconducting devices which showed ultra high responsivity under ultra-violet illumination.

Ultralight Conductive Silver Nanowire Aerogels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Qian, Fang; Lan, Pui Ching; Freyman, Megan C.

Low-density metal foams have many potential applications in electronics, energy storage, catalytic supports, fuel cells, sensors, and medical devices. Here in this work, we report a new method for fabricating ultralight, conductive silver aerogel monoliths with predictable densities using silver nanowires. Silver nanowire building blocks were prepared by polyol synthesis and purified by selective precipitation. Silver aerogels were produced by freeze-casting nanowire aqueous suspensions followed by thermal sintering to weld the nanowire junctions. As-prepared silver aerogels have unique anisotropic microporous structures, with density precisely controlled by the nanowire concentration, down to 4.8 mg/cm 3 and an electrical conductivity up tomore » 51 000 S/m. Lastly, mechanical studies show that silver nanowire aerogels exhibit “elastic stiffening” behavior with a Young’s modulus up to 16 800 Pa.« less

Ultralight Conductive Silver Nanowire Aerogels

DOE PAGES

Qian, Fang; Lan, Pui Ching; Freyman, Megan C.; ...

2017-09-05

Low-density metal foams have many potential applications in electronics, energy storage, catalytic supports, fuel cells, sensors, and medical devices. Here in this work, we report a new method for fabricating ultralight, conductive silver aerogel monoliths with predictable densities using silver nanowires. Silver nanowire building blocks were prepared by polyol synthesis and purified by selective precipitation. Silver aerogels were produced by freeze-casting nanowire aqueous suspensions followed by thermal sintering to weld the nanowire junctions. As-prepared silver aerogels have unique anisotropic microporous structures, with density precisely controlled by the nanowire concentration, down to 4.8 mg/cm 3 and an electrical conductivity up tomore » 51 000 S/m. Lastly, mechanical studies show that silver nanowire aerogels exhibit “elastic stiffening” behavior with a Young’s modulus up to 16 800 Pa.« less

Nanowire mesh solar fuels generator

DOEpatents

Yang, Peidong; Chan, Candace; Sun, Jianwei; Liu, Bin

2016-05-24

This disclosure provides systems, methods, and apparatus related to a nanowire mesh solar fuels generator. In one aspect, a nanowire mesh solar fuels generator includes (1) a photoanode configured to perform water oxidation and (2) a photocathode configured to perform water reduction. The photocathode is in electrical contact with the photoanode. The photoanode may include a high surface area network of photoanode nanowires. The photocathode may include a high surface area network of photocathode nanowires. In some embodiments, the nanowire mesh solar fuels generator may include an ion conductive polymer infiltrating the photoanode and the photocathode in the region where the photocathode is in electrical contact with the photoanode.

Lipid nanotube or nanowire sensor

DOEpatents

Noy, Aleksandr [Belmont, CA; Bakajin, Olgica [San Leandro, CA; Letant, Sonia [Livermore, CA; Stadermann, Michael [Dublin, CA; Artyukhin, Alexander B [Menlo Park, CA

2009-06-09

A sensor apparatus comprising a nanotube or nanowire, a lipid bilayer around the nanotube or nanowire, and a sensing element connected to the lipid bilayer. Also a biosensor apparatus comprising a gate electrode; a source electrode; a drain electrode; a nanotube or nanowire operatively connected to the gate electrode, the source electrode, and the drain electrode; a lipid bilayer around the nanotube or nanowire, and a sensing element connected to the lipid bilayer.

Lipid nanotube or nanowire sensor

DOEpatents

Noy, Aleksandr [Belmont, CA; Bakajin, Olgica [San Leandro, CA; Letant, Sonia [Livermore, CA; Stadermann, Michael [Dublin, CA; Artyukhin, Alexander B [Menlo Park, CA

2010-06-29

A sensor apparatus comprising a nanotube or nanowire, a lipid bilayer around the nanotube or nanowire, and a sensing element connected to the lipid bilayer. Also a biosensor apparatus comprising a gate electrode; a source electrode; a drain electrode; a nanotube or nanowire operatively connected to the gate electrode, the source electrode, and the drain electrode; a lipid bilayer around the nanotube or nanowire, and a sensing element connected to the lipid bilayer.

Step-gate polysilicon nanowires field effect transistor compatible with CMOS technology for label-free DNA biosensor.

PubMed

Wenga, G; Jacques, E; Salaün, A-C; Rogel, R; Pichon, L; Geneste, F

2013-02-15

Currently, detection of DNA hybridization using fluorescence-based detection technique requires expensive optical systems and complex bioinformatics tools. Hence, the development of new low cost devices that enable direct and highly sensitive detection stimulates a lot of research efforts. Particularly, devices based on silicon nanowires are emerging as ultrasensitive electrical sensors for the direct detection of biological species thanks to their high surface to volume ratio. In this study, we propose innovative devices using step-gate polycrystalline silicon nanowire FET (poly-Si NW FETs), achieved with simple and low cost fabrication process, and used as ultrasensitive electronic sensor for DNA hybridization. The poly-SiNWs are synthesized using the sidewall spacer formation technique. The detailed fabrication procedure for a step-gate NWFET sensor is described in this paper. No-complementary and complementary DNA sequences were clearly discriminated and detection limit to 1 fM range is observed. This first result using this nano-device is promising for the development of low cost and ultrasensitive polysilicon nanowires based DNA sensors compatible with the CMOS technology. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A wearable and highly sensitive pressure sensor with ultrathin gold nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Shu; Schwalb, Willem; Wang, Yongwei; Chen, Yi; Tang, Yue; Si, Jye; Shirinzadeh, Bijan; Cheng, Wenlong

2014-02-01

Ultrathin gold nanowires are mechanically flexible yet robust, which are novel building blocks with potential applications in future wearable optoelectronic devices. Here we report an efficient, low-cost fabrication strategy to construct a highly sensitive, flexible pressure sensor by sandwiching ultrathin gold nanowire-impregnated tissue paper between two thin polydimethylsiloxane sheets. The entire device fabrication process is scalable, enabling facile large-area integration and patterning for mapping spatial pressure distribution. Our gold nanowires-based pressure sensors can be operated at a battery voltage of 1.5 V with low energy consumption (<30 μW), and are able to detect pressing forces as low as 13 Pa with fast response time (<17 ms), high sensitivity (>1.14 kPa-1) and high stability (>50,000 loading-unloading cycles). In addition, our sensor can resolve pressing, bending, torsional forces and acoustic vibrations. The superior sensing properties in conjunction with mechanical flexibility and robustness enabled real-time monitoring of blood pulses as well as detection of small vibration forces from music.

Different growth regimes in InP nanowire growth mediated by Ag nanoparticles.

PubMed

Oliveira, D S; Zavarize, M; Tizei, L H G; Walls, M; Ospina, C A; Iikawa, F; Ugarte, D; Cotta, M A

2017-12-15

We report on the existence of two different regimes in one-step Ag-seeded InP nanowire growth. The vapor-liquid-solid-mechanism is present at larger In precursor flows and temperatures, ∼500 °C, yielding high aspect ratio and pure wurtzite InP nanowires with a semi-spherical metal particle at the thin apex. Periodic diameter oscillations can be achieved under extreme In supersaturations at this temperature range, showing the presence of a liquid catalyst. However, under lower temperatures and In precursor flows, large diameter InP nanowires with mixed wurtzite/zincblende segments are obtained, similarly to In-assisted growth. Chemical composition analysis suggest that In-rich droplet formation is catalyzed at the substrate surface via Ag nanoparticles; this process might be facilitated by the sulfur contamination detected in these nanoparticles. Furthermore, part of the original Ag nanoparticle remains solid and is embedded inside the actual catalyst, providing an in situ method to switch growth mechanisms upon changing In precursor flow. Nevertheless, our Ag-seeded InP nanowires exhibit overall optical emission spectra consistent with the observed structural properties and similar to Au-catalyzed InP nanowires. We thus show that Ag nanoparticles may be a suitable replacement for Au in InP nanowire growth.

A force sensor using nanowire arrays to understand biofilm formation (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahoo, Prasana K.; Cavalli, Alessandro; Pelegati, Vitor B.; Murillo, Duber M.; Souza, Alessandra A.; Cesar, Carlos L.; Bakkers, Erik P. A. M.; Cotta, Monica A.

2016-03-01

Understanding the cellular signaling and function at the nano-bio interface can pave the way towards developing next-generation smart diagnostic tools. From this perspective, limited reports detail so far the cellular and subcellular forces exerted by bacterial cells during the interaction with abiotic materials. Nanowire arrays with high aspect ratio have been used to detect such small forces. In this regard, live force measurements were performed ex-vivo during the interaction of Xylella fastidiosa bacterial cells with InP nanowire arrays. The influence of nanowire array topography and surface chemistry on the response and motion of bacterial cells was studied in detail. The nanowire arrays were also functionalized with different cell adhesive promoters, such as amines and XadA1, an afimbrial protein of X.fastidiosa. By employing the well-defined InP nanowire arrays platform, and single cell confocal imaging system, we were able to trace the bacterial growth pattern, and show that their initial attachment locations are strongly influenced by the surface chemistry and nanoscale surface topography. In addition, we measure the cellular forces down to few nanonewton range using these nanowire arrays. In case of nanowire functionalized with XadA1, the force exerted by vertically and horizontally attached single bacteria on the nanowire is in average 14% and 26% higher than for the pristine array, respectively. These results provide an excellent basis for live-cell force measurements as well as unravel the range of forces involved during the early stages of bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation.

A CMOS-Compatible Poly-Si Nanowire Device with Hybrid Sensor/Memory Characteristics for System-on-Chip Applications

PubMed Central

Chen, Min-Cheng; Chen, Hao-Yu; Lin, Chia-Yi; Chien, Chao-Hsin; Hsieh, Tsung-Fan; Horng, Jim-Tong; Qiu, Jian-Tai; Huang, Chien-Chao; Ho, Chia-Hua; Yang, Fu-Liang

2012-01-01

This paper reports a versatile nano-sensor technology using “top-down” poly-silicon nanowire field-effect transistors (FETs) in the conventional Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible semiconductor process. The nanowire manufacturing technique reduced nanowire width scaling to 50 nm without use of extra lithography equipment, and exhibited superior device uniformity. These n type polysilicon nanowire FETs have positive pH sensitivity (100 mV/pH) and sensitive deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) detection ability (100 pM) at normal system operation voltages. Specially designed oxide-nitride-oxide buried oxide nanowire realizes an electrically Vth-adjustable sensor to compensate device variation. These nanowire FETs also enable non-volatile memory application for a large and steady Vth adjustment window (>2 V Programming/Erasing window). The CMOS-compatible manufacturing technique of polysilicon nanowire FETs offers a possible solution for commercial System-on-Chip biosensor application, which enables portable physiology monitoring and in situ recording. PMID:22666012

Simultaneous Detection of α-Fetoprotein and Carcinoembryonic Antigen Based on Si Nanowire Field-Effect Transistors.

PubMed

Zhu, Kuiyu; Zhang, Ye; Li, Zengyao; Zhou, Fan; Feng, Kang; Dou, Huiqiang; Wang, Tong

2015-08-05

Primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, resulting in death within six to 20 months. The survival rate can be improved by effective treatments when diagnosed at an early stage. The α-fetoprotein (AFP) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) have been identified as markers that are expressed at higher levels in PHC patients. In this study, we employed silicon nanowire field-effect transistors (SiNW-FETs) with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic channels to simultaneously detect AFP and CEA in desalted human serum. Dual-channel PDMS was first utilized for the selective modification of AFP and CEA antibodies on SiNWs, while single-channel PDMS offers faster and more sensitive detection of AFP and CEA in serum. During the SiNW modification process, 0.1% BSA was utilized to minimize nonspecific protein binding from serum. The linear dynamic ranges for the AFP and CEA detection were measured to be 500 fg/mL to 50 ng/mL and 50 fg/mL to 10 ng/mL, respectively. Our work demonstrates the promising potential of fabricated SiNW-FETs as a direct detection kit for multiple tumor markers in serum; therefore, it provides a chance for early stage diagnose and, hence, more effective treatments for PHC patients.

2D tilting MEMS micro mirror integrating a piezoresistive sensor position feedback

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lani, S.; Bayat, D.; Despont, M.

2015-02-01

An integrated position sensor for a dual-axis electromagnetic tilting mirror is presented. This tilting mirror is composed of a silicon based mirror directly assembled on a silicon membrane supported by flexible beams. The position sensors are constituted by 4 Wheatstone bridges of piezoresistors which are fabricated by doping locally the flexible beams. A permanent magnet is attached to the membrane and the scanner is mounted above planar coils deposited on a ceramic substrate to achieve electromagnetic actuation. The performances of the piezoresistive sensors are evaluated by measuring the output signal of the piezoresistors as a function of the tilt of the mirror and the temperature. White light interferometry was performed for all measurement to measure the exact tilt angle. The minimum detectable angle with such sensors was 30µrad (around 13bits) in the range of the minimum resolution of the interferometer. The tilt reproducibility was 0.0186%, obtained by measuring the tilt after repeated actuations with a coil current of 50mA during 30 min and the stability over time was 0.05% in 1h without actuation. The maximum measured tilt angle was 6° (mechanical) limited by nonlinearity of the MEMS system.

The controlled growth of GaN nanowires.

PubMed

Hersee, Stephen D; Sun, Xinyu; Wang, Xin

2006-08-01

This paper reports a scalable process for the growth of high-quality GaN nanowires and uniform nanowire arrays in which the position and diameter of each nanowire is precisely controlled. The approach is based on conventional metalorganic chemical vapor deposition using regular precursors and requires no additional metal catalyst. The location, orientation, and diameter of each GaN nanowire are controlled using a thin, selective growth mask that is patterned by interferometric lithography. It was found that use of a pulsed MOCVD process allowed the nanowire diameter to remain constant after the nanowires had emerged from the selective growth mask. Vertical GaN nanowire growth rates in excess of 2 mum/h were measured, while remarkably the diameter of each nanowire remained constant over the entire (micrometer) length of the nanowires. The paper reports transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence data.

A highly sensitive biological detection substrate based on TiO2 nanowires supporting gold nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeng, Yuan; Tan, Hai-jun; Cheng, Xiu-Lan; Chen, Rui; Wang, Ying

2011-12-01

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has attracted widespread concern in the field of bioassay because it can enhance normally weak Raman signal by several orders of magnitude and facilitate the highly sensitive detection of molecules. Conventional SERS substrates are prepared by placing metal nanoparticles on a planar surface. Here we show a unique SERS substrate stacked by disordered TiO2 nanowires (TiO2-NWs) supportig gold nanocrystals. The structure can be easily fabricated by chemical synthesis at low cost. The COMSOL model simulation shows the designed SERS substrate is capable of output high Local Field Enhancement (LFE) in the Near Infrared region (NIR) that is the optimal wavelength in bio-detection because of both the unique coupling enhancement effect amony nearby Au nanocrystals on TiO2-NWs and the Suface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) effect of TiO2 -NWs. The as-prepared transparent and freestanding SERS substrate is capable of detecting extremely low concentration R6G molecular, showing much higher Raman signal because of the extremely large surface area and the uniqueTiO2-NWs self-assemblied by Au nanocrystals. These results provide a new approach to ultrasensitive bioassay device.

The Mechanical Properties of Nanowires

PubMed Central

Wang, Shiliang; Shan, Zhiwei

2017-01-01

Applications of nanowires into future generation nanodevices require a complete understanding of the mechanical properties of the nanowires. A great research effort has been made in the past two decades to understand the deformation physics and mechanical behaviors of nanowires, and to interpret the discrepancies between experimental measurements and theoretical predictions. This review focused on the characterization and understanding of the mechanical properties of nanowires, including elasticity, plasticity, anelasticity and strength. As the results from the previous literature in this area appear inconsistent, a critical evaluation of the characterization techniques and methodologies were presented. In particular, the size effects of nanowires on the mechanical properties and their deformation mechanisms were discussed. PMID:28435775

EDITORIAL: High performance under pressure High performance under pressure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demming, Anna

2011-11-01

The accumulation of charge in certain materials in response to an applied mechanical stress was first discovered in 1880 by Pierre Curie and his brother Paul-Jacques. The effect, piezoelectricity, forms the basis of today's microphones, quartz watches, and electronic components and constitutes an awesome scientific legacy. Research continues to develop further applications in a range of fields including imaging [1, 2], sensing [3] and, as reported in this issue of Nanotechnology, energy harvesting [4]. Piezoelectricity in biological tissue was first reported in 1941 [5]. More recently Majid Minary-Jolandan and Min-Feng Yu at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the USA have studied the piezoelectric properties of collagen I [1]. Their observations support the nanoscale origin of piezoelectricity in bone and tendons and also imply the potential importance of the shear load transfer mechanism in mechanoelectric transduction in bone. Shear load transfer has been the principle basis of the nanoscale mechanics model of collagen. The piezoelectric effect in quartz causes a shift in the resonant frequency in response to a force gradient. This has been exploited for sensing forces in scanning probe microscopes that do not need optical readout. Recently researchers in Spain explored the dynamics of a double-pronged quartz tuning fork [2]. They observed thermal noise spectra in agreement with a coupled-oscillators model, providing important insights into the system's behaviour. Nano-electromechanical systems are increasingly exploiting piezoresistivity for motion detection. Observations of the change in a material's resistance in response to the applied stress pre-date the discovery of piezoelectric effect and were first reported in 1856 by Lord Kelvin. Researchers at Caltech recently demonstrated that a bridge configuration of piezoresistive nanowires can be used to detect in-plane CMOS-based and fully compatible with future very-large scale integration of

Methods for synthesizing metal oxide nanowires

DOEpatents

Sunkara, Mahendra Kumar; Kumar, Vivekanand; Kim, Jeong H.; Clark, Ezra Lee

2016-08-09

A method of synthesizing a metal oxide nanowire includes the steps of: combining an amount of a transition metal or a transition metal oxide with an amount of an alkali metal compound to produce a mixture; activating a plasma discharge reactor to create a plasma discharge; exposing the mixture to the plasma discharge for a first predetermined time period such that transition metal oxide nanowires are formed; contacting the transition metal oxide nanowires with an acid solution such that an alkali metal ion is exchanged for a hydrogen ion on each of the transition metal oxide nanowires; and exposing the transition metal oxide nanowires to the plasma discharge for a second predetermined time period to thermally anneal the transition metal oxide nanowires. Transition metal oxide nanowires produced using the synthesis methods described herein are also provided.

Catalyst patterning for nanowire devices

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Li, Jun (Inventor); Cassell, Alan M. (Inventor); Han, Jie (Inventor)

2004-01-01

Nanowire devices may be provided that are based on carbon nanotubes or single-crystal semiconductor nanowires. The nanowire devices may be formed on a substrate. Catalyst sites may be formed on the substrate. The catalyst sites may be formed using lithography, thin metal layers that form individual catalyst sites when heated, collapsible porous catalyst-filled microscopic spheres, microscopic spheres that serve as masks for catalyst deposition, electrochemical deposition techniques, and catalyst inks. Nanowires may be grown from the catalyst sites.

Electron Transport Properties of Ge nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hanrath, Tobias; Khondaker, Saiful I.; Yao, Zhen; Korgel, Brian A.

2003-03-01

Electron Transport Properties of Ge nanowires Tobias Hanrath*, Saiful I. Khondaker, Zhen Yao, Brian A. Korgel* *Dept. of Chemical Engineering, Dept. of Physics, Texas Materials Institute, and Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-1062 e-mail: korgel@mail.che.utexas.edu Germanium (Ge) nanowires with diameters ranging from 6 to 50 nm and several micrometer in length were grown via a supercritical fluid-liquid-solid synthesis. Parallel electron energy loss spectroscopy (PEELS) was employed to study the band structure and electron density in the Ge nanowires. The observed increase in plasmon peak energy and peak width with decreasing nanowire diameter is attributed to quantum confinement effects. For electrical characterization, Ge nanowires were deposited onto a patterned Si/SiO2 substrate. E-beam lithography was then used to form electrode contacts to individual nanowires. The influence of nanowire diameter, surface chemistry and crystallographic defects on electron transport properties were investigated and the comparison of Ge nanowire conductivity with respect to bulk, intrinsic Ge will be presented.

Metal Oxide Nanowire Preparation and Their Integration into Chemical Sensing Devices at the SENSOR Lab in Brescia

PubMed Central

Bertuna, Angela; Faglia, Guido; Ferroni, Matteo; Kaur, Navpreet; Munasinghe Arachchige, Hashitha M. M.; Sberveglieri, Giorgio; Comini, Elisabetta

2017-01-01

Metal oxide 1D nanowires are probably the most promising structures to develop cheap stable and selective chemical sensors. The purpose of this contribution is to review almost two-decades of research activity at the Sensor Lab Brescia on their preparation during by vapor solid (n-type In2O3, ZnO), vapor liquid solid (n-type SnO2 and p-type NiO) and thermal evaporation and oxidation (n-type ZnO, WO3 and p-type CuO) methods. For each material we’ve assessed the chemical sensing performance in relation to the preparation conditions and established a rank in the detection of environmental and industrial pollutants: SnO2 nanowires were effective in DMMP detection, ZnO nanowires in NO2, acetone and ethanol detection, WO3 for ammonia and CuO for ozone. PMID:28468310

EDITORIAL: Nanowires for energy Nanowires for energy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

LaPierre, Ray; Sunkara, Mahendra

2012-05-01

This special issue of Nanotechnology focuses on studies illustrating the application of nanowires for energy including solar cells, efficient lighting and water splitting. Over the next three decades, nanotechnology will make significant contributions towards meeting the increased energy needs of the planet, now known as the TeraWatt challenge. Nanowires in particular are poised to contribute significantly in this development as presented in the review by Hiralal et al [1]. Nanowires exhibit light trapping properties that can act as a broadband anti-reflection coating to enhance the efficiency of solar cells. In this issue, Li et al [2] and Wang et al [3] present the optical properties of silicon nanowire and nanocone arrays. In addition to enhanced optical properties, core-shell nanowires also have the potential for efficient charge carrier collection across the nanowire diameter as presented in the contribution by Yu et al [4] for radial junction a-Si solar cells. Hybrid approaches that combine organic and inorganic materials also have potential for high efficiency photovoltaics. A Si-based hybrid solar cell is presented by Zhang et al [5] with a photoconversion efficiency of over 7%. The quintessential example of hybrid solar cells is the dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) where an organic absorber (dye) coats an inorganic material (typically a ZnO nanostructure). Herman et al [6] present a method of enhancing the efficiency of a DSSC by increasing the hetero-interfacial area with a unique hierarchical weeping willow ZnO structure. The increased surface area allows for higher dye loading, light harvesting, and reduced charge recombination through direct conduction along the ZnO branches. Another unique ZnO growth method is presented by Calestani et al [7] using a solution-free and catalyst-free approach by pulsed electron deposition (PED). Nanowires can also make more efficient use of electrical power. Light emitting diodes, for example, will eventually become the

Nanowired three-dimensional cardiac patches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dvir, Tal; Timko, Brian P.; Brigham, Mark D.; Naik, Shreesh R.; Karajanagi, Sandeep S.; Levy, Oren; Jin, Hongwei; Parker, Kevin K.; Langer, Robert; Kohane, Daniel S.

2011-11-01

Engineered cardiac patches for treating damaged heart tissues after a heart attack are normally produced by seeding heart cells within three-dimensional porous biomaterial scaffolds. These biomaterials, which are usually made of either biological polymers such as alginate or synthetic polymers such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA), help cells organize into functioning tissues, but poor conductivity of these materials limits the ability of the patch to contract strongly as a unit. Here, we show that incorporating gold nanowires within alginate scaffolds can bridge the electrically resistant pore walls of alginate and improve electrical communication between adjacent cardiac cells. Tissues grown on these composite matrices were thicker and better aligned than those grown on pristine alginate and when electrically stimulated, the cells in these tissues contracted synchronously. Furthermore, higher levels of the proteins involved in muscle contraction and electrical coupling are detected in the composite matrices. It is expected that the integration of conducting nanowires within three-dimensional scaffolds may improve the therapeutic value of current cardiac patches.

Recovery Based Nanowire Field-Effect Transistor Detection of Pathogenic Avian Influenza DNA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Chih-Heng; Chu, Chia-Jung; Teng, Kang-Ning; Su, Yi-Jr; Chen, Chii-Dong; Tsai, Li-Chu; Yang, Yuh-Shyong

2012-02-01

Fast and accurate diagnosis is critical in infectious disease surveillance and management. We proposed a DNA recovery system that can easily be adapted to DNA chip or DNA biosensor for fast identification and confirmation of target DNA. This method was based on the re-hybridization of DNA target with a recovery DNA to free the DNA probe. Functionalized silicon nanowire field-effect transistor (SiNW FET) was demonstrated to monitor such specific DNA-DNA interaction using high pathogenic strain virus hemagglutinin 1 (H1) DNA of avian influenza (AI) as target. Specific electric changes were observed in real-time for AI virus DNA sensing and device recovery when nanowire surface of SiNW FET was modified with complementary captured DNA probe. The recovery based SiNW FET biosensor can be further developed for fast identification and further confirmation of a variety of influenza virus strains and other infectious diseases.

Importance of the Debye Screening Length on Nanowire Field Effect Transistor Sensors

PubMed Central

Stern, Eric; Wagner, Robin; Sigworth, Fred J.; Breaker, Ronald; Fahmy, Tarek M.; Reed, Mark A.

2009-01-01

Nanowire field effect transistors (NW-FETs) can serve as ultrasensitive detectors for label-free reagents. The NW-FET sensing mechanism assumes a controlled modification in the local channel electric field created by the binding of charged molecules to the nanowire surface. Careful control of the solution Debye length is critical for unambiguous selective detection of macromolecules. Here we show the appropriate conditions under which the selective binding of macromolecules is accurately sensed with NW-FET sensors. PMID:17914853

Importance of the Debye screening length on nanowire field effect transistor sensors.

PubMed

Stern, Eric; Wagner, Robin; Sigworth, Fred J; Breaker, Ronald; Fahmy, Tarek M; Reed, Mark A

2007-11-01

Nanowire field effect transistors (NW-FETs) can serve as ultrasensitive detectors for label-free reagents. The NW-FET sensing mechanism assumes a controlled modification in the local channel electric field created by the binding of charged molecules to the nanowire surface. Careful control of the solution Debye length is critical for unambiguous selective detection of macromolecules. Here we show the appropriate conditions under which the selective binding of macromolecules is accurately sensed with NW-FET sensors.

MOF-Based Membrane Encapsulated ZnO Nanowires for Enhanced Gas Sensor Selectivity.

PubMed

Drobek, Martin; Kim, Jae-Hun; Bechelany, Mikhael; Vallicari, Cyril; Julbe, Anne; Kim, Sang Sub

2016-04-06

Gas sensors are of a great interest for applications including toxic or explosive gases detection in both in-house and industrial environments, air quality monitoring, medical diagnostics, or control of food/cosmetic properties. In the area of semiconductor metal oxides (SMOs)-based sensors, a lot of effort has been devoted to improve the sensing characteristics. In this work, we report on a general methodology for improving the selectivity of SMOx nanowires sensors, based on the coverage of ZnO nanowires with a thin ZIF-8 molecular sieve membrane. The optimized ZnO@ZIF-8-based nanocomposite sensor shows markedly selective response to H2 in comparison with the pristine ZnO nanowires sensor, while showing the negligible sensing response to C7H8 and C6H6. This original MOF-membrane encapsulation strategy applied to nanowires sensor architecture pave the way for other complex 3D architectures and various types of applications requiring either gas or ion selectivity, such as biosensors, photo(catalysts), and electrodes.

MEMS piezoresistive cantilever for the direct measurement of cardiomyocyte contractile force

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matsudaira, Kenei; Nguyen, Thanh-Vinh; Hirayama Shoji, Kayoko; Tsukagoshi, Takuya; Takahata, Tomoyuki; Shimoyama, Isao

2017-10-01

This paper reports on a method to directly measure the contractile forces of cardiomyocytes using MEMS (micro electro mechanical systems)-based force sensors. The fabricated sensor chip consists of piezoresistive cantilevers that can measure contractile forces with high frequency (several tens of kHz) and high sensing resolution (less than 0.1 nN). Moreover, the proposed method does not require a complex observation system or image processing, which are necessary in conventional optical-based methods. This paper describes the design, fabrication, and evaluation of the proposed device and demonstrates the direct measurements of contractile forces of cardiomyocytes using the fabricated device.

Fabrication and characterization of monolithic piezoresistive high-g three-axis accelerometer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Han-Il; Kwon, Dae-Sung; Kim, Jongbaeg

2017-12-01

We report piezoresistive high-g three-axis accelerometer with a single proof mass suspended by thin eight beams. This eight-beam design allows load-sharing at high-g preventing structural breakage, as well as the symmetric arrangement of piezoresistors. The device chip size is 1.4 mm × 1.4 mm × 0.51 mm. Experimental results show that the sensitivity in X-, Y- and Z-axes are 0.2433, 0.1308 and 0.3068 mV/g/V under 5 V applied and the resolutions are 24.2, 29.9 and 25.4 g, respectively.

Electrically Injected UV-Visible Nanowire Lasers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, George T.; Li, Changyi; Li, Qiming

2015-09-01

There is strong interest in minimizing the volume of lasers to enable ultracompact, low-power, coherent light sources. Nanowires represent an ideal candidate for such nanolasers as stand-alone optical cavities and gain media, and optically pumped nanowire lasing has been demonstrated in several semiconductor systems. Electrically injected nanowire lasers are needed to realize actual working devices but have been elusive due to limitations of current methods to address the requirement for nanowire device heterostructures with high material quality, controlled doping and geometry, low optical loss, and efficient carrier injection. In this project we proposed to demonstrate electrically injected single nanowire lasersmore » emitting in the important UV to visible wavelengths. Our approach to simultaneously address these challenges is based on high quality III-nitride nanowire device heterostructures with precisely controlled geometries and strong gain and mode confinement to minimize lasing thresholds, enabled by a unique top-down nanowire fabrication technique.« less

Conductance of kinked nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, B. G.; Varga, K.

2011-01-01

The conductance properties of kinked nanowires are studied by first-principles transport calculations within a recently developed complex potential framework. Using prototypical examples of monoatomic Au chains as well as small diameter single-crystalline silicon nanowires we show that transmission strongly depends on the kink geometry and one can tune the conductance properties by the kink angle and other geometrical factors. In the case of a silicon nanowire the presence of a kink drastically reduces the conductance.

Highly Sensitive Electromechanical Piezoresistive Pressure Sensors Based on Large-Area Layered PtSe2 Films.

PubMed

Wagner, Stefan; Yim, Chanyoung; McEvoy, Niall; Kataria, Satender; Yokaribas, Volkan; Kuc, Agnieszka; Pindl, Stephan; Fritzen, Claus-Peter; Heine, Thomas; Duesberg, Georg S; Lemme, Max C

2018-05-23

Two-dimensional (2D) layered materials are ideal for micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) due to their ultimate thinness. Platinum diselenide (PtSe 2 ), an exciting and unexplored 2D transition metal dichalcogenide material, is particularly interesting because its low temperature growth process is scalable and compatible with silicon technology. Here, we report the potential of thin PtSe 2 films as electromechanical piezoresistive sensors. All experiments have been conducted with semimetallic PtSe 2 films grown by thermally assisted conversion of platinum at a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible temperature of 400 °C. We report high negative gauge factors of up to -85 obtained experimentally from PtSe 2 strain gauges in a bending cantilever beam setup. Integrated NEMS piezoresistive pressure sensors with freestanding PMMA/PtSe 2 membranes confirm the negative gauge factor and exhibit very high sensitivity, outperforming previously reported values by orders of magnitude. We employ density functional theory calculations to understand the origin of the measured negative gauge factor. Our results suggest PtSe 2 as a very promising candidate for future NEMS applications, including integration into CMOS production lines.

An innovative large scale integration of silicon nanowire-based field effect transistors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Legallais, M.; Nguyen, T. T. T.; Mouis, M.; Salem, B.; Robin, E.; Chenevier, P.; Ternon, C.

2018-05-01

Since the early 2000s, silicon nanowire field effect transistors are emerging as ultrasensitive biosensors while offering label-free, portable and rapid detection. Nevertheless, their large scale production remains an ongoing challenge due to time consuming, complex and costly technology. In order to bypass these issues, we report here on the first integration of silicon nanowire networks, called nanonet, into long channel field effect transistors using standard microelectronic process. A special attention is paid to the silicidation of the contacts which involved a large number of SiNWs. The electrical characteristics of these FETs constituted by randomly oriented silicon nanowires are also studied. Compatible integration on the back-end of CMOS readout and promising electrical performances open new opportunities for sensing applications.

PREFACE: Synthesis and integration of nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samuelson, L.

2006-06-01

The field of semiconductor nanowires has attracted much attention in recent years, from the areas of basic materials science, advanced characterization and technology, as well as from the perspective of the applications of nanowires. Research on large-sized whiskers and wires had already begun in the 1960s with the pioneering work of Wagner, as well as by other researchers. It was, however, in the early 1990s that Kenji Hiruma at Hitachi Central Research Laboratories in Japan first succeeded in developing methods for the growth of nanowires with dimensions on the scale of 10-100 nm, thereby initiating the field of growth and applications of nanowires, with a strong emphasis on epitaxial nucleation of nanowires on a single-crystalline substrate. Starting from the mid-1990s, the field developed very rapidly with the number of papers on the subject growing from ten per year to several thousand papers on the subject published annually today, although with a rather generous definition of the concept of nanowires. With this rapid development we have seen many new and different approaches to the growth of nanowires, technological advances leading to a more well-controlled formation of nanowires, new innovative methods for the characterization of structures, as well as a wealth of approaches towards the use of nanowires in electronics, photonics and sensor applications. This issue contains contributions from many different laboratories, each adding significant detail to the development of the field of research. The contributions cover issues such as basic growth, advanced characterization and technology, and application of nanowires. I would like to acknowledge the shared responsibilities for this special issue of Nanotechnology on the synthesis and integration of nanowires with my co-Editors, S Tong Lee and M Sunkara, as well as the highly professional support from Dr Nina Couzin, Dr Ian Forbes and the Nanotechnology team from the Institute of Physics Publishing.

Transport properties of Sb-doped Si nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nukala, Prathyusha; Sapkota, Gopal; Gali, Pradeep; Philipose, U.

2012-08-01

We present a safe and cost-effective approach for synthesis of n-type Sb-doped Si nanowires. The nanowires were synthesized at ambient pressure using SiCl4 as Si source and pure Sb as the dopant source. Structural and compositional characterization using electron microscopy and X-ray spectroscopy show crystalline nanowires with lengths of 30-40 μm and diameters of 40-100 nm. A 3-4 nm thick amorphous oxide shell covers the surface of the nanowire, post-growth. The composition of this shell was confirmed by Raman spectroscopy. Growth of Si nanowires, followed by low temperature annealing in Sb vapor, was shown to be an effective technique for synthesizing Sb-doped Si nanowires. The doping concentration of Sb was found to be dependent on temperature, with Sb re-evaporating from the Si nanowire at higher doping temperatures. Field effect transistors (FETs) were fabricated to investigate the electrical transport properties of these nanowires. The as-grown Si nanowires were found to be p-type with a channel mobility of 40 cm2 V-1 s-1. After doping with Sb, these nanowires exhibited n-type behavior. The channel mobility and carrier concentration of the Sb-doped Si nanowires were estimated to be 288 cm2 V-1 s-1 and 5.3×1018 cm-3 respectively.

Controllable High-Speed Rotation of Nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fan, D. L.; Zhu, F. Q.; Cammarata, R. C.; Chien, C. L.

2005-06-01

We report a versatile method for executing controllable high-speed rotation of nanowires by ac voltages applied to multiple electrodes. The rotation of the nanowires can be instantly switched on or off with precisely controlled rotation speed (to at least 1800 rpm), definite chirality, and total angle of rotation. We have determined the torque due to the fluidic drag force on nanowire of different lengths. We also demonstrate a micromotor using a rotating nanowire driving a dust particle into circular motion. This method has been used to rotate magnetic and nonmagnetic nanowires as well as carbon nanotubes.

Graphene quantum dots modified silicon nanowire array for ultrasensitive detection in the gas phase

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, T. Y.; Duan, C. Y.; Zhu, Y. X.; Chen, Y. F.; Wang, Y.

2017-03-01

Si nanostructure-based gas detectors have attracted much attention due to their huge surface areas, relatively high carrier mobility, maneuverability for surface functionalization and compatibility to modern electronic industry. However, the unstable surface of Si, especially for the nanostructures in a corrosive atmosphere, hinders their sensitivity and reproducibility when used for detection in the gas phase. In this study, we proposed a novel strategy to fabricate a Si-based gas detector by using the vertically aligned Si nanowire (SiNW) array as a skeleton and platform, and decorated chemically inert graphene quantum dots (GQDs) to protect the SiNWs from oxidation and promote the carriers’ interaction with the analytes. The radial core-shell structures of the GQDs/SiNW array were then assembled into a resistor-based gas detection system and evaluated by using nitrogen dioxide (NO2) as the model analyte. Compared to the bare SiNW array, our novel sensor exhibited ultrahigh sensitivity for detecting trace amounts of NO2 with the concentration as low as 10 ppm in room temperature and an immensely reduced recovery time, which is of significant importance for their practical application. Meanwhile, strikingly, reproducibility and stability could also be achieved by showing no sensitivity decline after storing the GQDs/SiNW array in air for two weeks. Our results demonstrate that protecting the surface of the SiNW array with chemically inert GQDs is a feasible strategy to realize ultrasensitive detection in the gas phase.

Piezoresistive Carbon-based Hybrid Sensor for Body-Mounted Biomedical Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melnykowycz, M.; Tschudin, M.; Clemens, F.

2017-02-01

For body-mounted sensor applications, the evolution of soft condensed matter sensor (SCMS) materials offer conformability andit enables mechanical compliance between the body surface and the sensing mechanism. A piezoresistive hybrid sensor and compliant meta-material sub-structure provided a way to engineer sensor physical designs through modification of the mechanical properties of the compliant design. A piezoresistive fiber sensor was produced by combining a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) matrix with Carbon Black (CB) particles in 1:1 mass ratio. Feedstock was extruded in monofilament fiber form (diameter of 300 microns), resulting in a highly stretchable sensor (strain sensor range up to 100%) with linear resistance signal response. The soft condensed matter sensor was integrated into a hybrid design including a 3D printed metamaterial structure combined with a soft silicone. An auxetic unit cell was chosen (with negative Poisson’s Ratio) in the design in order to combine with the soft silicon, which exhibits a high Poisson’s Ratio. The hybrid sensor design was subjected to mechanical tensile testing up to 50% strain (with gauge factor calculation for sensor performance), and then utilized for strain-based sensing applications on the body including gesture recognition and vital function monitoring including blood pulse-wave and breath monitoring. A 10 gesture Natural User Interface (NUI) test protocol was utilized to show the effectiveness of a single wrist-mounted sensor to identify discrete gestures including finger and hand motions. These hand motions were chosen specifically for Human Computer Interaction (HCI) applications. The blood pulse-wave signal was monitored with the hand at rest, in a wrist-mounted. In addition different breathing patterns were investigated, including normal breathing and coughing, using a belt and chest-mounted configuration.

Nanowire growth and sublimation: CdTe quantum dots in ZnTe nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Orrù, M.; Robin, E.; Den Hertog, M.; Moratis, K.; Genuist, Y.; André, R.; Ferrand, D.; Cibert, J.; Bellet-Amalric, E.

2018-04-01

The role of the sublimation of the compound and of the evaporation of the constituents from the gold nanoparticle during the growth of semiconductor nanowires is exemplified with CdTe-ZnTe heterostructures. Operating close to the upper temperature limit strongly reduces the amount of Cd present in the gold nanoparticle and the density of adatoms on the nanowire sidewalls. As a result, the growth rate is small and strongly temperature dependent, but a good control of the growth conditions allows the incorporation of quantum dots in nanowires with sharp interfaces and adjustable shape, and it minimizes the radial growth and the subsequent formation of additional CdTe clusters on the nanowire sidewalls, as confirmed by photoluminescence. Uncapped CdTe segments dissolve into the gold nanoparticle when interrupting the flux, giving rise to a bulblike (pendant-droplet) shape attributed to the Kirkendall effect.

Cleaved-coupled nanowire lasers

PubMed Central

Gao, Hanwei; Fu, Anthony; Andrews, Sean C.; Yang, Peidong

2013-01-01

The miniaturization of optoelectronic devices is essential for the continued success of photonic technologies. Nanowires have been identified as potential building blocks that mimic conventional photonic components such as interconnects, waveguides, and optical cavities at the nanoscale. Semiconductor nanowires with high optical gain offer promising solutions for lasers with small footprints and low power consumption. Although much effort has been directed toward controlling their size, shape, and composition, most nanowire lasers currently suffer from emitting at multiple frequencies simultaneously, arising from the longitudinal modes native to simple Fabry–Pérot cavities. Cleaved-coupled cavities, two Fabry–Pérot cavities that are axially coupled through an air gap, are a promising architecture to produce single-frequency emission. The miniaturization of this concept, however, imposes a restriction on the dimensions of the intercavity gaps because severe optical losses are incurred when the cross-sectional dimensions of cavities become comparable to the lasing wavelength. Here we theoretically investigate and experimentally demonstrate spectral manipulation of lasing modes by creating cleaved-coupled cavities in gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires. Lasing operation at a single UV wavelength at room temperature was achieved using nanoscale gaps to create the smallest cleaved-coupled cavities to date. Besides the reduced number of lasing modes, the cleaved-coupled nanowires also operate with a lower threshold gain than that of the individual component nanowires. Good agreement was found between the measured lasing spectra and the predicted spectral modes obtained by simulating optical coupling properties. This agreement between theory and experiment presents design principles to rationally control the lasing modes in cleaved-coupled nanowire lasers. PMID:23284173

SNSPD with parallel nanowires (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ejrnaes, Mikkel; Parlato, Loredana; Gaggero, Alessandro; Mattioli, Francesco; Leoni, Roberto; Pepe, Giampiero; Cristiano, Roberto

2017-05-01

Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have shown to be promising in applications such as quantum communication and computation, quantum optics, imaging, metrology and sensing. They offer the advantages of a low dark count rate, high efficiency, a broadband response, a short time jitter, a high repetition rate, and no need for gated-mode operation. Several SNSPD designs have been proposed in literature. Here, we discuss the so-called parallel nanowires configurations. They were introduced with the aim of improving some SNSPD property like detection efficiency, speed, signal-to-noise ratio, or photon number resolution. Although apparently similar, the various parallel designs are not the same. There is no one design that can improve the mentioned properties all together. In fact, each design presents its own characteristics with specific advantages and drawbacks. In this work, we will discuss the various designs outlining peculiarities and possible improvements.

A 64-pixel NbTiN superconducting nanowire single-photon detector array for spatially resolved photon detection.

PubMed

Miki, Shigehito; Yamashita, Taro; Wang, Zhen; Terai, Hirotaka

2014-04-07

We present the characterization of two-dimensionally arranged 64-pixel NbTiN superconducting nanowire single-photon detector (SSPD) array for spatially resolved photon detection. NbTiN films deposited on thermally oxidized Si substrates enabled the high-yield production of high-quality SSPD pixels, and all 64 SSPD pixels showed uniform superconducting characteristics within the small range of 7.19-7.23 K of superconducting transition temperature and 15.8-17.8 μA of superconducting switching current. Furthermore, all of the pixels showed single-photon sensitivity, and 60 of the 64 pixels showed a pulse generation probability higher than 90% after photon absorption. As a result of light irradiation from the single-mode optical fiber at different distances between the fiber tip and the active area, the variations of system detection efficiency (SDE) in each pixel showed reasonable Gaussian distribution to represent the spatial distributions of photon flux intensity.

Coupled, Simultaneous Displacement and Dealloying Reactions into Fe-Ni-Co Nanowires for Thinning Nanowire Segments.

PubMed

Geng, Xiaohua; Podlaha, Elizabeth J

2016-12-14

A new methodology is reported to shape template-assisted electrodeposition of Fe-rich, Fe-Ni-Co nanowires to have a thin nanowire segment using a coupled displacement reaction with a more noble elemental ion, Cu(II), and at the same time dealloying predominantly Fe from Fe-Ni-Co by the reduction of protons (H + ), followed by a subsequent etching step. The displacement/dealloyed layer was sandwiched between two trilayers of Fe-Ni-Co to facilitate the characterization of the reaction front, or penetration length. The penetration length region was found to be a function of the ratio of proton and Cu(II) concentration, and a ratio of 0.5 was found to provide the largest penetration rate, and hence the larger thinned length of the nanowire. Altering the etching time affected the diameter of the thinned region. This methodology presents a new way to thin nanowire segments connected to larger nanowire sections and also introduces a way to study the propagation of a reaction front into a nanowire.

Photoluminescence of etched SiC nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stewart, Polite D., Jr.; Rich, Ryan; Zerda, T. W.

2010-10-01

SiC nanowires were produced from carbon nanotubes and nanosize silicon powder in a tube furnace at temperatures between 1100^oC and 1350^oC. SiC nanowires had average diameter of 30 nm and very narrow size distribution. The compound possesses a high melting point, high thermal conductivity, and excellent wear resistance. The surface of the SiC nanowires after formation is covered by an amorphous layer. The composition of that layer is not fully understood, but it is believed that in addition to amorphous SiC it contains various carbon and silicon compounds, and SiO2. The objective of the research was to modify the surface structure of these SiC nanowires. Modification of the surface was done using the wet etching method. The etched nanowires were then analyzed using Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and photoluminescence (PL). FTIR and TEM analysis provided valid proof that the SiC nanowires were successfully etched. Also, the PL results showed that the SiC nanowire core did possess a fluorescent signal.

Giant Gold Nanowire Vesicle-Based Colorimetric and SERS Dual-Mode Immunosensor for Ultrasensitive Detection of Vibrio parahemolyticus.

PubMed

Guo, Zhiyong; Jia, Yaru; Song, Xinxin; Lu, Jing; Lu, Xuefei; Liu, Baoqing; Han, Jiaojiao; Huang, Youju; Zhang, Jiawei; Chen, Tao

2018-05-15

Conventional methods for the detection of Vibrio parahemolyticus (VP) usually need tedious, labor-intensive processes, and have low sensitivity, which further limits their practical applications. Herein, we developed a simple and efficient colorimetry and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) dual-mode immunosensor for sensitive detection of VP, by employing giant Au vesicles with anchored tiny gold nanowires (AuNW) as a smart probe. Due to the larger specific surface and special hollow structure of giant Au vesicles, silver staining would easily lead to vivid color change for colorimetric analysis and further amplify SERS signals. The t-test was further used to determine if two sets of data from colorimetry and SERS were significantly different from each other. The result shows that there was no significant difference between data from the two methods. Two sets of data can mutually validate each other and avoid false positive and negative detection. The designed colorimetry-SERS dual-mode sensor would be very promising in various applications such as food safety inspection, personal healthcare, and on-site environmental monitoring.

Joule heating a palladium nanowire sensor for accelerated response and recovery to hydrogen gas.

PubMed

Yang, Fan; Taggart, David K; Penner, Reginald M

2010-07-05

The properties of a single heated palladium (Pd) nanowire for the detection of hydrogen gas (H(2)) are explored. In these experiments, a Pd nanowire, 48-98 microm in length, performs three functions in parallel: 1) Joule self-heating is used to elevate the nanowire temperature by up to 128 K, 2) the 4-contact wire resistance in the absence of H(2) is used to measure its temperature, and 3) the nanowire resistance in the presence of H(2) is correlated with its concentration, allowing it to function as a H(2) sensor. Compared with the room-temperature response of a Pd nanowire, the response of the heated nanowire to hydrogen is altered in two ways: First, the resistance change (DeltaR/R(0)) induced by H(2) exposure at any concentration is reduced by a factor of up to 30 and second, the rate of the resistance change - observed at the beginning ("response") and at the end ("recovery") of a pulse of H(2) - is increased by more than a factor of 50 at some H(2) concentrations. Heating nearly eliminates the retardation of response and recovery seen from 1-2% H(2), caused by the alpha --> beta phase transition of PdH(x), a pronounced effect for nanowires at room temperature. The activation energies associated with sensor response and recovery are measured and interpreted.

Disposable amperometric biosensor based on nanostructured bacteriophages for glucose detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, Yu Ri; Hwang, Kyung Hoon; Kim, Ju Hwan; Nam, Chang Hoon; Kim, Soo Won

2010-10-01

The selection of electrode material profoundly influences biosensor science and engineering, as it heavily influences biosensor sensitivity. Here we propose a novel electrochemical detection method using a working electrode consisting of bio-nanowires from genetically modified filamentous phages and nanoparticles. fd-tet p8MMM filamentous phages displaying a three-methionine (MMM) peptide on the major coat protein pVIII (designated p8MMM phages) were immobilized on the active area of an electrochemical sensor through physical adsorption and chemical bonding. Bio-nanowires composed of p8MMM phages and silver nanoparticles facilitated sensitive, rapid and selective detection of particular molecules. We explored whether the composite electrode with bio-nanowires was an effective platform to detect the glucose oxidase. The current response of the bio-nanowire sensor was high at various glucose concentrations (0.1 µm-0.1 mM). This method provides a considerable advantage to demonstrate analyte detection over low concentration ranges. Especially, phage-enabled bio-nanowires can serve as receptors with high affinity and specificity for the detection of particular biomolecules and provide a convenient platform for designing site-directed multifunctional scaffolds based on bacteriophages and may serve as a simple method for label-free detection.

Metallic nanowire networks

DOEpatents

Song, Yujiang; Shelnutt, John A.

2012-11-06

A metallic nanowire network synthesized using chemical reduction of a metal ion source by a reducing agent in the presence of a soft template comprising a tubular inverse micellar network. The network of interconnected polycrystalline nanowires has a very high surface-area/volume ratio, which makes it highly suitable for use in catalytic applications.

NANOWIRE CATHODE MATERIAL FOR LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

John Olson, PhD

2004-07-21

This project involved the synthesis of nanowire ã-MnO2 and characterization as cathode material for high-power lithium-ion batteries for EV and HEV applications. The nanowire synthesis involved the edge site decoration nanowire synthesis developed by Dr. Reginald Penner at UC Irvine (a key collaborator in this project). Figure 1 is an SEM image showing ã-MnO2 nanowires electrodeposited on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) electrodes. This technique is unique to other nanowire template synthesis techniques in that it produces long (>500 um) nanowires which could reduce or eliminate the need for conductive additives due to intertwining of fibers. Nanowire cathode for lithium-ionmore » batteries with surface areas 100 times greater than conventional materials can enable higher power batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). The synthesis of the ã-MnO2 nanowires was successfully achieved. However, it was not found possible to co-intercalate lithium directly in the nanowire synthesis. Based on input from proposal reviewers, the scope of the project was altered to attempt the conversion into spinel LiMn2O4 nanowire cathode material by solid state reaction of the ã-MnO2 nanowires with LiNO3 at elevated temperatures. Attempts to perform the conversion on the graphite template were unsuccessful due to degradation of the graphite apparently caused by oxidative attack by LiNO3. Emphasis then shifted to quantitative removal of the nanowires from the graphite, followed by the solid state reaction. Attempts to quantitatively remove the nanowires by several techniques were unsatisfactory due to co-removal of excess graphite or poor harvesting of nanowires. Intercalation of lithium into ã-MnO2 electrodeposited onto graphite was demonstrated, showing a partial demonstration of the ã-MnO2 material as a lithium-ion battery cathode material. Assuming the issues of nanowires removal can be solved, the technique does offer potential for

Interactions between semiconductor nanowires and living cells.

PubMed

Prinz, Christelle N

2015-06-17

Semiconductor nanowires are increasingly used for biological applications and their small dimensions make them a promising tool for sensing and manipulating cells with minimal perturbation. In order to interface cells with nanowires in a controlled fashion, it is essential to understand the interactions between nanowires and living cells. The present paper reviews current progress in the understanding of these interactions, with knowledge gathered from studies where living cells were interfaced with vertical nanowire arrays. The effect of nanowires on cells is reported in terms of viability, cell-nanowire interface morphology, cell behavior, changes in gene expression as well as cellular stress markers. Unexplored issues and unanswered questions are discussed.

Nanowire array and nanowire solar cells and methods for forming the same

DOEpatents

Yang, Peidong [Berkeley, CA; Greene, Lori [Berkeley, CA; Law, Matthew [Berkeley, CA

2007-09-04

Homogeneous and dense arrays of nanowires are described. The nanowires can be formed in solution and can have average diameters of 40-300 nm and lengths of 1-3 .mu.m. They can be formed on any suitable substrate. Photovoltaic devices are also described.

Nanowire array and nanowire solar cells and methods for forming the same

DOEpatents

Yang, Peidong; Greene, Lori E.; Law, Matthew

2009-06-09

Homogeneous and dense arrays of nanowires are described. The nanowires can be formed in solution and can have average diameters of 40-300 nm and lengths of 1-3 .mu.m. They can be formed on any suitable substrate. Photovoltaic devices are also described.

Accurate Characterization of Benign and Cancerous Breast Tissues: Aspecific Patient Studies using Piezoresistive Microcantilevers

PubMed Central

PANDYA, HARDIK J.; ROY, RAJARSHI; CHEN, WENJIN; CHEKMAREVA, MARINA A.; FORAN, DAVID J.; DESAI, JAYDEV P.

2014-01-01

Breast cancer is the largest detected cancer amongst women in the US. In this work, our team reports on the development of piezoresistive microcantilevers (PMCs) to investigate their potential use in the accurate detection and characterization of benign and diseased breast tissues by performing indentations on the micro-scale tissue specimens. The PMCs used in these experiments have been fabricated using laboratory-made silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate, which significantly reduces the fabrication costs. The PMCs are 260 μm long, 35 μm wide and 2 μm thick with resistivity of order 1.316 X 10−3 Ω-cm obtained by using boron diffusion technique. For indenting the tissue, we utilized 8 μm thick cylindrical SU-8 tip. The PMC was calibrated against a known AFM probe. Breast tissue cores from seven different specimens were indented using PMC to identify benign and cancerous tissue cores. Furthermore, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) of benign and cancerous specimens showed marked differences in the tissue morphology, which further validates our observed experimental data with the PMCs. While these patient aspecific feasibility studies clearly demonstrate the ability to discriminate between benign and cancerous breast tissues, further investigation is necessary to perform automated mechano-phenotyping (classification) of breast cancer: from onset to disease progression. PMID:25128621

Ballistic Majorana nanowire devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gül, Ã.-nder; Zhang, Hao; Bommer, Jouri D. S.; de Moor, Michiel W. A.; Car, Diana; Plissard, Sébastien R.; Bakkers, Erik P. A. M.; Geresdi, Attila; Watanabe, Kenji; Taniguchi, Takashi; Kouwenhoven, Leo P.

2018-01-01

Majorana modes are zero-energy excitations of a topological superconductor that exhibit non-Abelian statistics1-3. Following proposals for their detection in a semiconductor nanowire coupled to an s-wave superconductor4,5, several tunnelling experiments reported characteristic Majorana signatures6-11. Reducing disorder has been a prime challenge for these experiments because disorder can mimic the zero-energy signatures of Majoranas12-16, and renders the topological properties inaccessible17-20. Here, we show characteristic Majorana signatures in InSb nanowire devices exhibiting clear ballistic transport properties. Application of a magnetic field and spatial control of carrier density using local gates generates a zero bias peak that is rigid over a large region in the parameter space of chemical potential, Zeeman energy and tunnel barrier potential. The reduction of disorder allows us to resolve separate regions in the parameter space with and without a zero bias peak, indicating topologically distinct phases. These observations are consistent with the Majorana theory in a ballistic system21, and exclude the known alternative explanations that invoke disorder12-16 or a nonuniform chemical potential22,23.

Self-assembled KCu7S4 nanowire monolayers for self-powered near-infrared photodetectors.

PubMed

Wang, You-Yi; Wu, Ya-Dong; Peng, Wei; Song, Yong-Hong; Wang, Bao; Wu, Chun-Yan; Lu, Yang

2018-06-13

Near infrared light (NIR) photodetectors based on one-dimensional semiconductor nanowires have generated considerable interest due to their practical application in versatile fields. We present a facile yet efficient approach to rationally integrating KCu7S4 semiconductor nanowires by the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique. A self-powered near infrared (NIR) light photodetector is fabricated by transferring a close-packed KCu7S4 nanowire monolayer to the surface of a silicon wafer. The as-fabricated Si/KCu7S4 heterojunction with a close-packed and well-aligned nanowire array exhibits splendid photovoltaic performance when illuminated by NIR light, allowing the detection of NIR light without an exterior power supply. The photodetector exhibits a high sensitivity to NIR light (980 nm, 295.3 μW cm-2) with responsivity (R) 15 mA W-1 and detectivity (D*) 2.15 × 1012 cm Hz1/2 W-1. Significantly, the device shows the capability to work under high pulsed light irradiation up to 50 kHz with a high-speed response (response time τr 7.4 μs and recovery time τf 8.6 μs). This facilitates the fabrication of low-cost and high-speed photodetectors and integrated optoelectronic sensor circuitry.

Magnetic and superconducting nanowires.

PubMed

Piraux, L; Encinas, A; Vila, L; Mátéfi-Tempfli, S; Mátéfi-Tempfli, M; Darques, M; Elhoussine, F; Michotte, S

2005-03-01

This article is focused on the use of electrodeposition and of various nanoporous templates for the fabrication of metallic nanowires made from single metals (Ni, Co, Pb, Sn), alloys (NiFe, CoFe, CoPt), and multilayers (Co/Cu, NiFe/Cu). An overview is given of our recent studies performed on both magnetic and superconducting nanowires. Using different approaches entailing measurements on both single wires and arrays, numerous interesting physical properties have been identified in relation to the nanoscopic dimensions of these materials. Finally, various novel applications of the nanowires are also discussed.

Nanowires, nanostructures and devices fabricated therefrom

DOEpatents

Majumdar, Arun; Shakouri, Ali; Sands, Timothy D.; Yang, Peidong; Mao, Samuel S.; Russo, Richard E.; Feick, Henning; Weber, Eicke R.; Kind, Hannes; Huang, Michael; Yan, Haoquan; Wu, Yiying; Fan, Rong

2005-04-19

One-dimensional nanostructures having uniform diameters of less than approximately 200 nm. These inventive nanostructures, which we refer to as "nanowires", include single-crystalline homostructures as well as heterostructures of at least two single-crystalline materials having different chemical compositions. Because single-crystalline materials are used to form the heterostructure, the resultant heterostructure will be single-crystalline as well. The nanowire heterostructures are generally based on a semiconducting wire wherein the doping and composition are controlled in either the longitudinal or radial directions, or in both directions, to yield a wire that comprises different materials. Examples of resulting nanowire heterostructures include a longitudinal heterostructure nanowire (LOHN) and a coaxial heterostructure nanowire (COHN).

Cellular manipulation and patterning using ferromagnetic nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hultgren, Anne

Ferromagnetic nanowires are demonstrated as an effective tool to apply forces to living cells. Both magnetic cell separations and the magnetic patterning of cells on a substrate will be accomplished through the use of cell-nanowire interactions as well as nanowire-magnetic field interactions. When introduced into cultures of NIH-3T3 cells, the nanowires are internalized by cells via the integrin-mediated adhesion pathway without inflicting any toxic effects on the cell cycle over the course of several days. In addition, the length of the nanowires was found to have an effect on the cell-nanowire interactions when the cells were dissociated from the tissue culture dish. To compare the effectiveness of the nanowires as a means of manipulating cells to the current technology which is based on superparamagnetic beads, magnetic cell separations were performed with electrodeposited Ni nanowires 350 nm in diameter and 5--35 mum long in field gradients of 80 T/m. Single-pass separations of NIH-3T3 cells bound to nanowires achieve up to 81% purity with 85% yield, a dramatic improvement over the 55% purity and 20% yield obtained with the beads. The yield for the separations were found to be dependent on the length of the nanowires, and was maximized when the length of the nanowires equaled the diameter of the cells. This dependence was exploited to perform a size-selective magnetic separation. Substrates containing arrays of micro-magnets, fabricated using photolithography, were placed in cell cultures. These micro-magnet arrays create regions of locally strong magnetic field gradients to trap nanowires in specific locations on the substrate. These substrates were used in conjunction with fluid flow and a weak, externally applied magnetic field to create and control patterns of cells bound to nanowires. Controlled isolation of heterogeneous pairs and groups of cells will enable the study of the biochemistry of cell-cell contacts.

Vertically aligned nanowires from boron-doped diamond.

PubMed

Yang, Nianjun; Uetsuka, Hiroshi; Osawa, Eiji; Nebel, Christoph E

2008-11-01

Vertically aligned diamond nanowires with controlled geometrical properties like length and distance between wires were fabricated by use of nanodiamond particles as a hard mask and by use of reactive ion etching. The surface structure, electronic properties, and electrochemical functionalization of diamond nanowires were characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) as well as electrochemical techniques. AFM and STM experiments show that diamond nanowire etched for 10 s have wire-typed structures with 3-10 nm in length and with typically 11 nm spacing in between. The electrode active area of diamond nanowires is enhanced by a factor of 2. The functionalization of nanowire tips with nitrophenyl molecules is characterized by STM on clean and on nitrophenyl molecule-modified diamond nanowires. Tip-modified diamond nanowires are promising with respect to biosensor applications where controlled biomolecule bonding is required to improve chemical stability and sensing significantly.

Nanowire failure: long = brittle and short = ductile.

PubMed

Wu, Zhaoxuan; Zhang, Yong-Wei; Jhon, Mark H; Gao, Huajian; Srolovitz, David J

2012-02-08

Experimental studies of the tensile behavior of metallic nanowires show a wide range of failure modes, ranging from ductile necking to brittle/localized shear failure-often in the same diameter wires. We performed large-scale molecular dynamics simulations of copper nanowires with a range of nanowire lengths and provide unequivocal evidence for a transition in nanowire failure mode with change in nanowire length. Short nanowires fail via a ductile mode with serrated stress-strain curves, while long wires exhibit extreme shear localization and abrupt failure. We developed a simple model for predicting the critical nanowire length for this failure mode transition and showed that it is in excellent agreement with both the simulation results and the extant experimental data. The present results provide a new paradigm for the design of nanoscale mechanical systems that demarcates graceful and catastrophic failure. © 2012 American Chemical Society

Boron carbide nanowires: Synthesis and characterization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guan, Zhe

Bulk boron carbide has been widely used in ballistic armored vest and the property characterization has been heavily focused on mechanical properties. Even though boron carbides have also been projected as a promising class of high temperature thermoelectric materials for energy harvesting, the research has been limited in this field. Since the thermal conductivity of bulk boron carbide is still relatively high, there is a great opportunity to take advantage of the nano effect to further reduce it for better thermoelectric performance. This dissertation work aims to explore whether improved thermoelectric performance can be found in boron carbide nanowires compared with their bulk counterparts. This dissertation work consists of four main parts. (1) Synthesis of boron carbide nanowires. Boron carbide nanowires were synthesized by co-pyrolysis of diborane and methane at low temperatures (with 879 °C as the lowest) in a home-built low pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) system. The CVD-based method is energy efficient and cost effective. The as-synthesized nanowires were characterized by electron microscopy extensively. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results show the nanowires are single crystalline with planar defects. Depending on the geometrical relationship between the preferred growth direction of the nanowire and the orientation of the defects, the as-synthesized nanowires could be further divided into two categories: transverse fault (TF) nanowires grow normal to the defect plane, while axial fault (AF) ones grow within the defect plane. (2) Understanding the growth mechanism of as-synthesized boron carbide nanowires. The growth mechanism can be generally considered as the famous vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. TF and AF nanowires were found to be guided by Ni-B catalysts of two phases. A TF nanowire is lead by a hexagonal phase catalyst, which was proved to be in a liquid state during reaction. While an AF nanowires is catalyzed by a

Ballistic superconductivity in semiconductor nanowires.

PubMed

Zhang, Hao; Gül, Önder; Conesa-Boj, Sonia; Nowak, Michał P; Wimmer, Michael; Zuo, Kun; Mourik, Vincent; de Vries, Folkert K; van Veen, Jasper; de Moor, Michiel W A; Bommer, Jouri D S; van Woerkom, David J; Car, Diana; Plissard, Sébastien R; Bakkers, Erik P A M; Quintero-Pérez, Marina; Cassidy, Maja C; Koelling, Sebastian; Goswami, Srijit; Watanabe, Kenji; Taniguchi, Takashi; Kouwenhoven, Leo P

2017-07-06

Semiconductor nanowires have opened new research avenues in quantum transport owing to their confined geometry and electrostatic tunability. They have offered an exceptional testbed for superconductivity, leading to the realization of hybrid systems combining the macroscopic quantum properties of superconductors with the possibility to control charges down to a single electron. These advances brought semiconductor nanowires to the forefront of efforts to realize topological superconductivity and Majorana modes. A prime challenge to benefit from the topological properties of Majoranas is to reduce the disorder in hybrid nanowire devices. Here we show ballistic superconductivity in InSb semiconductor nanowires. Our structural and chemical analyses demonstrate a high-quality interface between the nanowire and a NbTiN superconductor that enables ballistic transport. This is manifested by a quantized conductance for normal carriers, a strongly enhanced conductance for Andreev-reflecting carriers, and an induced hard gap with a significantly reduced density of states. These results pave the way for disorder-free Majorana devices.

Ballistic superconductivity in semiconductor nanowires

PubMed Central

Zhang, Hao; Gül, Önder; Conesa-Boj, Sonia; Nowak, Michał P.; Wimmer, Michael; Zuo, Kun; Mourik, Vincent; de Vries, Folkert K.; van Veen, Jasper; de Moor, Michiel W. A.; Bommer, Jouri D. S.; van Woerkom, David J.; Car, Diana; Plissard, Sébastien R; Bakkers, Erik P.A.M.; Quintero-Pérez, Marina; Cassidy, Maja C.; Koelling, Sebastian; Goswami, Srijit; Watanabe, Kenji; Taniguchi, Takashi; Kouwenhoven, Leo P.

2017-01-01

Semiconductor nanowires have opened new research avenues in quantum transport owing to their confined geometry and electrostatic tunability. They have offered an exceptional testbed for superconductivity, leading to the realization of hybrid systems combining the macroscopic quantum properties of superconductors with the possibility to control charges down to a single electron. These advances brought semiconductor nanowires to the forefront of efforts to realize topological superconductivity and Majorana modes. A prime challenge to benefit from the topological properties of Majoranas is to reduce the disorder in hybrid nanowire devices. Here we show ballistic superconductivity in InSb semiconductor nanowires. Our structural and chemical analyses demonstrate a high-quality interface between the nanowire and a NbTiN superconductor that enables ballistic transport. This is manifested by a quantized conductance for normal carriers, a strongly enhanced conductance for Andreev-reflecting carriers, and an induced hard gap with a significantly reduced density of states. These results pave the way for disorder-free Majorana devices. PMID:28681843

High performance NO2 sensor using MoS2 nanowires network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, Rahul; Goel, Neeraj; Kumar, Mahesh

2018-01-01

We report on a high-performance NO2 sensor based on a one dimensional MoS2 nanowire (NW) network. The MoS2 NW network was synthesized using chemical transport reaction through controlled turbulent vapor flow. The crystal structure and surface morphology of MoS2 NWs were confirmed by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Further, the sensing behavior of the nanowires was investigated at different temperatures for various concentrations of NO2 and the sensor exhibited about 2-fold enhanced sensitivity with a low detection limit of 4.6 ppb for NO2 at 60 °C compared to sensitivity at room temperature. Moreover, it showed a fast response (16 s) with complete recovery (172 s) at 60 °C, while sensitivity of the device was decreased at 120 °C. The efficient sensing with reliable selectivity toward NO2 of the nanowires is attributed to a combination of abundant active edge sites along with a large surface area and tuning of the potential barrier at the intersections of nanowires during adsorption/desorption of gas molecules.

An ultra-sensitive DeltaR/R measurement system for biochemical sensors using piezoresistive micro-cantilevers.

PubMed

Nag, Sudip; Kale, Nitin S; Rao, V; Sharma, Dinesh K

2009-01-01

Piezoresistive micro-cantilevers are interesting bio-sensing tool whose base resistance value (R) changes by a few parts per million (DeltaR) in deflected conditions. Measuring such a small deviation is always being a challenge due to noise. An advanced and reliable DeltaR/R measurement scheme is presented in this paper which can sense resistance changes down to 6 parts per million. The measurement scheme includes the half-bridge connected micro-cantilevers with mismatch compensation, precision op-amp based filters and amplifiers, and a lock-in amplifier based detector. The input actuating sine wave is applied from a function generator and the output dc voltage is displayed on a digital multimeter. The calibration is performed and instrument sensitivity is calculated. An experimental set-up using a probe station is discussed that demonstrates a combined performance of the measurement system and SU8-polysilicon cantilevers. The deflection sensitivity of such polymeric cantilevers is calculated. The system will be highly useful to detect bio-markers such as myoglobin and troponin that are released in blood during or after heart attacks.

Coupling Molecular Beacons to Barcoded Metal Nanowires for Multiplexed, Sealed Chamber DNA Bioassays

PubMed Central

Stoermer, Rebecca L.; Cederquist, Kristin B.; McFarland, Sean K.; Sha, Michael Y.; Penn, Sharron G.

2010-01-01

We have combined molecular beacon (MB) probes with barcoded metal nanowires to enable no-wash, sealed chamber, multiplexed detection of nucleic acids. Probe design and experimental parameters important in nanowire-based MB assays are discussed. Loop regions of 24 bases and 5 base pair stem regions in the beacon probes gave optimal performance. Our results suggest that thermodynamic predictions for secondary structure stability of solution-phase MB can guide probe design for nanowire-based assays. Dengue virus-specific probes with predicted solution-phase ΔG of folding in 500 mM buffered NaCl of approximately −4 kcal/mol performed better than those with ΔG > −2 or < −6 kcal/mol. Buffered 300–500 mM NaCl was selected after comparison of several buffers previously reported for similar types of assays, and 200–500 mM NaCl was found to be the optimal ionic strength for the hybridization temperatures (25 and 50 °C) and probe designs used here. Target binding to the surface as a function of solution concentration fit a Sips isotherm with Kd = 1.7 ± 0.3 nM. The detection limit was ∼100 pM, limited by incomplete quenching. Single base mismatches could be discriminated from fully complementary targets. Oligonucleotide target sequences specific for human immunodeficiency, hepatitis C, and severe acute respiratory viruses were assayed simultaneously in a no-wash, sealed chamber, multiplexed experiment in which each of three probe sequences was attached to a different pattern of encoded nanowires. Finally, we demonstrated that probe-coated nanowires retain their selectivity and sensitivity in a triplexed assay after storage for over 3 months. PMID:17177440

A compact superconducting nanowire memory element operated by nanowire cryotrons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Qing-Yuan; Toomey, Emily A.; Butters, Brenden A.; McCaughan, Adam N.; Dane, Andrew E.; Nam, Sae-Woo; Berggren, Karl K.

2018-07-01

A superconducting loop stores persistent current without any ohmic loss, making it an ideal platform for energy efficient memories. Conventional superconducting memories use an architecture based on Josephson junctions (JJs) and have demonstrated access times less than 10 ps and power dissipation as low as 10-19 J. However, their scalability has been slow to develop due to the challenges in reducing the dimensions of JJs and minimizing the area of the superconducting loops. In addition to the memory itself, complex readout circuits require additional JJs and inductors for coupling signals, increasing the overall area. Here, we have demonstrated a superconducting memory based solely on lithographic nanowires. The small dimensions of the nanowire ensure that the device can be fabricated in a dense area in multiple layers, while the high kinetic inductance makes the loop essentially independent of geometric inductance, allowing it to be scaled down without sacrificing performance. The memory is operated by a group of nanowire cryotrons patterned alongside the storage loop, enabling us to reduce the entire memory cell to 3 μm × 7 μm in our proof-of-concept device. In this work we present the operation principles of a superconducting nanowire memory (nMem) and characterize its bit error rate, speed, and power dissipation.

Transport properties of Sb doped Si nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nukala, Prathyusha; Sapkota, Gopal; Gali, Pradeep; Usha, Philipose

2011-10-01

n-type Si nanowires were synthesized at ambient pressure using SiCl4 as Si source and Sb source as the dopant. Sb doping of 3-4 wt % was achieved through a post growth diffusion technique. The nanowires were found to have an amorphous oxide shell that developed post-growth; the thickness of the shell is estimated to be about 3-4 nm. The composition of the amorphous shell covering the crystalline Si core was determined by Raman spectroscopy, with evidence that the shell was an amorphous oxide layer. Optical characterization of the as-grown nanowires showed green emission, attributed to the presence of the oxide shell covering the Si nanowire core. Etching of the oxide shell was found to decrease the intensity of this green emission. A single undoped Si nanowire contacted in an FET type configuration was found to be p-type with channel mobility of 20 cm^2V-1S-1. Sb doped Si nanowires exhibited n-type behavior, compensating for the holes in the undoped nanowire. The doped nanowires had carrier mobility and concentration of 160 cm^2V-1S-1 and 9.6 x 10^18cm-3 respectively.

Surfactant-Templated Mesoporous Metal Oxide Nanowires

DOE PAGES

Luo, Hongmei; Lin, Qianglu; Baber, Stacy; ...

2010-01-01

We demore » monstrate two approaches to prepare mesoporous metal oxide nanowires by surfactant assembly and nanoconfinement via sol-gel or electrochemical deposition. For example, mesoporous Ta 2 O 5 and zeolite nanowires are prepared by block copolymer Pluronic 123-templated sol-gel method, and mesoporous ZnO nanowires are prepared by electrodeposition in presence of anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) surfactant, in porous membranes. The morphologies of porous nanowires are studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses.« less

Epitaxy of advanced nanowire quantum devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gazibegovic, Sasa; Car, Diana; Zhang, Hao; Balk, Stijn C.; Logan, John A.; de Moor, Michiel W. A.; Cassidy, Maja C.; Schmits, Rudi; Xu, Di; Wang, Guanzhong; Krogstrup, Peter; Op Het Veld, Roy L. M.; Zuo, Kun; Vos, Yoram; Shen, Jie; Bouman, Daniël; Shojaei, Borzoyeh; Pennachio, Daniel; Lee, Joon Sue; van Veldhoven, Petrus J.; Koelling, Sebastian; Verheijen, Marcel A.; Kouwenhoven, Leo P.; Palmstrøm, Chris J.; Bakkers, Erik P. A. M.

2017-08-01

Semiconductor nanowires are ideal for realizing various low-dimensional quantum devices. In particular, topological phases of matter hosting non-Abelian quasiparticles (such as anyons) can emerge when a semiconductor nanowire with strong spin-orbit coupling is brought into contact with a superconductor. To exploit the potential of non-Abelian anyons—which are key elements of topological quantum computing—fully, they need to be exchanged in a well-controlled braiding operation. Essential hardware for braiding is a network of crystalline nanowires coupled to superconducting islands. Here we demonstrate a technique for generic bottom-up synthesis of complex quantum devices with a special focus on nanowire networks with a predefined number of superconducting islands. Structural analysis confirms the high crystalline quality of the nanowire junctions, as well as an epitaxial superconductor-semiconductor interface. Quantum transport measurements of nanowire ‘hashtags’ reveal Aharonov-Bohm and weak-antilocalization effects, indicating a phase-coherent system with strong spin-orbit coupling. In addition, a proximity-induced hard superconducting gap (with vanishing sub-gap conductance) is demonstrated in these hybrid superconductor-semiconductor nanowires, highlighting the successful materials development necessary for a first braiding experiment. Our approach opens up new avenues for the realization of epitaxial three-dimensional quantum architectures which have the potential to become key components of various quantum devices.

Electrically Conductive and Optically Active Porous Silicon Nanowires

PubMed Central

Qu, Yongquan; Liao, Lei; Li, Yujing; Zhang, Hua; Huang, Yu; Duan, Xiangfeng

2009-01-01

We report the synthesis of vertical silicon nanowire array through a two-step metal-assisted chemical etching of highly doped n-type silicon (100) wafers in a solution of hydrofluoric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The morphology of the as-grown silicon nanowires is tunable from solid nonporous nanowires, nonporous/nanoporous core/shell nanowires, and entirely nanoporous nanowires by controlling the hydrogen peroxide concentration in the etching solution. The porous silicon nanowires retain the single crystalline structure and crystallographic orientation of the starting silicon wafer, and are electrically conductive and optically active with visible photoluminescence. The combination of electronic and optical properties in the porous silicon nanowires may provide a platform for the novel optoelectronic devices for energy harvesting, conversion and biosensing. PMID:19807130

Thermoporometry characterization of silica microparticles and nanowires.

PubMed

Wu, Jiaxin; Zheng, Han; Cheng, He; Zhou, L; Leong, K C; Rajagopalan, R; Too, H P; Choi, W K

2014-03-04

We present the results of a systematic study on the porosity of silica microparticles and nanowires prepared by glancing angle deposition-metal-assisted chemical etching (GLAD-MACE) and interference lithography-metal-assisted chemical etching (IL-MACE) techniques using the thermoporometry (TPM) method. Good agreement was obtained between our TPM results and published data provided by the suppliers of silica microparticles. TPM characterization of the GLAD-MACE and IL-MACE nanowires was carried out on the basis of parameters obtained from TPM experiments on microparticles. Our nanowires showed a similar trend but lower values of the pore volume and surface area than nanowires prepared by MACE with AgNO3 solution. We attribute the enhanced bioanalysis performance of the GLAD-MACE nanowires based devices to the increased pore volume and total surface area of the nanowires.

Metal-dielectric-CNT nanowires for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

DOEpatents

Bond, Tiziana C.; Altun, Ali; Park, Hyung Gyu

2017-10-03

A sensor with a substrate includes nanowires extending vertically from the substrate, a hafnia coating on the nanowires that provides hafnia coated nanowires, and a noble metal coating on the hafnia coated nanowires. The top of the hafnia and noble metal coated nanowires bent onto one another to create a canopy forest structure. There are numerous randomly arranged holes that let through scattered light. The many points of contact, hot spots, amplify signals. The methods include the steps of providing a Raman spectroscopy substrate, introducing nano crystals to the Raman spectroscopy substrate, growing a forest of nanowires from the nano crystals on the Raman spectroscopy substrate, coating the nanowires with hafnia providing hafnia coated nanowires, and coating the hafnia coated nanowires with a noble metal or other metal.

A closed-loop system for frequency tracking of piezoresistive cantilever sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wasisto, Hutomo Suryo; Zhang, Qing; Merzsch, Stephan; Waag, Andreas; Peiner, Erwin

2013-05-01

A closed loop circuit capable of tracking resonant frequencies for MEMS-based piezoresistive cantilever resonators is developed in this work. The proposed closed-loop system is mainly based on a phase locked loop (PLL) circuit. In order to lock onto the resonant frequency of the resonator, an actuation signal generated from a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) is locked to the phase of the input reference signal of the cantilever sensor. In addition to the PLL component, an instrumentation amplifier and an active low pass filter (LPF) are connected to the system for gaining the amplitude and reducing the noise of the cantilever output signals. The LPF can transform a rectangular signal into a sinusoidal signal with voltage amplitudes ranging from 5 to 10 V which are sufficient for a piezoactuator input (i.e., maintaining a large output signal of the cantilever sensor). To demonstrate the functionality of the system, a self-sensing silicon cantilever resonator with a built-in piezoresistive Wheatstone bridge is fabricated and integrated with the circuit. A piezoactuator is utilized for actuating the cantilever into resonance. Implementation of this closed loop system is used to track the resonant frequency of a silicon cantilever-based sensor resonating at 9.4 kHz under a cross-sensitivity test of ambient temperature. The changes of the resonant frequency are interpreted using a frequency counter connected to the system. From the experimental results, the temperature sensitivity and coefficient of the employed sensor are 0.3 Hz/°C and 32.8 ppm/°C, respectively. The frequency stability of the system can reach up to 0.08 Hz. The development of this system will enable real-time nanoparticle monitoring systems and provide a miniaturization of the instrumentation modules for cantilever-based nanoparticle detectors.

Raman Antenna Effect in Semiconducting Nanowires.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Gugang; Xiong, Qihua; Eklund, Peter

2007-03-01

A novel Raman antenna effect has been observed in Raman scattering experiments recently carried out on individual GaP nanowires [1]. The Raman antenna effect is perfectly general and should appear in all semiconducting nanowires. It is characterized by an anomalous increase in the Raman cross section for scattering from LO or TO phonons when the electric field of the incident laser beam is parallel to the nanowire axis. We demonstrate that the explanation for the effect lies in the polarization dependence of the Mie scattering from the nanowire and the concomitant polarization-dependent electric field set up inside the wire. Our analysis involves calculations of the internal electric field using the discrete dipole approximation (DDA). We find that the Raman antenna effect happens only for nanowire diameters d<λ/4, where λ is the excitation laser wavelength. Our calculations are found in good agreement with recent experimental results for scattering from individual GaP nanowires. [1] Q. Xiong, G. Chen, G. D. Mahan, P. C. Eklund, in preparation, 2006.

Electrical conductivity measurements of bacterial nanowires from Pseudomonas aeruginosa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maruthupandy, Muthusamy; Anand, Muthusamy; Maduraiveeran, Govindhan; Sait Hameedha Beevi, Akbar; Jeeva Priya, Radhakrishnan

2015-12-01

The extracellular appendages of bacteria (flagella) that transfer electrons to electrodes are called bacterial nanowires. This study focuses on the isolation and separation of nanowires that are attached via Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial culture. The size and roughness of separated nanowires were measured using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. The obtained bacterial nanowires indicated a clear image of bacterial nanowires measuring 16 nm in diameter. The formation of bacterial nanowires was confirmed by microscopic studies (AFM and TEM) and the conductivity nature of bacterial nanowire was investigated by electrochemical techniques. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), which are nondestructive voltammetry techniques, suggest that bacterial nanowires could be the source of electrons—which may be used in various applications, for example, microbial fuel cells, biosensors, organic solar cells, and bioelectronic devices. Routine analysis of electron transfer between bacterial nanowires and the electrode was performed, providing insight into the extracellular electron transfer (EET) to the electrode. CV revealed the catalytic electron transferability of bacterial nanowires and electrodes and showed excellent redox activities. CV and EIS studies showed that bacterial nanowires can charge the surface by producing and storing sufficient electrons, behave as a capacitor, and have features consistent with EET. Finally, electrochemical studies confirmed the development of bacterial nanowires with EET. This study suggests that bacterial nanowires can be used to fabricate biomolecular sensors and nanoelectronic devices.

Silicon Nanowire Field Effect Transistor Sensors with Minimal Sensor to Sensor Variations and Enhanced Sensing Characteristics.

PubMed

Zafar, Sufi; D'Emic, Christopher; Jagtiani, Ashish; Kratschmer, Ernst; Miao, Xin; Zhu, Yu; Mo, Renee; Sosa, Norma; Hamann, Hendrik F; Shahidi, Ghavam; Riel, Heike

2018-06-22

Silicon nanowire field effect transistor (FET) sensors have demonstrated their ability for rapid and label free detection of proteins, nucleotide sequences, and viruses at ultralow concentrations with the potential to be a transformative diagnostic technology. Their nanoscale size gives them their unique ultralow detection ability but also makes their fabrication challenging with large sensor to sensor variations, thus limiting their commercial applications. In this work, a combined approach of nanofabrication, device simulation, materials and electrical characterization is applied towards identifying and improving fabrication steps that induce sensor to sensor variations. An enhanced complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible process for fabricating silicon nanowire FET sensors is demonstrated. Nanowire (30 nm width) FETs with aqueous solution as gates are shown to have the Nernst limit sub-threshold swing SS = 60 mV/decade with ~1.7% variations, whereas literature values for SS are ≥ 80 mV/decade with larger (>10 times) variations. Also, their threshold voltage variations are significantly (~3 times) reduced, compared to literature values. Furthermore, these improved FETs have significantly reduced drain current hysteresis (~0.6 mV) and enhanced on-current to off-current ratios (~10 6 ). These improvements resulted in nanowire FET sensors with lowest (~3%) reported sensor to sensor variations, compared to literature studies. Also, these improved nanowire sensors have the highest reported sensitivity and enhanced signal to noise ratio with the lowest reported defect density of 1x10 18 eV -1 cm -3 in comparison to literature data. In summary, this work brings the nanowire sensor technology a step closer to commercial products for early diagnosis and monitoring of diseases.

Microfiber-coupled superconducting nanowire single-photon detector for near-infrared wavelengths.

PubMed

You, Lixing; Wu, Junjie; Xu, Yingxin; Hou, Xintong; Fang, Wei; Li, Hao; Zhang, Weijun; Zhang, Lu; Liu, Xiaoyu; Tong, Limin; Wang, Zhen; Xie, Xiaoming

2017-12-11

High-performance superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) have facilitated numerous experiments and applications, particularly in the fields of modern quantum optics and quantum communication. Two kinds of optical coupling methods have thus far been developed for SNSPDs: one produces standard fiber-coupled SNSPDs in which the fibers vertically illuminate the meandered nanowires; the other produces waveguide-coupled SNSPDs in which nanowires are fabricated on the surface of a waveguide that guides photons, and the fibers are coupled to the waveguide. In this paper, we report on first experimental demonstration of a new type of SNSPD that is coupled with a microfiber (MF). Photons are guided by the MF and are evanescently absorbed by the nanowires of the SNSPD when the MF is placed on top of superconducting NbN nanowires. Room-temperature optical experiments indicated that this device has a coupling efficiency of up to 90% when a 1.3 μm-diameter MF is used for light with wavelength of 1550 nm. We were also able to demonstrate that our MF-coupled detector achieved system detection efficiencies of 50% and 20% at incident wavelengths of 1064 and 1550 nm, respectively, for a 2 μm-diameter MF at 2.2K. We expect that MF-coupled SNSPDs may show both high efficiency and broadband characteristics upon optimization and will be used for various novel applications, such as micro/nano-fiber optics.

Fabrication and Gas-Sensing Properties of Ni-Silicide/Si Nanowires.

PubMed

Hsu, Hsun-Feng; Chen, Chun-An; Liu, Shang-Wu; Tang, Chun-Kai

2017-12-01

Ni-silicide/Si nanowires were fabricated by atomic force microscope nano-oxidation on silicon-on-insulator substrates, selective wet etching, and reactive deposition epitaxy. Ni-silicide nanocrystal-modified Si nanowire and Ni-silicide/Si heterostructure multi-stacked nanowire were formed by low- and high-coverage depositions of Ni, respectively. The Ni-silicide/Si Schottky junction and Ni-silicide region were attributed high- and low-resistance parts of nanowire, respectively, causing the resistance of the Ni-silicide nanocrystal-modified Si nanowire and the Ni-silicide/Si heterostructure multi-stacked nanowire to be a little higher and much lower than that of Si nanowire. An O 2 sensing device was formed from a nanowire that was mounted on Pt electrodes. When the nanowires exposed to O 2 , the increase in current in the Ni-silicide/Si heterostructure multi-stacked nanowire was much larger than that in the other nanowires. The Ni-silicide nanocrystal-modified Si nanowire device had the highest sensitivity. The phenomenon can be explained by the formation of a Schottky junction at the Ni-silicide/Si interface in these two types of Ni-Silicide/Si nanowire and the formation of a hole channel at the silicon nanowire/native oxide interface after exposing the nanowires to O 2 .

Nondestructive Complete Mechanical Characterization of Zinc Blende and Wurtzite GaAs Nanowires Using Time-Resolved Pump-Probe Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Mante, Pierre-Adrien; Lehmann, Sebastian; Anttu, Nicklas; Dick, Kimberly A; Yartsev, Arkady

2016-08-10

We have developed and demonstrated an experimental method, based on the picosecond acoustics technique, to perform nondestructive complete mechanical characterization of nanowires, that is, the determination of the complete elasticity tensor. By means of femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy, coherent acoustic phonons were generated in an ensemble of nanowires and their dynamics was resolved. Specific phonon modes were identified and the detection mechanism was addressed via wavelength dependent experiments. We calculated the exact phonon dispersion relation of the nanowires by fitting the experimentally observed frequencies, thus allowing the extraction of the complete elasticity tensor. The elasticity tensor and the nanowire diameter were determined for zinc blende GaAs nanowires and were found to be in a good agreement with literature data and independent measurements. Finally, we have applied this technique to characterize wurtzite GaAs nanowires, a metastable phase in bulk, for which no experimental values of elastic constants are currently available. Our results agree well with previous first principle calculations. The proposed approach to the complete and nondestructive mechanical characterization of nanowires will allow the efficient mechanical study of new crystal phases emerging in nanostructures, as well as size-dependent properties of nanostructured materials.

High-Switching-Ratio Photodetectors Based on Perovskite CH₃NH₃PbI₃ Nanowires.

PubMed

Zhang, Xin; Liu, Caichi; Ren, Gang; Li, Shiyun; Bi, Chenghao; Hao, Qiuyan; Liu, Hui

2018-05-10

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite materials have attracted extensive attention due to their impressive performance in photovoltaic devices. One-dimensional perovskite CH₃NH₃PbI₃ nanomaterials, possessing unique structural features such as large surface-to-volume ratio, anisotropic geometry and quantum confinement, may have excellent optoelectronic properties, which could be utilized to fabricate high-performance photodetectors. However, in comparison to CH₃NH₃PbI₃ thin films, reports on the fabrication of CH₃NH₃PbI₃ nanowires for optoelectrical application are rather limited. Herein, a two-step spin-coating process has been utilized to fabricate pure-phase and single-crystalline CH₃NH₃PbI₃ nanowires on a substrate without mesoporous TiO₂ or Al₂O₃. The size and density of CH₃NH₃PbI₃ nanowires can be easily controlled by changing the PbI₂ precursor concentration. The as-prepared CH₃NH₃PbI₃ nanowires are utilized to fabricate photodetectors, which exhibit a fairly high switching ratio of ~600, a responsivity of 55 mA/W, and a normalized detectivity of 0.5 × 10 11 jones under 532 nm light illumination (40 mW/cm²) at a very low bias voltage of 0.1 V. The as-prepared perovskite CH₃NH₃PbI₃ nanowires with excellent optoelectronic properties are regarded to be a potential candidate for high-performance photodetector application.

Diluted magnetic semiconductor nanowires exhibiting magnetoresistance

DOEpatents

Yang, Peidong [El Cerrito, CA; Choi, Heonjin [Seoul, KR; Lee, Sangkwon [Daejeon, KR; He, Rongrui [Albany, CA; Zhang, Yanfeng [El Cerrito, CA; Kuykendal, Tevye [Berkeley, CA; Pauzauskie, Peter [Berkeley, CA

2011-08-23

A method for is disclosed for fabricating diluted magnetic semiconductor (DMS) nanowires by providing a catalyst-coated substrate and subjecting at least a portion of the substrate to a semiconductor, and dopant via chloride-based vapor transport to synthesize the nanowires. Using this novel chloride-based chemical vapor transport process, single crystalline diluted magnetic semiconductor nanowires Ga.sub.1-xMn.sub.xN (x=0.07) were synthesized. The nanowires, which have diameters of .about.10 nm to 100 nm and lengths of up to tens of micrometers, show ferromagnetism with Curie temperature above room temperature, and magnetoresistance up to 250 Kelvin.

Bandgap engineering of GaN nanowires

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ming, Bang-Ming; Yan, Hui; Wang, Ru-Zhi, E-mail: wrz@bjut.edu.cn, E-mail: yamcy@csrc.ac.cn

2016-05-15

Bandgap engineering has been a powerful technique for manipulating the electronic and optical properties of semiconductors. In this work, a systematic investigation of the electronic properties of [0001] GaN nanowires was carried out using the density functional based tight-binding method (DFTB). We studied the effects of geometric structure and uniaxial strain on the electronic properties of GaN nanowires with diameters ranging from 0.8 to 10 nm. Our results show that the band gap of GaN nanowires depends linearly on both the surface to volume ratio (S/V) and tensile strain. The band gap of GaN nanowires increases linearly with S/V, whilemore » it decreases linearly with increasing tensile strain. These linear relationships provide an effect way in designing GaN nanowires for their applications in novel nano-devices.« less

Segmented nanowires displaying locally controllable properties

DOEpatents

Sutter, Eli Anguelova; Sutter, Peter Werner

2013-03-05

Vapor-liquid-solid growth of nanowires is tailored to achieve complex one-dimensional material geometries using phase diagrams determined for nanoscale materials. Segmented one-dimensional nanowires having constant composition display locally variable electronic band structures that are determined by the diameter of the nanowires. The unique electrical and optical properties of the segmented nanowires are exploited to form electronic and optoelectronic devices. Using gold-germanium as a model system, in situ transmission electron microscopy establishes, for nanometer-sized Au--Ge alloy drops at the tips of Ge nanowires (NWs), the parts of the phase diagram that determine their temperature-dependent equilibrium composition. The nanoscale phase diagram is then used to determine the exchange of material between the NW and the drop. The phase diagram for the nanoscale drop deviates significantly from that of the bulk alloy.

Piezoresistive cantilever force-clamp system

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Park, Sung-Jin; Petzold, Bryan C.; Pruitt, Beth L.

2011-04-15

We present a microelectromechanical device-based tool, namely, a force-clamp system that sets or ''clamps'' the scaled force and can apply designed loading profiles (e.g., constant, sinusoidal) of a desired magnitude. The system implements a piezoresistive cantilever as a force sensor and the built-in capacitive sensor of a piezoelectric actuator as a displacement sensor, such that sample indentation depth can be directly calculated from the force and displacement signals. A programmable real-time controller operating at 100 kHz feedback calculates the driving voltage of the actuator. The system has two distinct modes: a force-clamp mode that controls the force applied to amore » sample and a displacement-clamp mode that controls the moving distance of the actuator. We demonstrate that the system has a large dynamic range (sub-nN up to tens of {mu}N force and nm up to tens of {mu}m displacement) in both air and water, and excellent dynamic response (fast response time, <2 ms and large bandwidth, 1 Hz up to 1 kHz). In addition, the system has been specifically designed to be integrated with other instruments such as a microscope with patch-clamp electronics. We demonstrate the capabilities of the system by using it to calibrate the stiffness and sensitivity of an electrostatic actuator and to measure the mechanics of a living, freely moving Caenorhabditis elegans nematode.« less

Piezoresistive cantilever force-clamp system

PubMed Central

Park, Sung-Jin; Petzold, Bryan C.; Goodman, Miriam B.; Pruitt, Beth L.

2011-01-01

We present a microelectromechanical device-based tool, namely, a force-clamp system that sets or “clamps” the scaled force and can apply designed loading profiles (e.g., constant, sinusoidal) of a desired magnitude. The system implements a piezoresistive cantilever as a force sensor and the built-in capacitive sensor of a piezoelectric actuator as a displacement sensor, such that sample indentation depth can be directly calculated from the force and displacement signals. A programmable real-time controller operating at 100 kHz feedback calculates the driving voltage of the actuator. The system has two distinct modes: a force-clamp mode that controls the force applied to a sample and a displacement-clamp mode that controls the moving distance of the actuator. We demonstrate that the system has a large dynamic range (sub-nN up to tens of μN force and nm up to tens of μm displacement) in both air and water, and excellent dynamic response (fast response time, <2 ms and large bandwidth, 1 Hz up to 1 kHz). In addition, the system has been specifically designed to be integrated with other instruments such as a microscope with patch-clamp electronics. We demonstrate the capabilities of the system by using it to calibrate the stiffness and sensitivity of an electrostatic actuator and to measure the mechanics of a living, freely moving Caenorhabditis elegans nematode. PMID:21529009

All-carbon suspended nanowire sensors as a rapid highly-sensitive label-free chemiresistive biosensing platform.

PubMed

Thiha, Aung; Ibrahim, Fatimah; Muniandy, Shalini; Dinshaw, Ignatius Julian; Teh, Swe Jyan; Thong, Kwai Lin; Leo, Bey Fen; Madou, Marc

2018-06-01

Nanowire sensors offer great potential as highly sensitive electrochemical and electronic biosensors because of their small size, high aspect ratios, and electronic properties. Nevertheless, the available methods to fabricate carbon nanowires in a controlled manner remain limited to expensive techniques. This paper presents a simple fabrication technique for sub-100 nm suspended carbon nanowire sensors by integrating electrospinning and photolithography techniques. Carbon Microelectromechanical Systems (C-MEMS) fabrication techniques allow fabrication of high aspect ratio carbon structures by patterning photoresist polymers into desired shapes and subsequent carbonization of resultant structures by pyrolysis. In our sensor platform, suspended nanowires were deposited by electrospinning while photolithography was used to fabricate support structures. We have achieved suspended carbon nanowires with sub-100 nm diameters in this study. The sensor platform was then integrated with a microfluidic chip to form a lab-on-chip device for label-free chemiresistive biosensing. We have investigated this nanoelectronics label-free biosensor's performance towards bacterial sensing by functionalization with Salmonella-specific aptamer probes. The device was tested with varying concentrations of Salmonella Typhimurium to evaluate sensitivity and various other bacteria to investigate specificity. The results showed that the sensor is highly specific and sensitive in detection of Salmonella with a detection limit of 10 CFU mL -1 . Moreover, this proposed chemiresistive assay has a reduced turnaround time of 5 min and sample volume requirement of 5 µL which are much less than reported in the literature. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tunable Nanowire Patterning Using Standing Surface Acoustic Waves

PubMed Central

Chen, Yuchao; Ding, Xiaoyun; Lin, Sz-Chin Steven; Yang, Shikuan; Huang, Po-Hsun; Nama, Nitesh; Zhao, Yanhui; Nawaz, Ahmad Ahsan; Guo, Feng; Wang, Wei; Gu, Yeyi; Mallouk, Thomas E.; Huang, Tony Jun

2014-01-01

Patterning of nanowires in a controllable, tunable manner is important for the fabrication of functional nanodevices. Here we present a simple approach for tunable nanowire patterning using standing surface acoustic waves (SSAW). This technique allows for the construction of large-scale nanowire arrays with well-controlled patterning geometry and spacing within 5 seconds. In this approach, SSAWs were generated by interdigital transducers (IDTs), which induced a periodic alternating current (AC) electric field on the piezoelectric substrate and consequently patterned metallic nanowires in suspension. The patterns could be deposited onto the substrate after the liquid evaporated. By controlling the distribution of the SSAW field, metallic nanowires were assembled into different patterns including parallel and perpendicular arrays. The spacing of the nanowire arrays could be tuned by controlling the frequency of the surface acoustic waves. Additionally, we observed 3D spark-shape nanowire patterns in the SSAW field. The SSAW-based nanowire-patterning technique presented here possesses several advantages over alternative patterning approaches, including high versatility, tunability, and efficiency, making it promising for device applications. PMID:23540330

Study of spin dynamics and damping on the magnetic nanowire arrays with various nanowire widths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Jaehun; Fujii, Yuya; Konioshi, Katsunori; Yoon, Jungbum; Kim, Nam-Hui; Jung, Jinyong; Miwa, Shinji; Jung, Myung-Hwa; Suzuki, Yoshishige; You, Chun-Yeol

2016-07-01

We investigate the spin dynamics including Gilbert damping in the ferromagnetic nanowire arrays. We have measured the ferromagnetic resonance of ferromagnetic nanowire arrays using vector-network analyzer ferromagnetic resonance (VNA-FMR) and analyzed the results with the micromagnetic simulations. We find excellent agreement between the experimental VNA-FMR spectra and micromagnetic simulations result for various applied magnetic fields. We find that the same tendency of the demagnetization factor for longitudinal and transverse conditions, Nz (Ny) increases (decreases) as increasing the nanowire width in the micromagnetic simulations while Nx is almost zero value in transverse case. We also find that the Gilbert damping constant increases from 0.018 to 0.051 as the increasing nanowire width for the transverse case, while it is almost constant as 0.021 for the longitudinal case.

Magnetic nanorings and manipulation of nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chien, C. L.

2006-03-01

The properties of nanoscale entities, such as nanorings and nanowires, and the response of such entities to external fields are dictated by their geometrical shapes and sizes, which can be manipulated by fabrication. We have developed a method for fabricating a large number of nanorings (10^10) of different sizes in the range of 100 nm and ring cross sections. During magnetic reversal, both the vortex state and the rotating onion state appear with different proportions, which depend on the ring diameter, ring cross section, and the profile of the ring cross section. In the case of nanowires in suspension, the large aspect ratio of the nanowires can be exploited for manipulation despite extremely small Reynolds numbers of 10-5. Using AC electric field applied to microelectrodes, both magnetic and non-magnetic nanowires can be efficiently assembled into desired patterns. We also demonstrate rotation of nanowires with precisely controlled rotation speed and chirality, as well as an electrically driven nanowire micromotor a few in size. In collaboration with F. Q. Zhu, D. L. Fan, O. Tchernyshyov, R. C. Cammarata (Johns Hopkins University) and X. C. Zhu and J. G. Zhu (Carnegie-Mellon University).

Sensors and devices containing ultra-small nanowire arrays

DOEpatents

Xiao, Zhili

2014-09-23

A network of nanowires may be used for a sensor. The nanowires are metallic, each nanowire has a thickness of at most 20 nm, and each nanowire has a width of at most 20 nm. The sensor may include nanowires comprising Pd, and the sensor may sense a change in hydrogen concentration from 0 to 100%. A device may include the hydrogen sensor, such as a vehicle, a fuel cell, a hydrogen storage tank, a facility for manufacturing steel, or a facility for refining petroleum products.

Sensors and devices containing ultra-small nanowire arrays

DOEpatents

Xiao, Zhili

2017-04-11

A network of nanowires may be used for a sensor. The nanowires are metallic, each nanowire has a thickness of at most 20 nm, and each nanowire has a width of at most 20 nm. The sensor may include nanowires comprising Pd, and the sensor may sense a change in hydrogen concentration from 0 to 100%. A device may include the hydrogen sensor, such as a vehicle, a fuel cell, a hydrogen storage tank, a facility for manufacturing steel, or a facility for refining petroleum products.

Signal-on electrochemical assay for label-free detection of TdT and BamHI activity based on grown DNA nanowire-templated copper nanoclusters.

PubMed

Hu, Yufang; Zhang, Qingqing; Xu, Lihua; Wang, Jiao; Rao, Jiajia; Guo, Zhiyong; Wang, Sui

2017-11-01

Electrochemical methods allow fast and inexpensive analysis of enzymatic activity. Here, a simple and yet efficient "signal-on" electrochemical assay for sensitive, label-free detection of DNA-related enzyme activity was established on the basis of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated extension strategy. TdT, which is a template-independent DNA polymerase, can catalyze the sequential addition of deoxythymidine triphosphate (dTTP) at the 3'-OH terminus of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA); then, the TdT-yield T-rich DNA nanowires can be employed as the synthetic template of copper nanoclusters (CuNCs). Grown DNA nanowires-templated CuNCs (noted as DNA-CuNCs) were attached onto graphene oxide (GO) surface and exhibited unique electrocatalytic activity to H 2 O 2 reduction. Under optimal conditions, the proposed biosensor was utilized for quantitatively monitoring TdT activity, with the observed LOD of 0.1 U/mL. It also displayed high selectivity to TdT with excellent stability, and offered a facile, convenient electrochemical method for TdT-relevant inhibitors screening. Moreover, the proposed sensor was successfully used for BamHI activity detection, in which a new 3'-OH terminal was exposed by the digestion of a phosphate group. Ultimately, it has good prospects in DNA-related enzyme-based biochemical studies, disease diagnosis, and drug discovery. Graphical Abstract Extraordinary TdT-generated DNA-CuNCs are synthesized and act as a novel electrochemical sensing platform for sensitive detection of TdT and BamHI activity in biological environments.

A Real-Time Thermal Self-Elimination Method for Static Mode Operated Freestanding Piezoresistive Microcantilever-Based Biosensors.

PubMed

Ku, Yu-Fu; Huang, Long-Sun; Yen, Yi-Kuang

2018-02-28

Here, we provide a method and apparatus for real-time compensation of the thermal effect of single free-standing piezoresistive microcantilever-based biosensors. The sensor chip contained an on-chip fixed piezoresistor that served as a temperature sensor, and a multilayer microcantilever with an embedded piezoresistor served as a biomolecular sensor. This method employed the calibrated relationship between the resistance and the temperature of piezoresistors to eliminate the thermal effect on the sensor, including the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and bimorph effect. From experimental results, the method was verified to reduce the signal of thermal effect from 25.6 μV/°C to 0.3 μV/°C, which was approximately two orders of magnitude less than that before the processing of the thermal elimination method. Furthermore, the proposed approach and system successfully demonstrated its effective real-time thermal self-elimination on biomolecular detection without any thermostat device to control the environmental temperature. This method realizes the miniaturization of an overall measurement system of the sensor, which can be used to develop portable medical devices and microarray analysis platforms.

Optically controllable nanobreaking of metallic nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Lina; Lu, Jinsheng; Yang, Hangbo; Luo, Si; Wang, Wei; Lv, Jun; Qiu, Min; Li, Qiang

2017-02-01

Nanobreaking of nanowires has shown its necessity for manufacturing integrated nanodevices as nanojoining does. In this letter, we develop a method for breaking gold pentagonal nanowires by taking advantage of the photothermal effect with a 532 nm continuous-wave (CW) laser. The critical power required for nanobreaking is much lower for perpendicular polarization than that for parallel polarization. By controlling the polarization and the power of the irradiation light for nanobreaking, the nanowires can be cut into segments with gap widths ranging from dozens of nanometers to several micrometers. This CW light-induced single point nanobreaking of metallic nanowires provides a highly useful and promising method in constructing nanosystems.

A ZnO nanowire resistive switch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karthik, K. R. G.; Ramanujam Prabhakar, Rajiv; Hai, L.; Batabyal, Sudip K.; Huang, Y. Z.; Mhaisalkar, S. G.

2013-09-01

An individual ZnO nanowire resistive switch is evaluated with Pt/ZnO nanowire/Pt topology. A detailed DC I-V curve analysis is performed to bring both the conduction mechanism and the device characteristics to light. The device is further studied at various vacuum pressures to ascertain the presence of polar charges in ZnO nanowires as the phenomenon leading to the formation of the switch. The disappearance of the resistive switching is also analyzed with two kinds of fabrication approaches Focused Ion/Electron Beam involved in the making the device and a summary of both length and fabrication dependences of resistive switching in the ZnO nanowire is presented.

Far field emission profile of pure wurtzite InP nanowires

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bulgarini, Gabriele, E-mail: g.bulgarini@tudelft.nl; Reimer, Michael E.; Zwiller, Val

2014-11-10

We report on the far field emission profile of pure wurtzite InP nanowires in comparison to InP nanowires with predominantly zincblende crystal structure. The emission profile is measured on individual nanowires using Fourier microscopy. The most intense photoluminescence of wurtzite nanowires is collected at small angles with respect to the nanowire growth axis. In contrast, zincblende nanowires present a minimum of the collected light intensity in the direction of the nanowire growth. Results are explained by the orientation of electric dipoles responsible for the photoluminescence, which is different from wurtzite to zincblende. Wurtzite nanowires have dipoles oriented perpendicular to themore » nanowire growth direction, whereas zincblende nanowires have dipoles oriented along the nanowire axis. This interpretation is confirmed by both numerical simulations and polarization dependent photoluminescence spectroscopy. Knowledge of the dipole orientation in nanostructures is crucial for developing a wide range of photonic devices such as light-emitting diodes, photodetectors, and solar cells.« less

SbSI Nanosensors: from Gel to Single Nanowire Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mistewicz, Krystian; Nowak, Marian; Paszkiewicz, Regina; Guiseppi-Elie, Anthony

2017-02-01

The gas-sensing properties of antimony sulfoiodide (SbSI) nanosensors have been tested for humidity and carbon dioxide in nitrogen. The presented low-power SbSI nanosensors have operated at relatively low temperature and have not required heating system for recovery. Functionality of sonochemically prepared SbSI nanosensors made of xerogel as well as single nanowires has been compared. In the latter case, small amount of SbSI nanowires has been aligned in electric field and bonded ultrasonically to Au microelectrodes. The current and photocurrent responses of SbSI nanosensors have been investigated as function of relative humidity. Mechanism of light-induced desorption of H2O from SbSI nanowires' surface has been discussed. SbSI nanosensors have been tested for concentrations from 51 to 106 ppm of CO2 in N2, exhibiting a low detection limit of 40(31) ppm. The current response sensitivity has shown a tendency to decrease with increasing CO2 concentration. The experimental results have been explained taking into account proton-transfer process and Grotthuss' chain reaction, as well as electronic theory of adsorption and catalysis on semiconductors.

Evaluation of magnetic flux distribution from magnetic domains in [Co/Pd] nanowires by magnetic domain scope method using contact-scanning of tunneling magnetoresistive sensor

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Okuda, Mitsunobu, E-mail: okuda.m-ky@nhk.or.jp; Miyamoto, Yasuyoshi; Miyashita, Eiichi

2014-05-07

Current-driven magnetic domain wall motions in magnetic nanowires have attracted great interests for physical studies and engineering applications. The magnetic force microscope (MFM) is widely used for indirect verification of domain locations in nanowires, where relative magnetic force between the local domains and the MFM probe is used for detection. However, there is an occasional problem that the magnetic moments of MFM probe influenced and/or rotated the magnetic states in the low-moment nanowires. To solve this issue, the “magnetic domain scope for wide area with nano-order resolution (nano-MDS)” method has been proposed recently that could detect the magnetic flux distributionmore » from the specimen directly by scanning of tunneling magnetoresistive field sensor. In this study, magnetic domain structure in nanowires was investigated by both MFM and nano-MDS, and the leakage magnetic flux density from the nanowires was measured quantitatively by nano-MDS. Specimen nanowires consisted from [Co (0.3)/Pd (1.2)]{sub 21}/Ru(3) films (units in nm) with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy were fabricated onto Si substrates by dual ion beam sputtering and e-beam lithography. The length and the width of the fabricated nanowires are 20 μm and 150 nm. We have succeeded to obtain not only the remanent domain images with the detection of up and down magnetizations as similar as those by MFM but also magnetic flux density distribution from nanowires directly by nano-MDS. The obtained value of maximum leakage magnetic flux by nano-MDS is in good agreement with that of coercivity by magneto-optical Kerr effect microscopy. By changing the protective diamond-like-carbon film thickness on tunneling magnetoresistive sensor, the three-dimensional spatial distribution of leakage magnetic flux could be evaluated.« less

A kinetic formulation of piezoresistance in N-type silicon: Application to non-linear effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Charbonnieras, A. R.; Tellier, C. R.

1999-07-01

This paper is devoted to the theoretical study of the influence of the temperature and of the doping on the piezoresistance of N-type silicon. In the first step the fractional change in the resistivity caused by stresses is calculated in the framework of a multivalley model using a kinetic transport formulation based on the Boltzmann transport equation. In the second step shifts in the minima of the conduction band and the resulting shift of the Fermi level are expressed in terms of deformation potentials and of stresses. General expressions for the fundamental linear, π_{11} and π_{12}, and non-linear, π_{111}, π_{112}, π_{122} and π_{123}, piezoresistance coefficients are then derived. Plots of the non-linear piezoresistance coefficients against the reduced shift of the Fermi level or against temperature allow us to characterize the influence of doping and temperature. Finally some attempts are made to estimate the non-linearity for heavily doped semiconductor gauges. Cette publication est consacrée à l'étude théorique de l'influence de la température et du dopage sur la piezorésistivité du silicium type N. Dans une première étape nous adoptons le modèle de vallées et nous utilisons une formulation cinétique du transport électronique faisant appel à l'équation de transport de Boltzmann pour calculer la variation de la résistivité du semiconducteur sous contrainte. Dans la deuxième étape nous exprimons les déplacements des minima de la bande de conduction et du niveau de Fermi en termes de potentiels de déformation et de contraintes. Nous proposons ensuite des expressions générales pour les coefficients piezorésistifs fondamentaux linéaires, π_{11} et π_{12}, et non-linéaires, π_{111}, π_{112}, π_{122} et π_{123}. Des représentations graphiques des variations des coefficients non-linéaires permettent de caractériser l'influence du dopage et de la température. Enfin nous fournissons une première pré-estimation des effets

Understanding the vapor-liquid-solid growth and composition of ternary III-V nanowires and nanowire heterostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubrovskii, V. G.

2017-11-01

Based on the recent achievements in vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) synthesis, characterization and modeling of ternary III-V nanowires and axial heterostructures within such nanowires, we try to understand the major trends in their compositional evolution from a general theoretical perspective. Clearly, the VLS growth of ternary materials is much more complex than in standard vapor-solid epitaxy techniques, and even maintaining the necessary control over the composition of steady-state ternary nanowires is far from straightforward. On the other hand, VLS nanowires offer otherwise unattainable material combinations without introducing structural defects and hence are very promising for next-generation optoelectronic devices, in particular those integrated with a silicon electronic platform. In this review, we consider two main problems. First, we show how and by means of which parameters the steady-state composition of Au-catalyzed or self-catalyzed ternary III-V nanowires can be tuned to a desired value and why it is generally different from the vapor composition. Second, we present some experimental data and modeling results for the interfacial abruptness across axial nanowire heterostructures, both in Au-catalyzed and self-catalyzed VLS growth methods. Refined modeling allows us to formulate some general growth recipes for suppressing the unwanted reservoir effect in the droplet and sharpening the nanowire heterojunctions. We consider and refine two approaches developed to date, namely the regular crystallization model for a liquid alloy with a critical size of only one III-V pair at high supersaturations or classical binary nucleation theory with a macroscopic critical nucleus at modest supersaturations.

Solution-processed copper-nickel nanowire anodes for organic solar cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stewart, Ian E.; Rathmell, Aaron R.; Yan, Liang; Ye, Shengrong; Flowers, Patrick F.; You, Wei; Wiley, Benjamin J.

2014-05-01

This work describes a process to make anodes for organic solar cells from copper-nickel nanowires with solution-phase processing. Copper nanowire films were coated from solution onto glass and made conductive by dipping them in acetic acid. Acetic acid removes the passivating oxide from the surface of copper nanowires, thereby reducing the contact resistance between nanowires to nearly the same extent as hydrogen annealing. Films of copper nanowires were made as oxidation resistant as silver nanowires under dry and humid conditions by dipping them in an electroless nickel plating solution. Organic solar cells utilizing these completely solution-processed copper-nickel nanowire films exhibited efficiencies of 4.9%.This work describes a process to make anodes for organic solar cells from copper-nickel nanowires with solution-phase processing. Copper nanowire films were coated from solution onto glass and made conductive by dipping them in acetic acid. Acetic acid removes the passivating oxide from the surface of copper nanowires, thereby reducing the contact resistance between nanowires to nearly the same extent as hydrogen annealing. Films of copper nanowires were made as oxidation resistant as silver nanowires under dry and humid conditions by dipping them in an electroless nickel plating solution. Organic solar cells utilizing these completely solution-processed copper-nickel nanowire films exhibited efficiencies of 4.9%. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c4nr01024h

Implantable biaxial piezoresistive accelerometer for sensorimotor control.

PubMed

Zou, Qiang; Tan, Wei; Sok Kim, Eun; Singh, Jasspreet; Loeb, Gerald E

2004-01-01

This paper describes the design, fabrication and test results of a novel biaxial piezoresistive accelerometer and its incorporation into a miniature neuromuscular stimulator called a BION. Because of its highly symmetric twin mass structure, the X and Z axis acceleration can be measured at the same time and the cross axis sensitivity can be minimized by proper piezoresistor design. The X and Z axis sensitivities of the biaxial accelerometer are 0.10 mV/g/V and 1.40 mV/g/V, respectively, which are further increased to 0.65 mV/g/V and 2.40 mV/g/V, respectively, with extra silicon mass added to the proof mass. The cross-axis sensitivity is less than 3.3% among X, Y and Z-axis. An orientation tracking method for human segments by measuring every joint angle is also discussed in this paper. Joint angles can be obtained by processing the outputs of a pair of biaxial accelerometers (placed very close to the joint axis on the adjacent limb links), without having to integrate acceleration or velocity signals, thereby avoiding errors due to offsets and drift.

Flexible Piezoelectric-Induced Pressure Sensors for Static Measurements Based on Nanowires/Graphene Heterostructures.

PubMed

Chen, Zefeng; Wang, Zhao; Li, Xinming; Lin, Yuxuan; Luo, Ningqi; Long, Mingzhu; Zhao, Ni; Xu, Jian-Bin

2017-05-23

The piezoelectric effect is widely applied in pressure sensors for the detection of dynamic signals. However, these piezoelectric-induced pressure sensors have challenges in measuring static signals that are based on the transient flow of electrons in an external load as driven by the piezopotential arisen from dynamic stress. Here, we present a pressure sensor with nanowires/graphene heterostructures for static measurements based on the synergistic mechanisms between strain-induced polarization charges in piezoelectric nanowires and the caused change of carrier scattering in graphene. Compared to the conventional piezoelectric nanowire or graphene pressure sensors, this sensor is capable of measuring static pressures with a sensitivity of up to 9.4 × 10 -3 kPa -1 and a fast response time down to 5-7 ms. This demonstration of pressure sensors shows great potential in the applications of electronic skin and wearable devices.

Structure evolution and electrical transport property of Si nanowire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Y.; Li, Q. Q.; Dong, J. C.; He, Y. Z.; Li, H.

2015-02-01

Various optimized Si and its alloy nanowires, from a monoatomic chain to helical and multishell coaxial cylinder, have been obtained. Results reveal that the structure of the Si nanowires transforms as the radii of the carbon nanotubes increase, despite of the chirality of the CNTs. We also calculate the physical properties, such as density of states, transmission functions, current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, and conductance spectra (G-V) of optimized nanowires and alloy nanowires sandwiched between two gold contacts. Interestingly, compared with the pure Si nanowires, the conductance of the alloy nanowires is even lower.

Preparation and Use of Photocatalytically Active Segmented Ag|ZnO and Coaxial TiO2-Ag Nanowires Made by Templated Electrodeposition

PubMed Central

Maijenburg, A. Wouter; Rodijk, Eddy J.B.; Maas, Michiel G.; ten Elshof, Johan E.

2014-01-01

Photocatalytically active nanostructures require a large specific surface area with the presence of many catalytically active sites for the oxidation and reduction half reactions, and fast electron (hole) diffusion and charge separation. Nanowires present suitable architectures to meet these requirements. Axially segmented Ag|ZnO and radially segmented (coaxial) TiO2-Ag nanowires with a diameter of 200 nm and a length of 6-20 µm were made by templated electrodeposition within the pores of polycarbonate track-etched (PCTE) or anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes, respectively. In the photocatalytic experiments, the ZnO and TiO2 phases acted as photoanodes, and Ag as cathode. No external circuit is needed to connect both electrodes, which is a key advantage over conventional photo-electrochemical cells. For making segmented Ag|ZnO nanowires, the Ag salt electrolyte was replaced after formation of the Ag segment to form a ZnO segment attached to the Ag segment. For making coaxial TiO2-Ag nanowires, a TiO2 gel was first formed by the electrochemically induced sol-gel method. Drying and thermal annealing of the as-formed TiO2 gel resulted in the formation of crystalline TiO2 nanotubes. A subsequent Ag electrodeposition step inside the TiO2 nanotubes resulted in formation of coaxial TiO2-Ag nanowires. Due to the combination of an n-type semiconductor (ZnO or TiO2) and a metal (Ag) within the same nanowire, a Schottky barrier was created at the interface between the phases. To demonstrate the photocatalytic activity of these nanowires, the Ag|ZnO nanowires were used in a photocatalytic experiment in which H2 gas was detected upon UV illumination of the nanowires dispersed in a methanol/water mixture. After 17 min of illumination, approximately 0.2 vol% H2 gas was detected from a suspension of ~0.1 g of Ag|ZnO nanowires in a 50 ml 80 vol% aqueous methanol solution. PMID:24837535

Nanowire sensor, sensor array, and method for making the same

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Homer, Margie (Inventor); Fleurial, Jean-Pierre (Inventor); Bugga, Ratnakumar (Inventor); Vasquez, Richard (Inventor); Yun, Minhee (Inventor); Myung, Nosang (Inventor); Choi, Daniel (Inventor); Goddard, William (Inventor); Ryan, Margaret (Inventor); Yen, Shiao-Pin (Inventor)

2012-01-01

The present invention relates to a nanowire sensor and method for forming the same. More specifically, the nanowire sensor comprises at least one nanowire formed on a substrate, with a sensor receptor disposed on a surface of the nanowire, thereby forming a receptor-coated nanowire. The nanowire sensor can be arranged as a sensor sub-unit comprising a plurality of homogeneously receptor-coated nanowires. A plurality of sensor subunits can be formed to collectively comprise a nanowire sensor array. Each sensor subunit in the nanowire sensor array can be formed to sense a different stimulus, allowing a user to sense a plurality of stimuli. Additionally, each sensor subunit can be formed to sense the same stimuli through different aspects of the stimulus. The sensor array is fabricated through a variety of techniques, such as by creating nanopores on a substrate and electrodepositing nanowires within the nanopores.

Core-shell silicon nanowire solar cells

PubMed Central

Adachi, M. M.; Anantram, M. P.; Karim, K. S.

2013-01-01

Silicon nanowires can enhance broadband optical absorption and reduce radial carrier collection distances in solar cell devices. Arrays of disordered nanowires grown by vapor-liquid-solid method are attractive because they can be grown on low-cost substrates such as glass, and are large area compatible. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that an array of disordered silicon nanowires surrounded by a thin transparent conductive oxide has both low diffuse and specular reflection with total values as low as < 4% over a broad wavelength range of 400 nm < λ < 650 nm. These anti-reflective properties together with enhanced infrared absorption in the core-shell nanowire facilitates enhancement in external quantum efficiency using two different active shell materials: amorphous silicon and nanocrystalline silicon. As a result, the core-shell nanowire device exhibits a short-circuit current enhancement of 15% with an amorphous Si shell and 26% with a nanocrystalline Si shell compared to their corresponding planar devices. PMID:23529071

Diamond nanowires: fabrication, structure, properties, and applications.

PubMed

Yu, Yuan; Wu, Liangzhuan; Zhi, Jinfang

2014-12-22

C(sp(3) )C-bonded diamond nanowires are wide band gap semiconductors that exhibit a combination of superior properties such as negative electron affinity, chemical inertness, high Young's modulus, the highest hardness, and room-temperature thermal conductivity. The creation of 1D diamond nanowires with their giant surface-to-volume ratio enhancements makes it possible to control and enhance the fundamental properties of diamond. Although theoretical comparisons with carbon nanotubes have shown that diamond nanowires are energetically and mechanically viable structures, reproducibly synthesizing the crystalline diamond nanowires has remained challenging. We present a comprehensive, up-to-date review of diamond nanowires, including a discussion of their synthesis along with their structures, properties, and applications. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Guided Growth of Horizontal p-Type ZnTe Nanowires

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

A major challenge toward large-scale integration of nanowires is the control over their alignment and position. A possible solution to this challenge is the guided growth process, which enables the synthesis of well-aligned horizontal nanowires that grow according to specific epitaxial or graphoepitaxial relations with the substrate. However, the guided growth of horizontal nanowires was demonstrated for a limited number of materials, most of which exhibit unintentional n-type behavior. Here we demonstrate the vapor–liquid–solid growth of guided horizontal ZnTe nanowires and nanowalls displaying p-type behavior on four different planes of sapphire. The growth directions of the nanowires are determined by epitaxial relations between the nanowires and the substrate or by a graphoepitaxial effect that guides their growth along nanogrooves or nanosteps along the surface. We characterized the crystallographic orientations and elemental composition of the nanowires using transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence. The optoelectronic and electronic properties of the nanowires were studied by fabricating photodetectors and top-gate thin film transistors. These measurements showed that the guided ZnTe nanowires are p-type semiconductors and are photoconductive in the visible range. The guided growth of horizontal p-type nanowires opens up the possibility of parallel nanowire integration into functional systems with a variety of potential applications not available by other means. PMID:27885331

Guided Growth of Horizontal p-Type ZnTe Nanowires.

PubMed

Reut, Gilad; Oksenberg, Eitan; Popovitz-Biro, Ronit; Rechav, Katya; Joselevich, Ernesto

2016-08-04

A major challenge toward large-scale integration of nanowires is the control over their alignment and position. A possible solution to this challenge is the guided growth process, which enables the synthesis of well-aligned horizontal nanowires that grow according to specific epitaxial or graphoepitaxial relations with the substrate. However, the guided growth of horizontal nanowires was demonstrated for a limited number of materials, most of which exhibit unintentional n-type behavior. Here we demonstrate the vapor-liquid-solid growth of guided horizontal ZnTe nanowires and nanowalls displaying p-type behavior on four different planes of sapphire. The growth directions of the nanowires are determined by epitaxial relations between the nanowires and the substrate or by a graphoepitaxial effect that guides their growth along nanogrooves or nanosteps along the surface. We characterized the crystallographic orientations and elemental composition of the nanowires using transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence. The optoelectronic and electronic properties of the nanowires were studied by fabricating photodetectors and top-gate thin film transistors. These measurements showed that the guided ZnTe nanowires are p-type semiconductors and are photoconductive in the visible range. The guided growth of horizontal p-type nanowires opens up the possibility of parallel nanowire integration into functional systems with a variety of potential applications not available by other means.

Protein immobilization onto electrochemically synthesized CoFe nanowires

PubMed Central

Torati, Sri Ramulu; Reddy, Venu; Yoon, Seok Soo; Kim, CheolGi

2015-01-01

CoFe nanowires have been synthesized by the electrodeposition technique into the pores of a polycarbonate membrane with a nominal pore diameter of 50 nm, and the composition of CoFe nanowires varying by changing the source concentration of iron. The synthesized nanowire surfaces were functionalized with amine groups by treatment with aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) linker, and then conjugated with streptavidin-Cy3 protein via ethyl (dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide coupling chemistry. The oxide surface of CoFe nanowire is easily modified with aminopropyltriethoxysilane to form an amine terminating group, which is covalently bonded to streptavidin-Cy3 protein. The physicochemical properties of the nanowires were analyzed through different characterization techniques such as scanning electron microscope, energy dispersive spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer. Fluorescence microscopic studies and Fourier transform infrared studies confirmed the immobilization of protein on the nanowire surface. In addition, the transmission electron microscope analysis reveals the thin protein layer which is around 12–15 nm on the nanowire surfaces. PMID:25609966

The impact of nanocontact on nanowire based nanoelectronics.

PubMed

Lin, Yen-Fu; Jian, Wen-Bin

2008-10-01

Nanowire-based nanoelectronic devices will be innovative electronic building blocks from bottom up. The reduced nanocontact area of nanowire devices magnifies the contribution of contact electrical properties. Although a lot of two-contact-based ZnO nanoelectronics have been demonstrated, the electrical properties bringing either from the nanocontacts or from the nanowires have not been considered yet. High quality ZnO nanowires with a small deviation and an average diameter of 38 nm were synthesized to fabricate more than thirty nanowire devices. According to temperature behaviors of current-voltage curves and resistances, the devices could be grouped into three types. Type I devices expose thermally activated transport in ZnO nanowires and they could be considered as two Ohmic nanocontacts of the Ti electrode contacting directly on the nanowire. For those nanowire devices having a high resistance at room temperatures, they can be fitted accurately with the thermionic-emission theory and classified into type II and III devices according to their rectifying and symmetrical current-voltage behaviors. The type II device has only one deteriorated nanocontact and the other one Ohmic contact on single ZnO nanowire. An insulating oxide layer with thickness less than 20 nm should be introduced to describe electron hopping in the nanocontacts, so as to signalize one- and high-dimensional hopping conduction in type II and III devices.

Cross-phase separation of nanowires and nanoparticles

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Qian, Fang; Duoss, Eric; Han, Jinkyu

In one embodiment, a process includes creating a mixture of an aqueous component, nanowires and nanoparticles, and a hydrophobic solvent and allowing migration of the nanowires to the hydrophobic solvent, where the nanoparticles remain in the aqueous component. Moreover, the nanowires and nanoparticles are in the aqueous component before the migration.

FIB-tomographic studies on chemical vapor deposition grown SnO2 nanowire arrays on TiO2 (001)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Haoyun; Liu, Yi; Wu, Hong; Xiong, Xiang; Pan, Jun

2016-12-01

Tin oxide nanowire arrays on titania (001) have been successfully fabricated by chemical vapor deposition of Sn(O t Bu)4 precursor. The morphologies and structures of ordered SnO2 nanowires (NWs) were analyzed by cross-sectional SEM, HR-TEM and AFM. An FIB-tomography technique was applied in order to reconstruct a 3D presentation of ordered SnO2 nanowires. The achieved 3D analysis showed the spatial orientation and angles of ordered SnO2 NWs can be obtained in a one-shot experiment, and the distribution of Au catalysts showed the competition between 1D and 2D growth. The SnO2 nanowire arrays can be potentially used as a diameter- and surface-dependent sensing unit for the detection of gas- and bio-molecules.

Hysteresis Compensation of Piezoresistive Carbon Nanotube/Polydimethylsiloxane Composite-Based Force Sensors

PubMed Central

Kim, Ji-Sik; Kim, Gi-Woo

2017-01-01

This paper provides a preliminary study on the hysteresis compensation of a piezoresistive silicon-based polymer composite, poly(dimethylsiloxane) dispersed with carbon nanotubes (CNTs), to demonstrate its feasibility as a conductive composite (i.e., a force-sensitive resistor) for force sensors. In this study, the potential use of the nanotube/polydimethylsiloxane (CNT/PDMS) as a force sensor is evaluated for the first time. The experimental results show that the electrical resistance of the CNT/PDMS composite changes in response to sinusoidal loading and static compressive load. The compensated output based on the Duhem hysteresis model shows a linear relationship. This simple hysteresis model can compensate for the nonlinear frequency-dependent hysteresis phenomenon when a dynamic sinusoidal force input is applied. PMID:28125046

Liquid gallium ball/crystalline silicon polyhedrons/aligned silicon oxide nanowires sandwich structure: An interesting nanowire growth route

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Zheng Wei; Dai, Sheng; Beach, David B.; Lowndes, Douglas H.

2003-10-01

We demonstrate the growth of silicon oxide nanowires through a sandwich-like configuration, i.e., Ga ball/Si polyhedrons/silicon oxide nanowires, by using Ga as the catalyst and SiO powder as the source material. The sandwich-like structures have a carrot-like morphology, consisting of three materials with different morphologies, states, and crystallographic structures. The "carrot" top is a liquid Ga ball with diameter of ˜10-30 μm; the middle part is a Si ring usually composed of about 10 μm-sized, clearly faceted, and crystalline Si polyhedrons that are arranged sequentially in a band around the lower hemisphere surface of the Ga ball; the bottom part is a carrot-shaped bunch of highly aligned silicon oxide nanowires that grow out from the downward facing facets of the Si polyhedrons. This study reveals several interesting nanowire growth phenomena that enrich the conventional vapor-liquid-solid nanowire growth mechanism.

Zinc oxide nanowire networks for macroelectronic devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Unalan, Husnu Emrah; Zhang, Yan; Hiralal, Pritesh; Dalal, Sharvari; Chu, Daping; Eda, Goki; Teo, K. B. K.; Chhowalla, Manish; Milne, William I.; Amaratunga, Gehan A. J.

2009-04-01

Highly transparent zinc oxide (ZnO) nanowire networks have been used as the active material in thin film transistors (TFTs) and complementary inverter devices. A systematic study on a range of networks of variable density and TFT channel length was performed. ZnO nanowire networks provide a less lithographically intense alternative to individual nanowire devices, are always semiconducting, and yield significantly higher mobilites than those achieved from currently used amorphous Si and organic TFTs. These results suggest that ZnO nanowire networks could be ideal for inexpensive large area electronics.

Growth of metal oxide nanowires from supercooled liquid nanodroplets.

PubMed

Kim, Myung Hwa; Lee, Byeongdu; Lee, Sungsik; Larson, Christopher; Baik, Jeong Min; Yavuz, Cafer T; Seifert, Sönke; Vajda, Stefan; Winans, Randall E; Moskovits, Martin; Stucky, Galen D; Wodtke, Alec M

2009-12-01

Nanometer-sized liquid droplets formed at temperatures below the bulk melting point become supercooled as they grow through Ostwald ripening or coalescence and can be exploited to grow nanowires without any catalyst. We used this simple approach to synthesize a number of highly crystalline metal oxide nanowires in a chemical or physical vapor deposition apparatus. Examples of nanowires made in this way include VO(2), V(2)O(5), RuO(2), MoO(2), MoO(3), and Fe(3)O(4), some of which have not been previously reported. Direct evidence of this new mechanism of nanowire growth is found from in situ 2-dimensional GISAXS (grazing incidence small angle X-ray scattering) measurements of VO(2) nanowire growth, which provides quantitative information on the shapes and sizes of growing nanowires as well as direct evidence of the presence of supercooled liquid droplets. We observe dramatic changes in nanowire growth by varying the choice of substrate, reflecting the influence of wetting forces on the supercooled nanodroplet shape and mobility as well as substrate-nanowire lattice matching on the definition of nanowire orientation. Surfaces with defects can also be used to pattern the growth of the nanowires. The simplicity of this synthesis concept suggests it may be rather general in its application.

Electrical Spin Injection and Detection in Silicon Nanowires with Axial Doping Gradient.

PubMed

Kountouriotis, Konstantinos; Barreda, Jorge L; Keiper, Timothy D; Zhang, Mei; Xiong, Peng

2018-06-19

The interest in spin transport in nanoscopic semiconductor channels is driven by both the inevitable miniaturization of spintronics devices toward nanoscale and the rich spin-dependent physics the quantum confinement engenders. For such studies, the all-important issue of the ferromagnet/semiconductor (FM/SC) interface becomes even more critical at nanoscale. Here we elucidate the effects of the FM/SC interface on electrical spin injection and detection at nanoscale dimensions, utilizing a unique type of Si nanowires (NWs) with an inherent axial doping gradient. Two-terminal and nonlocal four-terminal lateral spin-valve measurements were performed using different combinations from a series of FM contacts positioned along the same NW. The data are analyzed with a general model of spin accumulation in a normal channel under electrical spin injection from a FM, which reveals a distinct correlation of decreasing spin-valve signal with increasing injector junction resistance. The observation is attributed to the diminishing contribution of the d-electrons in the FM to the injected current spin polarization with increasing Schottky barrier width. The results demonstrate that there is a window of interface parameters for optimal spin injection efficiency and current spin polarization, which provides important design guidelines for nanospintronic devices with quasi-one-dimensional semiconductor channels.

A MEMS SOI-based piezoresistive fluid flow sensor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, B.; Li, H. F.; Yang, H.; Song, D. L.; Bai, X. W.; Zhao, Y. L.

2018-02-01

In this paper, a SOI (silicon-on-insulator)-based piezoresistive fluid flow sensor is presented; the presented flow sensor mainly consists of a nylon sensing head, stainless steel cantilever beam, SOI sensor chip, printed circuit board, half-cylinder gasket, and stainless steel shell. The working principle of the sensor and some detailed contrastive analysis about the sensor structure were introduced since the nylon sensing head and stainless steel cantilever beam have distinct influence on the sensor performance; the structure of nylon sensing head and stainless steel cantilever beam is also discussed. The SOI sensor chip was fabricated using micro-electromechanical systems technologies, such as reactive ion etching and low pressure chemical vapor deposition. The designed fluid sensor was packaged and tested; a calibration installation system was purposely designed for the sensor experiment. The testing results indicated that the output voltage of the sensor is proportional to the square of the fluid flow velocity, which is coincident with the theoretical derivation. The tested sensitivity of the sensor is 3.91 × 10-4 V ms2/kg.

Monolithic Integration of a Silicon Nanowire Field-Effect Transistors Array on a Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Chip for Biochemical Sensor Applications

PubMed Central

Livi, Paolo; Kwiat, Moria; Shadmani, Amir; Pevzner, Alexander; Navarra, Giulio; Rothe, Jörg; Stettler, Alexander; Chen, Yihui; Patolsky, Fernando; Hierlemann, Andreas

2017-01-01

We present a monolithic complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-based sensor system comprising an array of silicon nanowire field-effect transistors (FETs) and the signal-conditioning circuitry on the same chip. The silicon nanowires were fabricated by chemical vapor deposition methods and then transferred to the CMOS chip, where Ti/Pd/Ti contacts had been patterned via e-beam lithography. The on-chip circuitry measures the current flowing through each nanowire FET upon applying a constant source-drain voltage. The analog signal is digitized on chip and then transmitted to a receiving unit. The system has been successfully fabricated and tested by acquiring I−V curves of the bare nanowire-based FETs. Furthermore, the sensing capabilities of the complete system have been demonstrated by recording current changes upon nanowire exposure to solutions of different pHs, as well as by detecting different concentrations of Troponin T biomarkers (cTnT) through antibody-functionalized nanowire FETs. PMID:26348408

Monolithic integration of a silicon nanowire field-effect transistors array on a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor chip for biochemical sensor applications.

PubMed

Livi, Paolo; Kwiat, Moria; Shadmani, Amir; Pevzner, Alexander; Navarra, Giulio; Rothe, Jörg; Stettler, Alexander; Chen, Yihui; Patolsky, Fernando; Hierlemann, Andreas

2015-10-06

We present a monolithic complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-based sensor system comprising an array of silicon nanowire field-effect transistors (FETs) and the signal-conditioning circuitry on the same chip. The silicon nanowires were fabricated by chemical vapor deposition methods and then transferred to the CMOS chip, where Ti/Pd/Ti contacts had been patterned via e-beam lithography. The on-chip circuitry measures the current flowing through each nanowire FET upon applying a constant source-drain voltage. The analog signal is digitized on chip and then transmitted to a receiving unit. The system has been successfully fabricated and tested by acquiring I-V curves of the bare nanowire-based FETs. Furthermore, the sensing capabilities of the complete system have been demonstrated by recording current changes upon nanowire exposure to solutions of different pHs, as well as by detecting different concentrations of Troponin T biomarkers (cTnT) through antibody-functionalized nanowire FETs.

Selectivity shifting behavior of Pd nanoparticles loaded zinc stannate/zinc oxide (Zn2SnO4/ZnO) nanowires sensors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arafat, M. M.; Ong, J. Y.; Haseeb, A. S. M. A.

2018-03-01

In this research, the gas sensing behavior of Pd nanoparticles loaded zinc stannate/zinc oxide (Zn2SnO4/ZnO) nanowires were investigated. The Zn2SnO4/ZnO nanowires were grown on Au interdigitated alumina substrate by carbon assisted thermal evaporation process. Pd nanoparticles were loaded on the Zn2SnO4/ZnO nanowires by wet reduction process. The nanowires were characterized by X-ray diffractometer, field emission scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscope. The Zn2SnO4/ZnO and Pd nanoparticles loaded Zn2SnO4/ZnO nanowires were investigated for detecting H2, H2S and C2H5OH gases in N2 background. Results revealed that the average diameter and length of as-grown Zn2SnO4/ZnO nanowires were 74 nm and 30 μm, respectively. During wet reduction process,Pd particles having size of 20-60 nm were evenly distributed on the Zn2SnO4/ZnO nanowires. The Zn2SnO4/ZnO nanowires based sensors showed selective response towards C2H5OH whereas Pd nanoparticles loaded Zn2SnO4/ZnO nanowires showed selective response towards H2. The recovery time of the sensors reduced with Pd loading on Zn2SnO4/ZnO nanowires. A mechanism is proposed to elucidate the gas sensing mechanism of Pd nanoparticles loaded Zn2SnO4/ZnO nanowires.

Transformation of bulk alloys to oxide nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lei, Danni; Benson, Jim; Magasinski, Alexandre; Berdichevsky, Gene; Yushin, Gleb

2017-01-01

One dimensional (1D) nanostructures offer prospects for enhancing the electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties of a broad range of functional materials and composites, but their synthesis methods are typically elaborate and expensive. We demonstrate a direct transformation of bulk materials into nanowires under ambient conditions without the use of catalysts or any external stimuli. The nanowires form via minimization of strain energy at the boundary of a chemical reaction front. We show the transformation of multimicrometer-sized particles of aluminum or magnesium alloys into alkoxide nanowires of tunable dimensions, which are converted into oxide nanowires upon heating in air. Fabricated separators based on aluminum oxide nanowires enhanced the safety and rate capabilities of lithium-ion batteries. The reported approach allows ultralow-cost scalable synthesis of 1D materials and membranes.

Growth and Characterization of Chalcogenide Alloy Nanowires with Controlled Spatial Composition Variation for Optoelectronic Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nichols, Patricia

both the visible and mid-infrared regimes. The CdSSe alloy system was fully explored for spatial composition variation. CdSxSe1-x nanowires were grown with composition variation across the substrate. Subsequent contact printing preserved the designed composition gradient and led to the demonstration of a variable wavelength photodetector device. CdSSe axial heterostructure nanowires were also achieved. The growth process involved many variables, including a deliberate and controllable change in substrate temperature. As a result, both red and green light emission was detected from single nanowires.

Simultaneous isolation and detection of circulating tumor cells with a microfluidic silicon-nanowire-array integrated with magnetic upconversion nanoprobes.

PubMed

Wang, Chao; Ye, Min; Cheng, Liang; Li, Rui; Zhu, Wenwen; Shi, Zhen; Fan, Chunhai; He, Jinkang; Liu, Jian; Liu, Zhuang

2015-06-01

The development of sensitive and convenient methods for detection, enrichment, and analysis of circulating tumor cells (CTCs), which serve as an importance diagnostic indicator for metastatic progression of cancer, has received tremendous attention in recent years. In this work, a new approach characteristic of simultaneous CTC capture and detection is developed by integrating a microfluidic silicon nanowire (SiNW) array with multifunctional magnetic upconversion nanoparticles (MUNPs). The MUNPs were conjugated with anti-EpCAM antibody, thus capable to specifically recognize tumor cells in the blood samples and pull them down under an external magnetic field. The capture efficiency of CTCs was further improved by the integration with a microfluidic SiNW array. Due to the autofluorescence free nature in upconversion luminescence (UCL) imaging, our approach allows for highly sensitive detection of small numbers of tumor cells, which afterward could be collected for further analysis and re-culturing. We have further demonstrated that this approach can be applied to detect CTCs in clinical blood samples from lung cancer patients, and obtained consistent results by analyzing the UCL signals and the clinical outcomes of lung cancer metastasis. Therefore our approach represents a promising platform in CTC capture and detection with potential clinical utilization in cancer diagnosis and prognosis. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

UV-Assisted Alcohol Sensors using Gallium Nitride Nanowires Functionalized with Zinc Oxide and Tin Dioxide Nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bajpai, Ritu

The motivation behind this work has been to address two of the most challenging issues posed to semiconductor gas sensors--- tuning the device selectivity and sensitivity to a wide variety of gases. In a chemiresistor type nanowire sensor, the sensitivity and selectivity depend on the interaction of different chemical analytes with the nanowire surface. Constrained by the surface properties of the nanowire material, most nanowire sensors can detect only specific type of analytes. In order to make a nano-sensor array for a wide range of analytes, there is a need to tune the device sensitivity and selectivity towards different chemicals. Employing the inherent advantages of nanostructure based sensing such as large surface area, miniature size, low power consumption, and nmol/mol (ppb) sensitivity, an attempt has been made to propose a device with tunable selectivity and sensitivity. The idea proposed in this work is to functionalize GaN nanowires which have relatively inactive surface properties (i.e., with no chemiresistive sensitivity to different classes of organic vapors), with analyte dependent active metal oxides. The selectivity of the sensor devices is controlled independent of the surface properties of the nanowire itself. It is the surface properties of the functionalizing metal oxides which determine the selectivity of these sensors. Further facilitated by the proposed fabrication technique, these sensors can be easily tuned to detect different gases. The prototype developed in this work is that of a UV assisted alcohol sensor using GaN nanowires functionalized with ZnO and SnO2 nanoparticles. As opposed to the widely demonstrated metal oxide based sensors assisted by elevated temperature, the operation of photoconductive semiconductor sensor devices such as those fabricated in this work, can also be assisted by UV illumination at room temperature. Temperature assisted sensing requires an integrated on-chip heater, which could impose constraints on the

Stable Defects in Semiconductor Nanowires.

PubMed

Sanchez, A M; Gott, J A; Fonseka, H A; Zhang, Y; Liu, H; Beanland, R

2018-05-09

Semiconductor nanowires are commonly described as being defect-free due to their ability to expel mobile defects with long-range strain fields. Here, we describe previously undiscovered topologically protected line defects with null Burgers vector that, unlike dislocations, are stable in nanoscale crystals. We analyze the defects present in semiconductor nanowires in regions of imperfect crystal growth, i.e., at the nanowire tip formed during consumption of the droplet in self-catalyzed vapor-liquid-solid growth and subsequent vapor-solid shell growth. We use a form of the Burgers circuit method that can be applied to multiply twinned material without difficulty. Our observations show that the nanowire microstructure is very different from bulk material, with line defects either (a) trapped by locks or other defects, (b) arranged as dipoles or groups with a zero total Burgers vector, or (c) have a zero Burgers vector. We find two new line defects with a null Burgers vector, formed from the combination of partial dislocations in twinned material. The most common defect is the three-monolayer high twin facet with a zero Burgers vector. Studies of individual nanowires using cathodoluminescence show that optical emission is quenched in defective regions, showing that they act as strong nonradiative recombination centers.

A silicon carbide nanowire field effect transistor for DNA detection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fradetal, L.; Bano, E.; Attolini, G.; Rossi, F.; Stambouli, V.

2016-06-01

This work reports on the label-free electrical detection of DNA molecules for the first time, using silicon carbide (SiC) as a novel material for the realization of nanowire field effect transistors (NWFETs). SiC is a promising semiconductor for this application due to its specific characteristics such as chemical inertness and biocompatibility. Non-intentionally n-doped SiC NWs are first grown using a bottom-up vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism, leading to the NWs exhibiting needle-shaped morphology, with a length of approximately 2 μm and a diameter ranging from 25 to 60 nm. Then, the SiC NWFETs are fabricated and functionalized with DNA molecule probes via covalent coupling using an amino-terminated organosilane. The drain current versus drain voltage (I d-V d) characteristics obtained after the DNA grafting and hybridization are reported from the comparative and simultaneous measurements carried out on the SiC NWFETs, used either as sensors or references. As a representative result, the current of the sensor is lowered by 22% after probe DNA grafting and by 7% after target DNA hybridization, while the current of the reference does not vary by more than ±0.6%. The current decrease confirms the field effect induced by the negative charges of the DNA molecules. Moreover, the selectivity, reproducibility, reversibility and stability of the studied devices are emphasized by de-hybridization, non-complementary hybridization and re-hybridization experiments. This first proof of concept opens the way for future developments using SiC-NW-based sensors.

Heterojunction photovoltaics using GaAs nanowires and conjugated polymers.

PubMed

Ren, Shenqiang; Zhao, Ni; Crawford, Samuel C; Tambe, Michael; Bulović, Vladimir; Gradecak, Silvija

2011-02-09

We demonstrate an organic/inorganic solar cell architecture based on a blend of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and narrow bandgap GaAs nanowires. The measured increase of device photocurrent with increased nanowire loading is correlated with structural ordering within the active layer that enhances charge transport. Coating the GaAs nanowires with TiO(x) shells passivates nanowire surface states and further improves the photovoltaic performance. We find that the P3HT/nanowire cells yield power conversion efficiencies of 2.36% under white LED illumination for devices containing 50 wt % of TiO(x)-coated GaAs nanowires. Our results constitute important progress for the use of nanowires in large area solution processed hybrid photovoltaic cells and provide insight into the role of structural ordering in the device performance.

Enhanced photovoltaic performance of an inclined nanowire array solar cell.

PubMed

Wu, Yao; Yan, Xin; Zhang, Xia; Ren, Xiaomin

2015-11-30

An innovative solar cell based on inclined p-i-n nanowire array is designed and analyzed. The results show that the inclined geometry can sufficiently increase the conversion efficiency of solar cells by enhancing the absorption of light in the active region. By tuning the nanowire array density, nanowire diameter, nanowire length, as well as the proportion of intrinsic region of the inclined nanowire solar cell, a remarkable efficiency in excess of 16% can be obtained in GaAs. Similar results have been obtained in InP and Si nanowire solar cells, demonstrating the universality of the performance enhancement of inclined nanowire arrays.

Size-dependent fracture behavior of silver nanowires.

PubMed

Cao, Ke; Han, Ying; Zhang, Hongti; Gao, Libo; Yang, Hongwei; Chen, Jialin; Li, Yuxiu; Lu, Yang

2018-07-20

Silver (Ag) nanowires have great potential to be used in the flexible electronics industry for their applications in flexible, transparent conductors due to high conductivity and light reflectivity. Those applications always involve mechanical loading and deformations, which requires an in-depth understanding of their mechanical behavior and performance under loadings. However, current understanding on the mechanical properties of Ag nanowires is limited, especially on their size-dependent fracture behavior. In this work, mechanical properties of Ag nanowires with diameters ranging from 50 to 300 nm were systematically studied by in situ TEM tensile testing for the first time. The size effect was clearly found, with the increasing of the diameter of Ag nanowires, the ultimate tensile stress decreased. More importantly, the fracture behavior of Ag nanowire was studied and a brittle-to-ductile transition in fracture behavior was observed at the diameters around 100 nm which could be attributed to the dislocation activities within the geometry confinement. This work could give insights for understanding nanosized Ag wires and the design of Ag nanowire-based flexible devices and touchable panels.

Size-dependent fracture behavior of silver nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Ke; Han, Ying; Zhang, Hongti; Gao, Libo; Yang, Hongwei; Chen, Jialin; Li, Yuxiu; Lu, Yang

2018-07-01

Silver (Ag) nanowires have great potential to be used in the flexible electronics industry for their applications in flexible, transparent conductors due to high conductivity and light reflectivity. Those applications always involve mechanical loading and deformations, which requires an in-depth understanding of their mechanical behavior and performance under loadings. However, current understanding on the mechanical properties of Ag nanowires is limited, especially on their size-dependent fracture behavior. In this work, mechanical properties of Ag nanowires with diameters ranging from 50 to 300 nm were systematically studied by in situ TEM tensile testing for the first time. The size effect was clearly found, with the increasing of the diameter of Ag nanowires, the ultimate tensile stress decreased. More importantly, the fracture behavior of Ag nanowire was studied and a brittle-to-ductile transition in fracture behavior was observed at the diameters around 100 nm which could be attributed to the dislocation activities within the geometry confinement. This work could give insights for understanding nanosized Ag wires and the design of Ag nanowire-based flexible devices and touchable panels.

Flexible Tactile Sensing Based on Piezoresistive Composites: A Review

PubMed Central

Stassi, Stefano; Cauda, Valentina; Canavese, Giancarlo; Pirri, Candido Fabrizio

2014-01-01

The large expansion of the robotic field in the last decades has created a growing interest in the research and development of tactile sensing solutions for robot hand and body integration. Piezoresistive composites are one of the most widely employed materials for this purpose, combining simple and low cost preparation with high flexibility and conformability to surfaces, low power consumption, and the use of simple read-out electronics. This work provides a review on the different type of composite materials, classified according to the conduction mechanism and analyzing the physics behind it. In particular piezoresistors, strain gauges, percolative and quantum tunnelling devices are reviewed here, with a perspective overview on the most used filler types and polymeric matrices. A description of the state-of-the-art of the tactile sensor solutions from the point of view of the architecture, the design and the performance is also reviewed, with a perspective outlook on the main promising applications. PMID:24638126

Effect of the nanowire diameter on the linearity of the response of GaN-based heterostructured nanowire photodetectors.

PubMed

Spies, Maria; Polaczyński, Jakub; Ajay, Akhil; Kalita, Dipankar; Luong, Minh Anh; Lähnemann, Jonas; Gayral, Bruno; den Hertog, Martien I; Monroy, Eva

2018-06-22

Nanowire photodetectors are investigated because of their compatibility with flexible electronics, or for the implementation of on-chip optical interconnects. Such devices are characterized by ultrahigh photocurrent gain, but their photoresponse scales sublinearly with the optical power. Here, we present a study of single-nanowire photodetectors displaying a linear response to ultraviolet illumination. Their structure consists of a GaN nanowire incorporating an AlN/GaN/AlN heterostructure, which generates an internal electric field. The activity of the heterostructure is confirmed by the rectifying behavior of the current-voltage characteristics in the dark, as well as by the asymmetry of the photoresponse in magnitude and linearity. Under reverse bias (negative bias on the GaN cap segment), the detectors behave linearly with the impinging optical power when the nanowire diameter is below a certain threshold (≈80 nm), which corresponds to the total depletion of the nanowire stem due to the Fermi level pinning at the sidewalls. In the case of nanowires that are only partially depleted, their nonlinearity is explained by a nonlinear variation of the diameter of their central conducting channel under illumination.

Effect of the nanowire diameter on the linearity of the response of GaN-based heterostructured nanowire photodetectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spies, Maria; Polaczyński, Jakub; Ajay, Akhil; Kalita, Dipankar; Luong, Minh Anh; Lähnemann, Jonas; Gayral, Bruno; den Hertog, Martien I.; Monroy, Eva

2018-06-01

Nanowire photodetectors are investigated because of their compatibility with flexible electronics, or for the implementation of on-chip optical interconnects. Such devices are characterized by ultrahigh photocurrent gain, but their photoresponse scales sublinearly with the optical power. Here, we present a study of single-nanowire photodetectors displaying a linear response to ultraviolet illumination. Their structure consists of a GaN nanowire incorporating an AlN/GaN/AlN heterostructure, which generates an internal electric field. The activity of the heterostructure is confirmed by the rectifying behavior of the current–voltage characteristics in the dark, as well as by the asymmetry of the photoresponse in magnitude and linearity. Under reverse bias (negative bias on the GaN cap segment), the detectors behave linearly with the impinging optical power when the nanowire diameter is below a certain threshold (≈80 nm), which corresponds to the total depletion of the nanowire stem due to the Fermi level pinning at the sidewalls. In the case of nanowires that are only partially depleted, their nonlinearity is explained by a nonlinear variation of the diameter of their central conducting channel under illumination.

Electrodeposited highly-ordered manganese oxide nanowire arrays for supercapacitors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Haifeng; Lu, Bingqiang; Wei, Shuiqiang; Bao, Mi; Wen, Yanxuan; Wang, Fan

2012-07-01

Large arrays of well-aligned Mn oxide nanowires were prepared by electrodeposition using anodic aluminum oxide templates. The sizes of nanowires were tuned by varying the electrotype solution involved and the MnO2 nanowires with 10 μm in length were obtained in a neutral KMnO4 bath for 1 h. MnO2 nanowire arrays grown on conductor substance save the tedious electrode-making process, and electrochemical characterization demonstrates that the MnO2 nanowire arrays electrode has good capacitive behavior. Due to the limited mass transportation in narrow spacing, the spacing effects between the neighbor nanowires have show great influence to the electrochemical performance.

Electrical and Optical Characterization of Nanowire based Semiconductor Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayvazian, Talin

This research project is focused on a new strategy for the creation of nanowire based semiconductor devices. The main goal is to understand and optimize the electrical and optical properties of two types of nanoscale devices; in first type lithographically patterned nanowire electrodeposition (LPNE) method has been utilized to fabricate nanowire field effect transistors (NWFET) and second type involved the development of light emitting semiconductor nanowire arrays (NWLED). Field effect transistors (NWFETs) have been prepared from arrays of polycrystalline cadmium selenide (pc-CdSe) nanowires using a back gate configuration. pc-CdSe nanowires were fabricated using the lithographically patterned nanowire electrode- position (LPNE) process on SiO2 /Si substrates. After electrodeposition, pc-CdSe nanowires were thermally annealed at 300 °C x 4 h either with or without exposure to CdCl 2 in methanol a grain growth promoter. The influence of CdCl2 treatment was to increase the mean grain diameter as determined by X-ray diffraction pattern and to convert the crystal structure from cubic to wurtzite. Transfer characteristics showed an increase of the field effect mobility (mu eff) by an order of magnitude and increase of the Ion/I off ratio by a factor of 3-4. Light emitting devices (NW-LED) based on lithographically patterned pc-CdSe nanowire arrays have been investigated. Electroluminescence (EL) spectra of CdSe nanowires under various biases exhibited broad emission spectra centered at 750 nm close to the band gap of CdSe (1.7eV). To enhance the intensity of the emitted light and the external quantum efficiency (EQE), the distance between the contacts were reduced from 5 mum to less than 1 mum which increased the efficiency by an order of magnitude. Also, increasing the annealing temperature of nanowires from 300 °C x4 h to 450 This research project is focused on a new strategy for the creation of nanowire based semiconductor devices. The main goal is to understand

Morphology Controlled Fabrication of InN Nanowires on Brass Substrates

PubMed Central

Li, Huijie; Zhao, Guijuan; Wang, Lianshan; Chen, Zhen; Yang, Shaoyan

2016-01-01

Growth of semiconductor nanowires on cheap metal substrates could pave the way to the large-scale manufacture of low-cost nanowire-based devices. In this work, we demonstrated that high density InN nanowires can be directly grown on brass substrates by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition. It was found that Zn from the brass substrates is the key factor in the formation of nanowires by restricting the lateral growth of InN. The nanowire morphology is highly dependent on the growth temperature. While at a lower growth temperature, the nanowires and the In droplets have large diameters. At the elevated growth temperature, the lateral sizes of the nanowires and the In droplets are much smaller. Moreover, the nanowire diameter can be controlled in situ by varying the temperature in the growth process. This method is very instructive to the diameter-controlled growth of nanowires of other materials. PMID:28335323

A nanowire based triboelectric nanogenerator for harvesting water wave energy and its applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xiaoyi; Tao, Juan; Zhu, Jing; Pan, Caofeng

2017-07-01

The ocean wave energy is one of the most promising renewable and clean energy sources for human life, which is the so-called "Blue energy." In this work, a nanowire based triboelectric nanogenerator was designed for harvesting wave energy. The nanowires on the surface of FEP largely raise the contacting area with water and also make the polymer film hydrophobic. The output can reach 10 μ A and 200 V. When combined with a capacitor, an infrared emitter, and a receiver, a self-powered wireless infrared system is fabricated, which can be used in the fields of communication and detecting.

Tunnel junction enhanced nanowire ultraviolet light emitting diodes

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sarwar, A. T. M. Golam; May, Brelon J.; Deitz, Julia I.

Polarization engineered interband tunnel junctions (TJs) are integrated in nanowire ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diodes (LEDs). A ∼6 V reduction in turn-on voltage is achieved by the integration of tunnel junction at the base of polarization doped nanowire UV LEDs. Moreover, efficient hole injection into the nanowire LEDs leads to suppressed efficiency droop in TJ integrated nanowire LEDs. The combination of both reduced bias voltage and increased hole injection increases the wall plug efficiency in these devices. More than 100 μW of UV emission at ∼310 nm is measured with external quantum efficiency in the range of 4–6 m%. The realization of tunnel junctionmore » within the nanowire LEDs opens a pathway towards the monolithic integration of cascaded multi-junction nanowire LEDs on silicon.« less

Bending nanowire growth in solution by mechanical disturbance.

PubMed

Wang, Chao; Wei, Yujie; Jiang, Hongyuan; Sun, Shouheng

2010-06-09

The effect of mechanical disturbance on one-dimensional nanocrystal growth in solution phase is investigated by controlled growth of Au nanowires with and without stirring. While a static growth leads to straight, single-crystal Au nanowires, the mechanic disturbance by stirring tends to bend the nanowire growth, yielding nanowire kinks abundant in various types of crystal defects including dislocations, twin boundaries, and grain boundaries. Mechanical modeling and analysis is introduced to elucidate the nanowire growth mechanisms in these two conditions. The provided fundamental understanding of crystal defect formation at nanoscale could be applied to guide the development of advanced nanomaterials with shape control and unique mechanical properties.

Tunneling Conductivity and Piezoresistivity of Composites Containing Randomly Dispersed Conductive Nano-Platelets

PubMed Central

Oskouyi, Amirhossein Biabangard; Sundararaj, Uttandaraman; Mertiny, Pierre

2014-01-01

In this study, a three-dimensional continuum percolation model was developed based on a Monte Carlo simulation approach to investigate the percolation behavior of an electrically insulating matrix reinforced with conductive nano-platelet fillers. The conductivity behavior of composites rendered conductive by randomly dispersed conductive platelets was modeled by developing a three-dimensional finite element resistor network. Parameters related to the percolation threshold and a power-low describing the conductivity behavior were determined. The piezoresistivity behavior of conductive composites was studied employing a reoriented resistor network emulating a conductive composite subjected to mechanical strain. The effects of the governing parameters, i.e., electron tunneling distance, conductive particle aspect ratio and size effects on conductivity behavior were examined. PMID:28788580

How Copper Nanowires Grow and How To Control Their Properties.

PubMed

Ye, Shengrong; Stewart, Ian E; Chen, Zuofeng; Li, Bo; Rathmell, Aaron R; Wiley, Benjamin J

2016-03-15

Scalable, solution-phase nanostructure synthesis has the promise to produce a wide variety of nanomaterials with novel properties at a cost that is low enough for these materials to be used to solve problems. For example, solution-synthesized metal nanowires are now being used to make low cost, flexible transparent electrodes in touch screens, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), and solar cells. There has been a tremendous increase in the number of solution-phase syntheses that enable control over the assembly of atoms into nanowires in the last 15 years, but proposed mechanisms for nanowire formation are usually qualitative, and for many syntheses there is little consensus as to how nanowires form. It is often not clear what species is adding to a nanowire growing in solution or what mechanistic step limits its rate of growth. A deeper understanding of nanowire growth is important for efficiently directing the development of nanowire synthesis toward producing a wide variety of nanostructure morphologies for structure-property studies or producing precisely defined nanostructures for a specific application. This Account reviews our progress over the last five years toward understanding how copper nanowires form in solution, how to direct their growth into nanowires with dimensions ideally suited for use in transparent conducting films, and how to use copper nanowires as a template to grow core-shell nanowires. The key advance enabling a better understanding of copper nanowire growth is the first real-time visualization of nanowire growth in solution, enabling the acquisition of nanowire growth kinetics. By measuring the growth rate of individual nanowires as a function of concentration of the reactants and temperature, we show that a growing copper nanowire can be thought of as a microelectrode that is charged with electrons by hydrazine and grows through the diffusion-limited addition of Cu(OH)2(-). This deeper mechanistic understanding, coupled to an

Semiconductor Nanowires and Nanotubes for Energy Conversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fardy, Melissa Anne

In recent years semiconductor nanowires and nanotubes have garnered increased attention for their unique properties. With their nanoscale dimensions comes high surface area and quantum confinement, promising enhancements in a wide range of applications. 1-dimensional nanostructures are especially attractive for energy conversion applications where photons, phonons, and electrons come into play. Since the bohr exciton radius and phonon and electron mean free paths are on the same length scales as nanowire diameters, optical, thermal, and electrical properties can be tuned by simple nanowire size adjustments. In addition, the high surface area inherent to nanowires and nanotubes lends them towards efficient charge separation and superior catalytic performance. In thermoelectric power generation, the nanoscale wire diameter can effectively scatter phonons, promoting reductions in thermal conductivity and enhancements in the thermoelectric figure of merit. To that end, single-crystalline arrays of PbS, PbSe, and PbTe nanowires have been synthesized by a chemical vapor transport approach. The electrical and thermal transport properties of the nanowires were characterized to investigate their potential as thermoelectric materials. Compared to bulk, the lead chalcogenide nanowires exhibit reduced thermal conductivity below 100 K by up to 3 orders of magnitude, suggesting that they may be promising thermoelectric materials. Smaller diameters and increased surface roughness are expected to give additional enhancements. The solution-phase synthesis of PbSe nanowires via oriented attachment of nanoparticles enables facile surface engineering and diameter control. Branched PbSe nanowires synthesized by this approach showed near degenerately doped charge carrier concentrations. Compared to the bulk, the PbSe nanowires exhibited a similar Seebeck coefficient and a significant reduction in thermal conductivity in the temperature range 20 K to 300 K. Thermal annealing of the Pb

Highly patterned growth of SnO2 nanowires using a sub-atmospheric vapor-liquid-solid deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akbari, M.; Mohajerzadeh, S.

2017-08-01

We report the realization of tin-oxide nanowires on patterned structures using a vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) process. While gold acts as the catalyst for the growth of wires, a tin-oxide containing sol-gel solution is spin coated on silicon substrate to act as the source for SnO vapor. The growth of tin-oxide nano-structures occurs mostly at the vicinity of the pre-deposited solution. By patterning the gold as the catalyst material, one is able to observe the growth at desired places. The growth of nanowires is highly dense within 100 µm away from such in situ source and their length is of the order of 5 µm. By further distancing from the source, the growth becomes more limited and nanowires become shorter and more sparsely distributed. The growth of nanowires has been studied using scanning and transmission electron microscopy tools while their composition has been investigated using XRD and EDS analyses. As a novel application, we have employed the grown nanowires as electron detection elements to measure the emitted electrons from electron sources. This configuration can be further used as electron detectors for scanning electron microscopes.

Miniaturized accelerometer made with ZnO nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Sangho; Kim, Jeong Woong; Kim, Hyun Chan; Yun, Youngmin; Kim, Jaehwan

2017-04-01

Miniaturized accelerometer is required in many applications, such as, robotics, haptic devices, gyroscopes, simulators and mobile devices. ZnO is an essential semiconductor material with wide direct band gap, thermal stability and piezoelectricity. Especially, well aligned ZnO nanowire is appropriate for piezoelectric applications since it can produce high electrical signal under mechanical load. To miniaturize accelerometer, an aligned ZnO nanowire is adopted to implement active piezoelectric layer of the accelerometer and copper is chosen for the head mass. To grow ZnO nanowire on the copper head mass, hydrothermal synthesis is conducted and the effect of ZnO nanowire length on the accelerometer performance is investigated. Refresh hydrothermal synthesis can increase the length of ZnO nanowire. The performance of the fabricated ZnO accelerometers is compared with a commercial accelerometer. Sensitivity and linearity of the fabricated accelerometers are investigated.

Transformation of bulk alloys to oxide nanowires.

PubMed

Lei, Danni; Benson, Jim; Magasinski, Alexandre; Berdichevsky, Gene; Yushin, Gleb

2017-01-20

One dimensional (1D) nanostructures offer prospects for enhancing the electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties of a broad range of functional materials and composites, but their synthesis methods are typically elaborate and expensive. We demonstrate a direct transformation of bulk materials into nanowires under ambient conditions without the use of catalysts or any external stimuli. The nanowires form via minimization of strain energy at the boundary of a chemical reaction front. We show the transformation of multimicrometer-sized particles of aluminum or magnesium alloys into alkoxide nanowires of tunable dimensions, which are converted into oxide nanowires upon heating in air. Fabricated separators based on aluminum oxide nanowires enhanced the safety and rate capabilities of lithium-ion batteries. The reported approach allows ultralow-cost scalable synthesis of 1D materials and membranes. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Silicon nanowire Esaki diodes.

PubMed

Schmid, Heinz; Bessire, Cedric; Björk, Mikael T; Schenk, Andreas; Riel, Heike

2012-02-08

We report on the fabrication and characterization of silicon nanowire tunnel diodes. The silicon nanowires were grown on p-type Si substrates using Au-catalyzed vapor-liquid-solid growth and in situ n-type doping. Electrical measurements reveal Esaki diode characteristics with peak current densities of 3.6 kA/cm(2), peak-to-valley current ratios of up to 4.3, and reverse current densities of up to 300 kA/cm(2) at 0.5 V reverse bias. Strain-dependent current-voltage (I-V) measurements exhibit a decrease of the peak tunnel current with uniaxial tensile stress and an increase of 48% for 1.3 GPa compressive stress along the <111> growth direction, revealing the strain dependence of the Si band structure and thus the tunnel barrier. The contributions of phonons to the indirect tunneling process were probed by conductance measurements at 4.2 K. These measurements show phonon peaks at energies corresponding to the transverse acoustical and transverse optical phonons. In addition, the low-temperature conductance measurements were extended to higher biases to identify potential impurity states in the band gap. The results demonstrate that the most likely impurity, namely, Au from the catalyst particle, is not detectable, a finding that is also supported by the excellent device properties of the Esaki diodes reported here. © 2012 American Chemical Society

Nickel-copper oxide nanowires for highly sensitive sensing of glucose

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Xiaofang; Chen, Wei; Song, Yanfang; Zhang, Jiazhou; Ge, Ruipeng; Wei, Wei; Jiao, Zheng; Sun, Yuhan

2017-10-01

Accurate determination of glucose is of considerable importance in diverse fields such as clinical diagnostics, biotechnology, and food industry. A low-cost and easy to scale-up approach has been developed for the preparation of nickel-copper oxide nanowires (Ni-CuO NWs) with hierarchical structures comprising porous NiO substrate and CuO nanowires. The successfully prepared Ni-CuO NWs were exploited as non-enzymatic electrochemical sensing probes for the reliable detection of glucose. Electrochemical measurements such as cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry (CA) illustrated that the Ni-CuO NWs exhibited excellent electrochemical performance toward glucose oxidation with a superior sensitivity of 5610.6 μA mM-1 cm-2, a low detection limit of 0.07 μM, a wide linear range from 0.2 to 3.0 mM, and a good selectivity. This was attributed to the synergetic effect of the hierarchical structures and active Ni(OH)2 surface species in Ni-CuO NWs. The rational design of the metal oxide composites provided an efficient strategy for the fabrication of electrochemical non-enzymatic sensors.

Sputtered gold-coated ITO nanowires by alternating depositions from Indium and ITO targets for application in surface-enhanced Raman scattering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Setti, Grazielle O.; Mamián-López, Mónica B.; Pessoa, Priscila R.; Poppi, Ronei J.; Joanni, Ednan; Jesus, Dosil P.

2015-08-01

Indium Tin oxide (ITO) nanowires were deposited by RF sputtering over oxidized silicon using ITO and Indium targets. The nanowires grew on the substrate with a catalyst layer of Indium by the vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) mechanism. Modifications in the deposition conditions affected the morphology and dimensions of the nanowires. The samples, after being covered with gold, were evaluated as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrates for detection of dye solutions and very good intensifications of the Raman signal were obtained. The SERS performance of the samples was also compared to that of a commercial SERS substrate and the results achieved were similar. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time ITO nanowires were grown by the sputtering technique using oxide and metal targets.

Microbial nanowires and methods of making and using

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reguera, Gemma; Cologgi, Dena; Worden, Robert Mark

Electrically conductive nanowires, and genetically or chemically modified production and use of such nanowires with altered conductive, adhesive, coupling or other properties are described. The disclosed nanowires are used as device or device components or may be adapted for soluble metal remediation.

Controlled Living Nanowire Growth: Precise Control over the Morphology and Optical Properties of AgAuAg Bimetallic Nanowires

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Inspired by the concept of living polymerization reaction, we are able to produce silver–gold–silver nanowires with a precise control over their total length and plasmonic properties by establishing a constant silver deposition rate on the tips of penta-twinned gold nanorods used as seed cores. Consequently, the length of the wires increases linearly in time. Starting with ∼210 nm × 32 nm gold cores, we produce nanowire lengths up to several microns in a highly controlled manner, with a small self-limited increase in thickness of ∼4 nm, corresponding to aspect ratios above 100, whereas the low polydispersity of the product allows us to detect up to nine distinguishable plasmonic resonances in a single colloidal solution. We analyze the spatial distribution and the nature of the plasmons by electron energy loss spectroscopy and obtain excellent agreement between measurements and electromagnetic simulations, clearly demonstrating that the presence of the gold core plays a marginal role, except for relatively short wires or high-energy modes. PMID:26134470

Catalyst-free, III-V nanowire photovoltaics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davies, D. G.; Lambert, N.; Fry, P. W.; Foster, A.; Krysa, A. B.; Wilson, L. R.

2014-05-01

We report on room temperature, photovoltaic operation of catalyst-free GaAs p-i-n junction nanowire arrays. Growth studies were first performed to determine the optimum conditions for controlling the vertical and lateral growth of the nanowires. Following this, devices consisting of axial p-i-n junctions were fabricated by planarising the nanowire arrays with a hard baked polymer. We discuss the photovoltaic properties of this proof-of-concept device, and significant improvements to be made during the growth.

Flexible integration of free-standing nanowires into silicon photonics.

PubMed

Chen, Bigeng; Wu, Hao; Xin, Chenguang; Dai, Daoxin; Tong, Limin

2017-06-14

Silicon photonics has been developed successfully with a top-down fabrication technique to enable large-scale photonic integrated circuits with high reproducibility, but is limited intrinsically by the material capability for active or nonlinear applications. On the other hand, free-standing nanowires synthesized via a bottom-up growth present great material diversity and structural uniformity, but precisely assembling free-standing nanowires for on-demand photonic functionality remains a great challenge. Here we report hybrid integration of free-standing nanowires into silicon photonics with high flexibility by coupling free-standing nanowires onto target silicon waveguides that are simultaneously used for precise positioning. Coupling efficiency between a free-standing nanowire and a silicon waveguide is up to ~97% in the telecommunication band. A hybrid nonlinear-free-standing nanowires-silicon waveguides Mach-Zehnder interferometer and a racetrack resonator for significantly enhanced optical modulation are experimentally demonstrated, as well as hybrid active-free-standing nanowires-silicon waveguides circuits for light generation. These results suggest an alternative approach to flexible multifunctional on-chip nanophotonic devices.Precisely assembling free-standing nanowires for on-demand photonic functionality remains a challenge. Here, Chen et al. integrate free-standing nanowires into silicon waveguides and show all-optical modulation and light generation on silicon photonic chips.

Synthesis of nanostructures in nanowires using sequential catalyst reactions

PubMed Central

Panciera, F.; Chou, Y.-C.; Reuter, M.C.; Zakharov, D.; Stach, E.A.; Hofmann, S.; Ross, F.M.

2016-01-01

Nanowire growth by the vapor-liquid-solid process enables a high level of control over nanowire composition, diameter, growth direction, branching and kinking, periodic twinning, and crystal structure. The tremendous impact of VLS-grown nanowires is due to this structural versatility, generating applications ranging from solid state lighting and single photon sources to thermoelectric devices. Here we show that the morphology of these nanostructures can be further tailored by using the liquid droplets that catalyze nanowire growth as a “mixing bowl”, in which growth materials are sequentially supplied to nucleate new phases. Growing within the liquid, these phases adopt the shape of faceted nanocrystals that are then incorporated into the nanowires by further growth. We demonstrate this concept by epitaxially incorporating metal silicide nanocrystals into Si nanowires with defect-free interfaces, and discuss how this process can be generalized to create complex nanowire-based heterostructures. PMID:26168344

Attosecond-controlled photoemission from metal nanowire tips in the few-electron regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahn, B.; Schötz, J.; Kang, M.; Okell, W. A.; Mitra, S.; Förg, B.; Zherebtsov, S.; Süßmann, F.; Burger, C.; Kübel, M.; Liu, C.; Wirth, A.; Di Fabrizio, E.; Yanagisawa, H.; Kim, D.; Kim, B.; Kling, M. F.

2017-03-01

Metal nanotip photoemitters have proven to be versatile in fundamental nanoplasmonics research and applications, including, e.g., the generation of ultrafast electron pulses, the adiabatic focusing of plasmons, and as light-triggered electron sources for microscopy. Here, we report the generation of high energy photoelectrons (up to 160 eV) in photoemission from single-crystalline nanowire tips in few-cycle, 750-nm laser fields at peak intensities of (2-7.3) × 1012 W/cm2. Recording the carrier-envelope phase (CEP)-dependent photoemission from the nanowire tips allows us to identify rescattering contributions and also permits us to determine the high-energy cutoff of the electron spectra as a function of laser intensity. So far these types of experiments from metal nanotips have been limited to an emission regime with less than one electron per pulse. We detect up to 13 e/shot and given the limited detection efficiency, we expect up to a few ten times more electrons being emitted from the nanowire. Within the investigated intensity range, we find linear scaling of cutoff energies. The nonlinear scaling of electron count rates is consistent with tunneling photoemission occurring in the absence of significant charge interaction. The high electron energy gain is attributed to field-induced rescattering in the enhanced nanolocalized fields at the wires apex, where a strong CEP-modulation is indicative of the attosecond control of photoemission.

Coupling of semiconductor nanowires with neurons and their interfacial structure.

PubMed

Lee, Ki-Young; Shim, Sojung; Kim, Il-Soo; Oh, Hwangyou; Kim, Sunoh; Ahn, Jae-Pyeong; Park, Seung-Han; Rhim, Hyewhon; Choi, Heon-Jin

2009-12-04

We report on the compatibility of various nanowires with hippocampal neurons and the structural study of the neuron-nanowire interface. Si, Ge, SiGe, and GaN nanowires are compatible with hippocampal neurons due to their native oxide, but ZnO nanowires are toxic to neuron due to a release of Zn ion. The interfaces of fixed Si nanowire and hippocampal neuron, cross-sectional samples, were prepared by focused ion beam and observed by transmission electron microscopy. The results showed that the processes of neuron were adhered well on the nanowire without cleft.

Ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of avian influenza A (H7N9) virus DNA based on isothermal exponential amplification coupled with hybridization chain reaction of DNAzyme nanowires.

PubMed

Yu, Yanyan; Chen, Zuanguang; Jian, Wensi; Sun, Duanping; Zhang, Beibei; Li, Xinchun; Yao, Meicun

2015-02-15

In this work, a simple and label-free electrochemical biosensor with duel amplification strategy was developed for DNA detection based on isothermal exponential amplification (EXPAR) coupled with hybridization chain reaction (HCR) of DNAzymes nanowires. Through rational design, neither the primer nor the DNAzymes containing molecular beacons (MBs) could react with the duplex probe which were fixed on the electrode surface. Once challenged with target, the duplex probe cleaved and triggered the EXPAR mediated target recycle and regeneration circles as well as the HCR process. As a result, a greater amount of targets were generated to cleave the duplex probes. Subsequently, the nanowires consisting of the G-quadruplex units were self-assembled through hybridization with the strand fixed on the electrode surface. In the presence of hemin, the resulting catalytic G-quadruplex-hemin HRP-mimicking DNAzymes were formed. Electrochemical signals can be obtained by measuring the increase in reduction current of oxidized 3.3',5.5'-tetramethylbenzidine sulfate (TMB), which was generated by DNAzyme in the presence of H2O2. This method exhibited ultrahigh sensitivity towards avian influenza A (H7N9) virus DNA sequence with detection limits of 9.4 fM and a detection range of 4 orders of magnitude. The biosensor was also capable of discriminating single-nucleotide difference among concomitant DNA sequences and performed well in spiked cell lysates. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Superconducting nanowires as nonlinear inductive elements for qubits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ku, Jaseung; Manucharyan, Vladimir; Bezryadin, Alexey

2010-10-01

We report microwave transmission measurements of superconducting Fabry-Perot resonators, having a superconducting nanowire placed at a supercurrent antinode. As the plasma oscillation is excited, the supercurrent is forced to flow through the nanowire. The microwave transmission of the resonator-nanowire device shows a nonlinear resonance behavior, significantly dependent on the amplitude of the supercurrent oscillation. We show that such amplitude-dependent response is due to the nonlinearity of the current-phase relationship of the nanowire. The results are explained within a nonlinear oscillator model of the Duffing oscillator, in which the nanowire acts as a purely inductive element, in the limit of low temperatures and low amplitudes. The low-quality factor sample exhibits a “crater” at the resonance peak at higher driving power, which is due to dissipation. We observe a hysteretic bifurcation behavior of the transmission response to frequency sweep in a sample with a higher quality factor. The Duffing model is used to explain the Duffing bistability diagram. We also propose a concept of a nanowire-based qubit that relies on the current dependence of the kinetic inductance of a superconducting nanowire.

Highly Efficient SERS Nanowire/Ag Composites

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-01-01

Ga2O3 nanowires was performed by the vapor- liquid-solid (VLS) growth in a tube furnace, using Si(100) and Si(111) substrates and a 20 nm Au film3. Ga...Rhodamine 6G/methanol and DNT/methanol dilutions. The Ga2O3 /Ag nanowire composite substrates are shown in Figure 1a. As can be seen, they consist of a...significant improvement over nanosphere-type SERS substrates. Conclusion: Randomly oriented Ga2O3 /Ag nanowire networks have been formed and we

Radiation Effects in III-V Nanowire Devices

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

Nanowire Devices Distribution Statement A. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. September 2016 HDTRA1-11-1-0021 Steven R...Name: Prof. S. R. J. Brueck Organization/Institution: University of New Mexico Project Title: Radiation Effects in III-V Nanowire Devices What are...the agency approved application or plan. The objectives of this program were to: a) develop a new nanowire transistor technology based on nanoscale

Morphology and Doping Engineering of Sn-Doped Hematite Nanowire Photoanodes.

PubMed

Li, Mingyang; Yang, Yi; Ling, Yichuan; Qiu, Weitao; Wang, Fuxin; Liu, Tianyu; Song, Yu; Liu, Xiaoxia; Fang, Pingping; Tong, Yexiang; Li, Yat

2017-04-12

High-temperature activation has been commonly used to boost the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance of hematite nanowires for water oxidation, by inducing Sn diffusion from fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) substrate into hematite. Yet, hematite nanowires thermally annealed at high temperature suffer from two major drawbacks that negatively affect their performance. First, the structural deformation reduces light absorption capability of nanowire. Second, this "passive" doping method leads to nonuniform distribution of Sn dopant in nanowire and limits the Sn doping concentration. Both factors impair the electrochemical properties of hematite nanowire. Here we demonstrate a silica encapsulation method that is able to simultaneously retain the hematite nanowire morphology even after high-temperature calcination at 800 °C and improve the concentration and uniformity of dopant distribution along the nanowire growth axis. The capability of retaining nanowire morphology allows tuning the nanowire length for optimal light absorption. Uniform distribution of Sn doping enhances the donor density and charge transport of hematite nanowire. The morphology and doping engineered hematite nanowire photoanode decorated with a cobalt oxide-based oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst achieves an outstanding photocurrent density of 2.2 mA cm -2 at 0.23 V vs Ag/AgCl. This work provides important insights on how the morphology and doping uniformity of hematite photoanodes affect their PEC performance.

A superconducting nanowire can be modeled by using SPICE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berggren, Karl K.; Zhao, Qing-Yuan; Abebe, Nathnael; Chen, Minjie; Ravindran, Prasana; McCaughan, Adam; Bardin, Joseph C.

2018-05-01

Modeling of superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors typically requires custom simulations or finite-element analysis in one or two dimensions. Here, we demonstrate two simplified one-dimensional SPICE models of a superconducting nanowire that can quickly and efficiently describe the electrical characteristics of a superconducting nanowire. These models may be of particular use in understanding alternative architectures for nanowire detectors and readouts.

Dopant radial inhomogeneity in Mg-doped GaN nanowires.

PubMed

Siladie, Alexandra-Madalina; Amichi, Lynda; Mollard, Nicolas; Mouton, Isabelle; Bonef, Bastien; Bougerol, Catherine; Grenier, Adeline; Robin, Eric; Jouneau, Pierre-Henri; Garro, Nuria; Cros, Ana; Daudin, Bruno

2018-06-22

Using atom probe tomography, it is demonstrated that Mg doping of GaN nanowires grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy results in a marked radial inhomogeneity, namely a higher Mg content in the periphery of the nanowires. This spatial inhomogeneity is attributed to a preferential incorporation of Mg through the m-plane sidewalls of nanowires and is related to the formation of a Mg-rich surface which is stabilized by hydrogen. This is further supported by Raman spectroscopy experiments which give evidence of Mg-H complexes in the doped nanowires. A Mg doping mechanism such as this, specific to nanowires, may lead to higher levels of Mg doping than in layers, boosting the potential interest of nanowires for light emitting diode applications.

Capping of rare earth silicide nanowires on Si(001)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Appelfeller, Stephan; Franz, Martin; Kubicki, Milan

The capping of Tb and Dy silicide nanowires grown on Si(001) was studied using scanning tunneling microscopy and cross-sectional high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. Several nanometers thick amorphous Si films deposited at room temperature allow an even capping, while the nanowires maintain their original structural properties. Subsequent recrystallization by thermal annealing leads to more compact nanowire structures and to troughs in the Si layer above the nanowires, which may even reach down to the nanowires in the case of thin Si films, as well as to V-shaped stacking faults forming along (111) lattice planes. This behavior is related to strain duemore » to the lattice mismatch between the Si overlayer and the nanowires.« less

Dopant radial inhomogeneity in Mg-doped GaN nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siladie, Alexandra-Madalina; Amichi, Lynda; Mollard, Nicolas; Mouton, Isabelle; Bonef, Bastien; Bougerol, Catherine; Grenier, Adeline; Robin, Eric; Jouneau, Pierre-Henri; Garro, Nuria; Cros, Ana; Daudin, Bruno

2018-06-01

Using atom probe tomography, it is demonstrated that Mg doping of GaN nanowires grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy results in a marked radial inhomogeneity, namely a higher Mg content in the periphery of the nanowires. This spatial inhomogeneity is attributed to a preferential incorporation of Mg through the m-plane sidewalls of nanowires and is related to the formation of a Mg-rich surface which is stabilized by hydrogen. This is further supported by Raman spectroscopy experiments which give evidence of Mg-H complexes in the doped nanowires. A Mg doping mechanism such as this, specific to nanowires, may lead to higher levels of Mg doping than in layers, boosting the potential interest of nanowires for light emitting diode applications.

Ultrahigh-Sensitivity Piezoresistive Pressure Sensors for Detection of Tiny Pressure.

PubMed

Li, Hongwei; Wu, Kunjie; Xu, Zeyang; Wang, Zhongwu; Meng, Yancheng; Li, Liqiang

2018-06-20

High-sensitivity pressure sensors are crucial for the ultrasensitive touch technology and E-skin, especially at the tiny-pressure range below 100 Pa. However, it is highly challenging to substantially promote sensitivity beyond the current level at several to 200 kPa -1 and to improve the detection limit lower than 0.1 Pa, which is significant for the development of pressure sensors toward ultrasensitive and highly precise detection. Here, we develop an efficient strategy to greatly improve the sensitivity near to 2000 kPa -1 using short-channel coplanar device structure and sharp microstructure, which is systematically proposed for the first time and rationalized by the mathematic calculation and analysis. Significantly, benefiting from the ultrahigh sensitivity, the detection limit is improved to be as small as 0.075 Pa. The sensitivity and detection limit are both superior to the current levels and far surpass the function of human skin. Furthermore, the sensor shows fast response time (50 μs), excellent reproducibility and stability, and low power consumption. Remarkably, the sensor shows excellent detection capacity in the tiny-pressure range, including light-emitting diode switching with a pressure of 7 Pa, ringtone (2-20 Pa) recognition, and ultrasensitive (0.1 Pa) electronic glove. This work represents a performance and strategic progress in the field of pressure sensing.

Synthesis of nanostructures in nanowires using sequential catalyst reactions

DOE PAGES

Panciera, F.; Chou, Y. -C.; Reuter, M. C.; ...

2015-07-13

Nanowire growth by the vapour–liquid–solid (VLS) process enables a high level of control over nanowire composition, diameter, growth direction, branching and kinking, periodic twinning, and crystal structure. The tremendous impact of VLS-grown nanowires is due to this structural versatility, generating applications ranging from solid-state lighting and single-photon sources to thermoelectric devices. Here, we show that the morphology of these nanostructures can be further tailored by using the liquid droplets that catalyse nanowire growth as a ‘mixing bowl’, in which growth materials are sequentially supplied to nucleate new phases. Growing within the liquid, these phases adopt the shape of faceted nanocrystalsmore » that are then incorporated into the nanowires by further growth. Furthermore, we demonstrate this concept by epitaxially incorporating metal-silicide nanocrystals into Si nanowires with defect-free interfaces, and discuss how this process can be generalized to create complex nanowire-based heterostructures.« less

Three Realizations and Comparison of Hardware for Piezoresistive Tactile Sensors

PubMed Central

Vidal-Verdú, Fernando; Oballe-Peinado, Óscar; Sánchez-Durán, José A.; Castellanos-Ramos, Julián; Navas-González, Rafael

2011-01-01

Tactile sensors are basically arrays of force sensors that are intended to emulate the skin in applications such as assistive robotics. Local electronics are usually implemented to reduce errors and interference caused by long wires. Realizations based on standard microcontrollers, Programmable Systems on Chip (PSoCs) and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have been proposed by the authors for the case of piezoresistive tactile sensors. The solution employing FPGAs is especially relevant since their performance is closer to that of Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) than that of the other devices. This paper presents an implementation of such an idea for a specific sensor. For the purpose of comparison, the circuitry based on the other devices is also made for the same sensor. This paper discusses the implementation issues, provides details regarding the design of the hardware based on the three devices and compares them. PMID:22163797

Preparation, characterization, physical properties, and photoconducting behaviour of anthracene derivative nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiao, Jinchong; Yin, Zongyou; Yang, Bo; Liu, Yi; Ji, Li; Guo, Jun; Huang, Ling; Liu, Xuewei; Yan, Qingyu; Zhang, Hua; Zhang, Qichun

2011-11-01

Organic nanowires of 9,10-dibromoanthracene (DBA) and 9,10-dicyanoanthracene (DCNA) were obtained by adding the THF solution of DBA/DCNA into water containing P123 surfactants. The as-prepared nanowires were characterized by UV-vis, fluorescence spectra, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). We found that DBA and DCNA nanowires emitted green light rather than blue light for molecules in THF solution. The red-shift UV and fluorescent spectra of DBA and DCNA nanowires implied that these nanowires were formed through J-aggregation. The photoconducting study of DBA/DCNA nanowire-based network on rGO/SiO2/Si shows different photocurrent behaviors upon irradiation, which displayed that electron transfer from DCNA nanowire to rGO was stronger than that of DBA nanowires to rGO.Organic nanowires of 9,10-dibromoanthracene (DBA) and 9,10-dicyanoanthracene (DCNA) were obtained by adding the THF solution of DBA/DCNA into water containing P123 surfactants. The as-prepared nanowires were characterized by UV-vis, fluorescence spectra, Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). We found that DBA and DCNA nanowires emitted green light rather than blue light for molecules in THF solution. The red-shift UV and fluorescent spectra of DBA and DCNA nanowires implied that these nanowires were formed through J-aggregation. The photoconducting study of DBA/DCNA nanowire-based network on rGO/SiO2/Si shows different photocurrent behaviors upon irradiation, which displayed that electron transfer from DCNA nanowire to rGO was stronger than that of DBA nanowires to rGO. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: XRD patterns and simulations, and FT-IR spectra. CCDC reference numbers 840471. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c1nr10655d

Ferromagnetism and semiconducting of boron nanowires

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

More recently, motivated by extensively technical applications of carbon nanostructures, there is a growing interest in exploring novel non-carbon nanostructures. As the nearest neighbor of carbon in the periodic table, boron has exceptional properties of low volatility and high melting point and is stronger than steel, harder than corundum, and lighter than aluminum. Boron nanostructures thus are expected to have broad applications in various circumstances. In this contribution, we have performed a systematical study of the stability and electronic and magnetic properties of boron nanowires using the spin-polarized density functional calculations. Our calculations have revealed that there are six stable configurations of boron nanowires obtained by growing along different base vectors from the unit cell of the bulk α-rhombohedral boron (α-B) and β-rhombohedral boron (β-B). Well known, the boron bulk is usually metallic without magnetism. However, theoretical results about the magnetic and electronic properties showed that, whether for the α-B-based or the β-B-based nanowires, their magnetism is dependent on the growing direction. When the boron nanowires grow along the base vector [001], they exhibit ferromagnetism and have the magnetic moments of 1.98 and 2.62 μB, respectively, for the α-c [001] and β-c [001] directions. Electronically, when the boron nanowire grows along the α-c [001] direction, it shows semiconducting and has the direct bandgap of 0.19 eV. These results showed that boron nanowires possess the unique direction dependence of the magnetic and semiconducting behaviors, which are distinctly different from that of the bulk boron. Therefore, these theoretical findings would bring boron nanowires to have many promising applications that are novel for the boron bulk. PMID:23244063

Mechanical characterization of metallic nanowires by using a customized atomic microscope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Celik, Emrah

A new experimental method to characterize the mechanical properties of metallic nanowires is introduced. An accurate and fast mechanical characterization of nanowires requires simultaneous imaging and testing of nanowires. However, there exists no practical experimental procedure in the literature that provides a quantitative mechanical analysis and imaging of the nanowire specimens during mechanical testing. In this study, a customized atomic force microscope (AFM) is placed inside a scanning electron microscope (SEM) in order to locate the position of the nanowires. The tip of the atomic force microscope cantilever is utilized to bend and break the nanowires. The nanowires are prepared by electroplating of nickel ions into the nanoscale pores of the alumina membranes. Force versus bending displacement responses of these nanowires are measured experimentally and then compared against those of the finite element analysis and peridynamic simulations to extract their mechanical properties through an inverse approach. The average elastic modulus of nickel nanowires, which are extracted using finite element analysis and peridynamic simulations, varies between 220 GPa and 225 GPa. The elastic modulus of bulk nickel published in the literature is comparable to that of nickel nanowires. This observation agrees well with the previous findings on nanowires stating that the elastic modulus of nanowires with diameters over 100nm is similar to that of bulk counterparts. The average yield stress of nickel nanowires, which are extracted using finite element analysis and peridynamic simulations, is found to be between 3.6 GPa to 4.1 GPa. The average value of yield stress of nickel nanowires with 250nm diameter is significantly higher than that of bulk nickel. Higher yield stress of nickel nanowires observed in this study can be explained by the lower defect density of nickel nanowires when compared to their bulk counterparts. Deviation in the extracted mechanical properties is

Additional compound semiconductor nanowires for photonics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishikawa, F.

2016-02-01

GaAs related compound semiconductor heterostructures are one of the most developed materials for photonics. Those have realized various photonic devices with high efficiency, e. g., lasers, electro-optical modulators, and solar cells. To extend the functions of the materials system, diluted nitride and bismide has been paid attention over the past decade. They can largely decrease the band gap of the alloys, providing the greater tunability of band gap and strain status, eventually suppressing the non-radiative Auger recombinations. On the other hand, selective oxidation for AlGaAs is a vital technique for vertical surface emitting lasers. That enables precisely controlled oxides in the system, enabling the optical and electrical confinement, heat transfer, and mechanical robustness. We introduce the above functions into GaAs nanowires. GaAs/GaAsN core-shell nanowires showed clear redshift of the emitting wavelength toward infrared regime. Further, the introduction of N elongated the carrier lifetime at room temperature indicating the passivation of non-radiative surface recombinations. GaAs/GaAsBi nanowire shows the redshift with metamorphic surface morphology. Selective and whole oxidations of GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires produce semiconductor/oxide composite GaAs/AlGaOx and oxide GaOx/AlGaOx core-shell nanowires, respectively. Possibly sourced from nano-particle species, the oxide shell shows white luminescence. Those property should extend the functions of the nanowires for their application to photonics.

Nano-soldering of magnetically aligned three-dimensional nanowire networks.

PubMed

Gao, Fan; Gu, Zhiyong

2010-03-19

It is extremely challenging to fabricate 3D integrated nanostructures and hybrid nanoelectronic devices. In this paper, we report a simple and efficient method to simultaneously assemble and solder nanowires into ordered 3D and electrically conductive nanowire networks. Nano-solders such as tin were fabricated onto both ends of multi-segmented nanowires by a template-assisted electrodeposition method. These nanowires were then self-assembled and soldered into large-scale 3D network structures by magnetic field assisted assembly in a liquid medium with a high boiling point. The formation of junctions/interconnects between the nanowires and the scale of the assembly were dependent on the solder reflow temperature and the strength of the magnetic field. The size of the assembled nanowire networks ranged from tens of microns to millimeters. The electrical characteristics of the 3D nanowire networks were measured by regular current-voltage (I-V) measurements using a probe station with micropositioners. Nano-solders, when combined with assembling techniques, can be used to efficiently connect and join nanowires with low contact resistance, which are very well suited for sensor integration as well as nanoelectronic device fabrication.

Permanent bending and alignment of ZnO nanowires.

PubMed

Borschel, Christian; Spindler, Susann; Lerose, Damiana; Bochmann, Arne; Christiansen, Silke H; Nietzsche, Sandor; Oertel, Michael; Ronning, Carsten

2011-05-06

Ion beams can be used to permanently bend and re-align nanowires after growth. We have irradiated ZnO nanowires with energetic ions, achieving bending and alignment in different directions. Not only the bending of single nanowires is studied in detail, but also the simultaneous alignment of large ensembles of ZnO nanowires. Computer simulations reveal how the bending is initiated by ion beam induced damage. Detailed structural characterization identifies dislocations to relax stresses and make the bending and alignment permanent, even surviving annealing procedures.

Aluminum-catalyzed silicon nanowires: Growth methods, properties, and applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hainey, Mel F.; Redwing, Joan M.

Metal-mediated vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) growth is a promising approach for the fabrication of silicon nanowires, although residual metal incorporation into the nanowires during growth can adversely impact electronic properties particularly when metals such as gold and copper are utilized. Aluminum, which acts as a shallow acceptor in silicon, is therefore of significant interest for the growth of p-type silicon nanowires but has presented challenges due to its propensity for oxidation. This paper summarizes the key aspects of aluminum-catalyzed nanowire growth along with wire properties and device results. In the first section, aluminum-catalyzed nanowire growth is discussed with a specific emphasis onmore » methods to mitigate aluminum oxide formation. Next, the influence of growth parameters such as growth temperature, precursor partial pressure, and hydrogen partial pressure on nanowire morphology is discussed, followed by a brief review of the growth of templated and patterned arrays of nanowires. Aluminum incorporation into the nanowires is then discussed in detail, including measurements of the aluminum concentration within wires using atom probe tomography and assessment of electrical properties by four point resistance measurements. Finally, the use of aluminum-catalyzed VLS growth for device fabrication is reviewed including results on single-wire radial p-n junction solar cells and planar solar cells fabricated with nanowire/nanopyramid texturing.« less