A distributed Bragg reflector porous silicon layer for optical interferometric sensing of organic vapor

In this study, we successfully demonstrated the rapid, sensitive, and reversible sensing of organic vapor using a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) porous silicon (PS) layer. We fabricated the DBR PS layer on a p⁺-type silicon substrate and investigated its reflectance spectra before, during, and after exposure to the different concentrations of various organic vapors. When the DBR PS layer sample was exposed to methanol, acetone, ethanol, and isopropanol vapors, the maximum reflectance peak promptly shifted toward longer wavelengths by about 4.5, 23.2, 26.0, and 38.2 nm, respectively. We determined that the red-shift in the reflectance spectrum could be attributed to the changes in the refractive index induced by the capillary condensation of the organic vapor within the pores of the DBR PS layer. The DBR PS layer showed excellent sensing ability under the different concentrations and types of organic vapors. In addition, a slight hysteresis of the red-shift was observed during repeated exposure to organic vapors at different concentrations. After removing the organic vapors, the reflectance spectrum promptly returned to its original state.     

Fabrication of a thin plasmonic color sheet embedded with Al subwavelength gratings in parylene

In this study, we developed a thin plasmonic color sheet (TPCS) embedded with Al subwavelength gratings for use in flexible optical transmission filters, and experimentally demonstrated its transmission characteristics. Al subwavelength gratings were formed in a freestanding thin poly-para-xylylene (parylene-N) film less than 1-μm thick by using electron beam (EB) direct writing and sacrificial etching. The fabricated TPCS contained Al subwavelength gratings with periods ranging from 400 nm to 600 nm, and succeeded in shifting the transmission peak wavelength from 510 nm to 650 nm in the visible range. The freestanding thin parylene-N film deposited by room-temperature chemical vapor deposition provided enough flatness to the TPCS with a height difference of 900 nm in a whole filter area, resulting in uniform transmission spectra. The experimentally obtained peak shift dependent on the grating period agreed well with theoretical calculation results.     

Improved reversibility in aged porous silicon NO2 sensors

Porous silicon (PS) conductometric gas sensors can exhibit large sensitivity to gases, due to the large surface versus volume ratio of porous silicon. A possible application is the detection of traces of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), an air pollutant. ΔG/G signals in excess of 10 in the presence of concentrations as low as 50 ppb in dry air can be demonstrated. Unfortunately, such high sensitivity to NO₂ is achieved, in fresh samples, with poor reversibility. Another problem is the interference of water vapor, which also affects the porous silicon conductivity. However, we show that reversibility is complete in aged samples, and sensitivity to water vapor is lowered. Although in aged samples large ΔG/G signals are harder to achieve, we show that concentration levels of NO₂ at few tens of ppb are still detectable.     

Spectral and chemical analysis of tropical forests: Scaling from leaf to canopy levels

Variation in the foliar chemistry of humid tropical forests is poorly understood, and airborne imaging spectroscopy could provide useful information at leaf and canopy scales. However, variation in canopy structure affects our ability to estimate foliar properties from airborne spectrometer data, yet these structural affects remain poorly quantified. Using leaf spectral (400–2500 nm) and chemical data collected from 162 Australian tropical forest species, along with partial least squares (PLS) analysis and canopy radiative transfer modeling, we determined the strength of the relationship between canopy reflectance and foliar properties under conditions of varying canopy structure.At the leaf level, chlorophylls, carotenoids and specific leaf area (SLA) were highly correlated with leaf spectral reflectance (r = 0.90–0.91). Foliar nutrients and water were also well represented by the leaf spectra (r = 0.79–0.85). When the leaf spectra were incorporated into the canopy radiative transfer simulations with an idealistic leaf area index (LAI) = 5.0, correlations between canopy reflectance spectra and leaf properties increased in strength by 4–18%. The effects of random LAI (= 3.0–6.5) variation on the retrieval of leaf properties remained minimal, particularly for pigments and SLA (r = 0.92–0.93). In contrast, correlations between leaf nitrogen (N) and canopy reflectance estimates decreased from r = 0.87 at constant LAI = 5 to r = 0.65 with randomly varying LAI = 3.0–6.5. Progressive increases in the structural variability among simulated tree crowns had relatively little effect on pigment, SLA and water predictions. However, N and phosphorus (P) were more sensitive to canopy structural variability. Our modeling results suggest that multiple leaf chemicals and SLA can be estimated from leaf and canopy reflectance spectroscopy, and that the high-LAI canopies found in tropical forests enhance the signal via multiple scattering. Finally, the two factors we found to most negatively impact leaf chemical predictions from canopy reflectance were variation in LAI and viewing geometry, which can be managed with new airborne technologies and analytical methods.     

一种基于多孔硅微腔光学特性的气体传感器的研究

当有机物分子吸附到多孔硅表面时,由于有机物分子在多孔硅的孔内的毛细冷凝作用,将引起多孔硅层有效折射率的变化,从而导致多孔硅微腔反射谱吸收峰峰位的变化.本文主要利用Bruggeman介电常数近似理论与传输矩阵的方法,建立了多孔硅微腔的传感模型.使用多孔硅微腔的反射谱实验装置对多孔硅微腔进行了传感实验,结果证明多孔硅微腔传感元件可以实现对有机物蒸汽的检测,且分辨率较高,响应时间和恢复时间短,可重复性好.     

Effect of temperature on humido-sensitive conducting polymer actuators

Temperature dependence of water vapor sorption and electro-active polymer actuating behavior of free-standing films made of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT/PSS) was investigated by means of sorption isotherm and electromechanical analyses. The non-porous PEDOT/PSS film, having a specific surface area of 0.13 m² g^?1, sorbed water vapor of 1080 cm³(STP) g^?1, corresponding to 87 wt%, at relative water vapor pressure of 0.95. A temperature rise from 25 °C to 40 °C lowered sorption degree, indicative of an exothermic process, where isosteric heat of sorption decreased with increasing water vapor sorption and the value reached 43.9 kJ mol^?1, being consistent with the heat of water condensation (44 kJ mol^?1). Upon application of 10 V, the film underwent contraction of 2.46% at 5 °C caused by desorption of water vapor due to Joule heating, which slightly decreased to 2.10% at 45 °C. The speed of contraction was one order of magnitude faster than that of expansion and less dependent on the temperature since water vapor sorbed in the film were forced to desorb by Joule heating. In contrast, the higher the temperature the faster the film expansion because diffusion coefficient increased as the temperature became higher.     

Optical alcohol sensor based on dye–Chitosan polyelectrolyte multilayers

The layer-by-layer deposition technique was used to prepare polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) thin films that are sensitive to ethanol content in water. Cationic Chitosan was assembled with anionic acid dye, (phenyl amino)-5-[[4-(3-sulphonatophenyl) azo]-(1-naphthalenyl) azo]-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid disodium salt (Nylosan) on glass slide and characterized using UV–vis spectroscopy. The layer-by-layer deposition of Chitosan–Nylosan into PEM was studied by monitoring the increase in absorbance in the visible region (500–600 nm). The typical linear relationship between increase in absorbance and number of layers was found. The PEM thin films responded to increasing concentrations of ethanol in water with a shift of maximum absorbance (λ_max) from 540 to 580 nm. This shift was also characterized by an increase in absorbance at 600 nm which was used to monitor the response of the thin film to ethanol content in water. The characteristic color shift of the Nylosan dye occurred at a higher ethanol concentration (from 10% to 45%) in the PEM compared to its usual shift in aqueous solution (from 0% to 30%). The Chitosan–Nylosan thin films response to ethanol content was found to be linear from 10% to 45% ethanol content, which renders them useful as ethanol sensing thin films.     

Thermodynamic study of the cerium–cadmium system

Cadmium vapor pressures were determined over Ce–Cd samples by an isopiestic method. The measurements were carried out in the temperature range from 690 to 1080 K and over a composition range of 48–85 at% Cd. From the vapor pressures thermodynamic activities of Cd were derived for all samples at their respective sample temperatures, and partial molar enthalpies of Cd were obtained from the temperature dependence of the activities. With these partial molar enthalpies the Cd activities were converted to a common temperature of 823 K. By means of a Gibbs–Duhem integration Ce activities were calculated, using a corresponding literature value for the two-phase field (CeCd₁₁+L) as integration constant. Finally integral Gibbs energies were calculated for the composition range 48–100 at% Cd with a minimum value of −37 kJ g-atom⁻¹ at 823 K in the phase CeCd. Phase boundaries of the intermetallic compounds CeCd, CeCd₂, Ce₁₃Cd₅₈, and CeCd₁₁ were estimated from the vapor pressure measurements and from SEM analyses.     

Effects of the single and double (overlap) scanned excimer laser annealing on solid phase crystallized silicon films

Thin amorphous silicon (a-Si) films were crystallized into polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) by combining solid phase crystallization (SPC) and subsequent excimer laser annealing (ELA). Then thin film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated by using the poly-Si formed in the single and double excimer laser scanned area. The device performance of the TFTs fabricated with the excimer laser energy density of 230 mJ/cm² is almost equal for the single and double scanned area. This observation indicates that the overlapping laser irradiation with the laser energy density below 230 mJ/cm² does not change the characteristics of TFTs. Based on this result, we discuss the correlation between performance of active matrix organic light emitting display (AMOLED) panels and excimer laser energy density during ELA for SPC treated and non-treated poly-Si films.     

Photonic crystal slabs with hexagonal air holes fabricated by selective area metal organic vapor phase epitaxy

It is shown that the photonic crystal slab (PCS) with hexagonal air holes has band gaps in the guided mode spectrum, which can be compared to that of the PCS with circular air holes, thus it is also a good candidate to be used for the PC devices. The PC with hexagonal air holes and a = 0.5 μm and r = 0.15 μm was fabricated successfully by selective area metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (SA-MOVPE). The vertical and smooth sidewalls are formed and the uniformity is very good. The same process was also used to fabricate a hexagonal air hole array with the width of 0.1 μm successfully. The air-bridge PCS with hexagonal air holes and a = 0.3 μm and r = 0.09 μm was also fabricated successfully by SA-MOVPE. Further optimization of the growth conditions for the sacrificial layer and the selective etching of the GaAs cap layer is also needed. Our experimental results indicate that SA-MOVPE is a promising method for fabricating PC devices and photonic nanostructures.     

An evaluation of algorithms for the remote sensing of cyanobacterial biomass

Most remote sensing algorithms for phytoplankton in inland waters aim at the retrieval of the pigment chlorophyll a (Chl a), as this pigment is a useful proxy for phytoplankton biomass. More recently, algorithms have been developed to quantify the pigment phycocyanin (PC), which is characteristic of cyanobacteria, a phytoplankton group of relative importance to inland water management due to their negative impact on water quality in response to eutrophication.We evaluated the accuracy of three published algorithms for the remote sensing of PC in inland waters, using an extensive database of field radiometric and pigment data obtained in the Netherlands and Spain in the period 2001–2005. The three algorithms (a baseline, single band ratio, and a nested band ratio approach) all target the PC absorption effect observed in reflectance spectra in the 620 nm region. We evaluated the sensitivity of the algorithms to errors in reflectance measurements and investigated their performance in cyanobacteria-dominated water bodies as well as in the presence of other phytoplankton pigments.All algorithms performed best in moderate to high PC concentrations (50–200 mg m^? 3) and showed the most linear response to increasing PC in cyanobacteria-dominated waters. The highest errors showed at PC < 50 mg m^? 3. In eutrophic waters, the presence of other pigments explained a tendency to overestimate the PC concentration. In oligotrophic waters, negative PC predictions were observed. At very high concentrations (PC > 200 mg m^? 3), PC underestimations by the baseline and single band ratio algorithms were attributed to a non-linear relationship between PC and absorption in the 620 nm region. The nested band ratio gave the overall best fit between predicted and measured PC. For the Spanish dataset, a stable ratio of PC over cyanobacterial Chl a was observed, suggesting that PC is indeed a good proxy for cyanobacterial biomass. The single reflectance ratio was the only algorithm insensitive to changes in the amplitude of reflectance spectra, which were observed as a result of different measurement methodologies.     

Passive single chip wireless microwave pressure sensor

A novel micromachined passive wireless pressure sensor is presented. The device consists of a tuned circuit operating at 10 GHz fabricated on to a SiO₂ membrane, supported on a silicon wafer. A pressure difference across the membrane causes it to deflect so that an antenna circuit detunes. The circuit is remotely interrogated to read off the sensor data wirelessly. The chip area is 5 mm × 4 mm and the membrane area is 2 mm² with a thickness of 4 μm. Two on-chip passive resonant circuits were investigated: a meandered dipole and a zigzag antenna. Both have a physical length of 4.25 mm. The sensors show a shift in their resonant frequency in response to changing pressure of 10.28–10.27 GHz for the meandered dipole, and 9.61–9.58 GHz for the zigzag antenna. The sensitivities of the meandered dipole and zigzag sensors are 12.5 kHz/mbar and 16 kHz/mbar respectively.     

A statistical model for robust integration of narrowband cues in speech

We investigate a statistical model for integrating narrowband cues in speech. The model is inspired by two ideas in human speech perception: (i) Fletcher’s hypothesis (1953) that independent detectors, working in narrow frequency bands, account for the robustness of auditory strategies, and (ii) Miller and Nicely’s analysis (1955) that perceptual confusions in noisy bandlimited speech are correlated with phonetic features. We apply the model to detecting the phonetic feature [ +  /  − sonorant] that distinguishes vowels, approximants, and nasals (sonorants) from stops, fricatives, and affricates (obstruents). The model is represented by a multilayer probabilistic network whose binary hidden variables indicate sonorant cues from different parts of the frequency spectrum. We derive the Expectation-Maximization algorithm for estimating the model’s parameters and evaluate its performance on clean and corrupted speech.     

The effect of multilayer quantum well structure on the characteristics of OLEDs

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with multilayer quantum well (MQW) structure were fabricated, which consisted of alternate organic materials 2-(4-biphenylyl)-5(4-tert-butyl-phenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole (PBD) and tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq₃). PBD is used as potential barrier layer, Alq₃ used as potential well layer and emitting layer. Compared with double-layer structure, the luminescent characteristics of the devices with MQW structure were investigated. MQW structures conduce to energy transfer between wells and barriers, which is attributed to good overlap and the decrease of the distance between layers. The MQW structures make electrons and holes distribute in different wells and then increase the number of the formation of excitons to further enhance their recombination efficiency. Hence, such device achieves the maximum brightness and efficiency of 3630 cd/m² and 3.28 cd/A, respectively.     

A multilayer TWILA ultrasonic motor

A fully operational ultrasonic motor using bulk piezoelectric longitudinal actuators has been already introduced in our previous works. But despite of its interesting characteristics and its easily implementation, its high supply voltage (from 200 V_rms) could be a technological lock-in by imposing supplementary constraints in order to satisfy the electrical safety standards.To overcome this drawback, we have developed a new stator version which integrated multilayer longitudinal actuators, based on the bulk TWILA ultrasonic motor.If the global motor structure stays relatively closed to the bulk one, the new longitudinal actuator topology has been optimised with the help of a Finite Element Modeling.The higher capacitance value of the multilayer actuators requires the use of inductance compensation to optimise the motor drive.Finally, The mechanical performances are not only preserved but are now obtained under a main supply voltage (12 V_rms) 17 times lower than the previous bulk version. Moreover, the global efficiency is largely improved by reaching 20%.     

Simulation and experiment research on vaporizing liquid micro-thruster

In the present work, a micro-thruster chip with dimension of 19.5 mm × 9.5 mm was fabricated with MEMS technologies for the experiment study of vaporizing liquid micro-thruster. In addition, a full 3D computational model was constructed to simulate the aft section of a vaporizing liquid micro-thruster for investigating flow characteristics. The results show that there were four distinct flow patterns observed in this study including snake flow, vapor-droplet flow, vapor-droplet-jet flow, and vapor flow. To prevent the failure of micro-thruster chip from generating of snake flow, the heating treatment of an empty micro-thruster chip at 300 °C for 2 h was the key factor. The generation of vapor flow preliminarily proved that the concept of vaporizing liquid micro-thruster chip was feasible. Furthermore, the numerical model in this study successfully provided the thrust estimation. The channel cross-section of 1 mm × 100 μm designed in this study was fit for developing a micro-thruster of O(mN) (ranging from 1 to 6 mN approximately). The numerical simulation could match better with the experiment results for the vapor flow cases if the flow oscillation was taken into consideration, and the heating channel of micro-thruster was lengthened to completely vaporize the liquid water.     

Evaluation of response characteristics of resistive oxygen sensors based on porous cerium oxide thick film using pressure modulation method

In order to reduce the response time of resistive oxygen sensors using porous cerium oxide thick film, it is important to ascertain the factors controlling response. Pressure modulation method (PMM) was used to find the rate-limiting step of sensor response. This useful method measures the amplitude of sensor output (H(f)) for the sine wave modulation of oxygen partial pressure at constant frequency (f). In PMM, “break” response time, which is minimum period in which the sensor responds precisely, can be measured. Three points were examined: (1) simulated calculations of PMM were carried out using a model of porous thick film in which spherical particles are connected in a three-dimensional network; (2) sensor response speed was experimentally measured using PMM; and (3) the diffusion coefficient and surface reaction coefficient were estimated by comparison between experiment and calculation. The plot of log f versus log H(f) in the high f region was found to have a slope of approximately −0.5 for both porous thick film and non-porous thin film, when the rate-limiting step was diffusion. Calculations showed the response time of porous thick film was 1/20 that of non-porous thin film when the grain diameter of the porous thick film was the same as the thickness of non-porous thin film. At 973 K, “break” response time (t_b) of the resistive oxygen sensor was found by experiment to be 109 ms. It was concluded that the response of the resistive oxygen sensor prepared in this study was strongly controlled by diffusion at 923–1023 K, since the experiment revealed that the slope of plot of log f versus log H(f) in the high f region was approximately −0.5. At 923–1023 K, the diffusion coefficient of oxygen vacancy in porous ceria (D_V) was expressed as follows: D_V (m²s⁻¹) = 5.78 × 10⁻⁴ exp(−1.94 eV/kT). At 1023 K, the surface reaction coefficient (K) was found to exceed 10⁻⁴ m/s.     

Robust low power DC-type shift register circuit capable of compensating threshold voltage shift of oxide TFTs

This paper proposes an oxide TFT DC-type shift register that consists of eleven TFTs and one bootstrapping capacitor. The proposed circuit connects drain nodes of large size pull-up TFTs of output drivers to positive supply voltage instead of alternating clock signals for low power consumption. In addition, a robust internal inverter capable of maintaining the high voltage level of the output over the large positive threshold voltage shift by bootstrapping is implemented. For a 120 Hz Full-HD display, the SPICE simulation estimates the clock power consumption of the proposed DC-type circuit as 0.56 mW at 32 shift registers and ensures the robust operation over the wide range of threshold voltage shift from −4 V to 10 V.     

Simultaneous determination of epinephrine and ascorbic acid at the electrochemical sensor of triazole SAM modified gold electrode

The electrochemical sensor of triazole (TA) self-assembled monolayer (SAM) modified gold electrode (TA SAM/Au) was fabricated. The electrochemical behaviors of epinephrine (EP) at TA SAM/Au have been studied. The TA SAM/Au shows an excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of EP and accelerates electron transfer rate. The diffusion coefficient is 1.135 × 10⁻⁶ cm² s⁻¹. Under the optimum experiment conditions (i.e. 0.1 mol L⁻¹, pH 4.4, sodium borate buffer, accumulation time: 180 s, accumulation potential: 0.6 V, scan rate: 0.1 Vs⁻¹), the cathodic peak current of EP versus its concentration has a good linear relation in the ranges of 1.0 × 10⁻⁷ to 1.0 × 10⁻⁵ mol L⁻¹ and 1.0 × 10⁻⁵ to 6.0 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹ by square wave adsorptive stripping voltammetry (SWASV), with the correlation coefficient of 0.9985 and 0.9996, respectively. Detection limit is down to 1.0 × 10⁻⁸ mol L⁻¹. The TA SAM/Au can be used for the determination of EP in practical injection. Meantime, the oxidative peak potentials of EP and ascorbic acid (AA) are well separated about 200 ± 10 mV at TA SAM/Au, the oxidation peak current increases approximately linearly with increasing concentration of both EP and AA in the concentration range of 2.0 × 10⁻⁵ to 1.6 × 10⁻⁴ mol L⁻¹. It can be used for simultaneous determination of EP and AA.     

Fabrication and characterization of a thermal switch

The development of a thermal switch based on arrays of liquid–metal micro-droplets is presented. Prototype thermal switches are assembled from a silicon substrate on which is deposited an array of 1600 30-μm liquid–metal micro-droplets. The liquid–metal micro-droplet array makes and breaks contact with a second bare silicon substrate. A gap between the two silicon substrates is filled with either air at 760 Torr, air at of 0.5 Torr or xenon at 760 Torr. Heat transfer and thermal resistance across the thermal switches are measured for “on” (make contact) and “off” (break contact) conditions using guard-heated calorimetry. The figure of merit for a thermal switch, the ratio of “off” state thermal resistance over “on” state thermal resistance, R_off/R_on, is 129 ± 43 for a xenon-filled thermal switch that opens 100 μm and 60 ± 17 for an 0.5 Torr air-filled thermal switch that opens 25 μm. These thermal resistance ratios are shown to be markedly higher than values of R_off/R_on for a thermal switch based on contact between polished silicon surfaces. Transient temperature measurements for the liquid–metal micro-droplet switches indicate thermal switching times of less than 100 ms. Switch lifetimes are found to exceed one-million cycles.