Enhanced Osteoblast Adhesion to Epoxide‐Functionalized Surfaces

As an alternative to expensive extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins generally applied as coatings in Petri dishes used for cell binding, an innovative system based on epoxide‐functionalized monolayers capable of protein binding is proposed. Since cells bind to material surfaces through proteins, protein‐binding surfaces should also promote cell binding. Here we investigate how the cell‐binding properties of an epoxide‐functionalized surface compares with ECM protein gel coated surfaces and tissue culture polystyrene control surfaces. Glass surfaces are functionalized with glycidoxypropyltriethoxysilane (GOPS), which results in an epoxide‐functionalized surface capable of binding proteins through an epoxide–amine reaction. Advancing contact angle measurements and atomic force microscopy measurements confirm the formation of a homogeneous GOPS monolayer. This monolayer is micropatterned with fluorescein‐labeled ECM protein gel by microcontact printing (µCP). Confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) shows accurately transferred ECM protein gel micropatterns. Osteoblasts that are seeded on these micropatterned substrates show a clear preference for adhering to the epoxide‐functionalized areas. The morphology of these cultured osteoblasts is needle‐like with high aspect ratios. As controls, osteoblasts are cultured on GOPS‐functionalized surfaces, unstructured ECM protein gel surfaces, and tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS). The GOPS surfaces demonstrate a drastic increase in cell adhesion after 2 h, whilst the other tests show no adverse effects of this surface on the osteoblasts as compared to ECM and TCPS. CLSM shows healthy cell morphologies on each surface. It is demonstrated for the first time that epoxide groups outperform ECM protein gel in cell adhesion, thereby providing new routes for cost‐effective coatings that improve biocompatibility as well as exciting, new methodologies to control and direct cell adhesion.     

Electro-chemical mechanical polishing of silicon carbide

In an effort to improve the silicon carbide (SiC) substrate surface, a new electro-chemical mechanical polishing (ECMP) technique was developed. This work focused on the Si-terminated 4H-SiC (0001) substrates cut 8° off-axis toward 〈1120〉. Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) and potassium nitrate (KNO₃) were used as the electrolytes while using colloidal silica slurry as the polishing medium for removal of the oxide. The current density during the polishing was varied from 10 μA/cm² to over 20 mA/cm². Even though a high polishing rate can be achieved using high current density, the oxidation rate and the oxide removal rate need to be properly balanced to get a smooth surface after polishing. A two-step ECMP process was developed, which allows us to separately control the anodic oxidation and removal of formed oxide. The optimum surface can be achieved by properly controlling the anodic oxidation current as well as the polishing rate. At higher current flow (>20 mA/cm²), the final surface was rough, whereas a smoother surface was obtained when the current density was in the vicinity of 1 mA/cm². The surface morphology of the as-received wafer, fine diamond slurry (0.1 μm) polished wafer, and EMCP polished wafer were studied by high-resolution atomic force microscopy (AFM).     

New modified-majority voter-based efficient QCA digital logic design

ABSTRACT

Quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) is an emerging nanotechnology and a possible alternative solution to the limitation of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. One of the most attractive fields in QCA is the implementation of configurable digital systems. This article presents a novel multifunctional gate called the modified-majority voter (MMV). The proposed gate works on the explicit interaction of the cell characteristic property for the implementation of digital circuits. This prominent feature of the proposed gate reduces the maximum hardware cost and implements highly efficient QCA structures. To verify the functionality of the proposed gate, some physical proofs, truth table and computational simulation results are performed. These results assured the validity of the existence of the proposed gate. It also dissipates less energy which has been calculated under three separate tunnelling energy levels using the QCAPro tool. To prove the effectiveness of the proposed MMV gate, several optimal irreversible arithmetic circuits such as three-input XOR, half-adder and full-adder are proposed. The modular layouts are verified with the freely available QCADesigner tool version 2.0.3.     

Asymmetric cross-coupled differential pair configuration to realize neuron activation function and its derivative

In this brief, we present a new circuit technique to generate the sigmoid neuron activation function (NAF) and its derivative (DNAF). The circuit makes use of transistor asymmetry in cross-coupled differential pair to obtain the derivative. The asymmetry is introduced through external control signal, as and when required. This results in the efficient utilization of the hardware by realizing NAF and DNAF using the same building blocks. The operation of the circuit is presented in the subthreshold region for ultra low-power applications. The proposed circuit has been experimentally prototyped and characterized as a proof of concept on the 1.5-/spl mu/m AMI technology.     

Low Voltage High Output Impedance Bulk-Driven Quasi-Floating Gate Self-Biased High-Swing Cascode Current Mirror

A low voltage self-biased high-swing cascode current mirror using bulk-driven quasi-floating gate MOSFET is proposed in this paper. The proposed current mirror bandwidth and especially the output impedance show a significant improvement compared to prior arts. The current mirror presented is designed using bulk-driven and bulk-driven quasi-floating gate N-channel MOS transistors, which helped it to operate at very low supply voltage of \({\pm }0.2\,\hbox {V}\). To achieve high output resistance, the current mirror uses regulated cascode stage followed by super cascode architecture. The small-signal analysis carried out proves the improvement achieved by proposed current mirror. The current mirror circuit operates well for input current ranging from 0 to \(250\,{\upmu }\mathrm{A}\) with good linearity and shows the bandwidth of 285 MHz. The input and output resistances are found as \(240\,\Omega \) and \(19.5\,\hbox {G}\Omega \), respectively. Further, the THD analysis and Monte Carlo simulations carried prove the robustness of proposed current mirror. The complete analysis is done using HSpice on UMC \(0.18\,\upmu \mathrm{m}\) technology.     

High-power high-Modulation-speed 1060-nm DBR lasers for Green-light emission

We report on the static and dynamic performance of high-power and high-modulation-speed 1060-nm distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) lasers for green-light emission by second-harmonic generation. Single-wavelength power of 387 mW at 1060-nm wavelength and green power as high as 99.5 mW were achieved. A thermally induced wavelength tuning of 2.4 nm and a carrier-induced wavelength tuning of -0.85 nm were obtained by injecting current into the DBR section. Measured rise-fall times of 0.2 ns for direct intensity modulation and 0.6 ns for wavelength modulation make the lasers suitable for >50-MHz green-light modulation applications.     

Energy Harvesting System Design and Optimization Using High Bandwidth Rectenna for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - Today’s world has a keen interest in systems which are battery-less and can harvest energy from their surroundings. There is an increased demand for...     

An Authentication Based Approach for Prevention of Spectrum Sensing Data Falsification Attacks in Cognitive Radio Network

Wireless Personal Communications - This is the era of Intelligent Cognitive Radio Network (CRN) technology that provides the available spectrum with efficient utilization. Cognitive Radio (CR)...     

Theoretical and Experimental Insight into the Mechanism for Spontaneous Vertical Growth of ReS2 Nanosheets

Rhenium disulfide (ReS₂) differs fundamentally from other group‐VI transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) due to its low structural symmetry, which results in its optical and electrical anisotropy. Although vertical growth is observed in some TMDs under special growth conditions, vertical growth in ReS₂ is very different in that it is highly spontaneous and substrate‐independent. In this study, the mechanism that underpins the thermodynamically favorable vertical growth mode of ReS₂ is uncovered. It is found that the governing mechanism for ReS₂ growth involves two distinct stages. In the first stage, ReS₂ grows parallel to the growth substrate, consistent with conventional TMD growth. However, subsequent vertical growth is nucleated at points on the lattice where Re atoms are “pinched” together. At such sites, an additional Re atom binds with the cluster of pinched Re atoms, leaving an under‐coordinated S atom protruding out of the ReS₂ plane. This under‐coordinated S is “reactive” and binds to free Re and S atoms, initiating growth in a direction perpendicular to the ReS₂ surface. The utility of such vertical ReS₂ arrays in applications where high surface‐to‐volume ratio and electric‐field enhancement are essential, such as surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, field emission, and solar‐based disinfection of bacteria, is demonstrated.     

Monitoring of CdTe atomic layer epitaxy using in-situ spectroscopic ellipsometry

Atomic layer epitaxy or ALE has proven to be useful for the growth of epitaxial layers of high uniformity, good quality, and well-controlled thickness. In this study, we have carried out in-situ monitoring during the atmospheric pressure ALE of CdTe on GaAs (100) substrates using spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The susceptor temperature, reactant partial pressures, as well as the flow and flush duration for each precursor are crucial process variables for ALE growth. Growth was carried out for 20–25 cycles under different sets of these process conditions during the experiment and in-situ SE was used to verify the presence of layer-by-layer growth, which enabled the quick determination of the process window. We observed ALE growth of CdTe at 300°C, supporting the explanation that the growth of CdTe occurs via a surface catalyzed decomposition of the Te precursor di-isopropyltelluride (DIPTe). Investigation of ALE mode growth behavior for different susceptor temperatures and DIPTe flush times indicated that the growth was limited by competition between desorption and reaction of the adsorbed DIPTe species on the Cd terminated surface.