Organic Single Crystal Patterning Method for Micrometric Photosensors

Light detection technologies are of interest due to their applications in energy conversion and optical communications. Single-crystal organic semiconductors, such as rubrene, present high detectivities and charge carrier mobility, making them attractive for light-sensing applications. Growth of high crystallinity organic crystals is achieved using vapor processes, forming crystals of arbitrary shapes and orientations and requiring posterior patterning processes. However, patterning the organic semiconductors using industry-standard microfabrication techniques is not straightforward, as these often cause irreversible damage to the crystals. Here the fabrication of patterned micrometric rubrene photosensors is demonstrated through a combination of photolithography and Reactive Ion Etching steps. Protective layers during microfabrication minimize degradation of optoelectronic properties of the organic single crystals during fabrication. Crystals undergoing the patterning process presented a survival rate of 39%. Photoresponse values of up to 41 mA W⁻¹ are obtained under illumination at 500 nm. This opens a route for the industrial-scale fabrication process of high-performance optoelectronic devices based on organic crystals semiconductors.     

FinFET for high sensitivity ion and biological sensing applications

A double-gate (DG) fin field effect transistor (FinFET) is discussed as new label-free ion and biological sensor. Simulations as function of channel doping, geometrical dimensions, operation point and materials investigated the device response to an external potential difference which provides a body threshold voltage modulation. The simulation results presented in this work clearly state the key features for an ultrasensitive FET based sensor: an enhancement low doped and partially gated transistor operating in weak-moderate inversion regime. The optimized sensitivity, obtained when the width of the fin is equal to the gate height (w_NW ∼ h_g), reaches a value of 85% for an extraction current, I_d, of 0.1 μA. These results pave the way for the fabrication process of an innovative CMOS compatible sensing system.     

Underlay Device to Device Communication with Imperfect Interference Channel Knowledge

The objective of any night vision system is to enable a person to see in the dark. A low-contrast image puts a contrast constraint on the human observer visibility at night. This is the basic reason for the large number of accidents at night. This research presents two proposed approaches to enhance the visibility of the infrared (IR) night vision images through an efficient histogram processing. The first approach is based on contrast limited adaptive histogram equalization. The second proposed approach depends on histogram matching. The histogram matching uses a reference visual image for converting night vision images into good quality images. The obtained results are evaluated with quality metrics such as entropy, average gradient, contrast improvement factor and sobel edge magnitude.     

Metal Organic Framework Crystals in Mixed‐Matrix Membranes: Impact of the Filler Morphology on the Gas Separation Performance

Mixed‐matrix membranes comprising NH₂‐MIL‐53(Al) and Matrimid or 6FDA‐DAM have been investigated. The metal organic framework (MOF) loading has been varied between 5 and 20 wt%, while NH₂‐MIL‐53(Al) with three different morphologies, nanoparticles, nanorods, and microneedles has been dispersed in Matrimid. The synthesized membranes have been tested in the separation of CO₂ from CH₄ in an equimolar mixture. At 3 bar and 298 K for 8 wt% MOF loading, incorporation of NH₂‐MIL‐53(Al) nanoparticles leads to the largest improvement compared to nanorods and microneedles. The incorporation of the best performing filler, i.e., NH₂‐MIL‐53(Al) nanoparticles, into the highly permeable 6FDA‐DAM has a larger effect, and the CO₂ permeability increases up to 85% with slightly lower selectivities for 20 wt% MOF loading. Specifically, these membranes have a permeability of 660 Barrer with a CO₂/CH₄ separation factor of 28, leading to a performance very close to the Robeson limit of 2008. Furthermore, a new non‐destructive technique based on Raman spectroscopy mapping is introduced to assess the homogeneity of the filler dispersion in the polymer matrix. The MOF contribution can be calculated by modeling the spectra. The determined homogeneity of the MOF filler distribution in the polymer is confirmed by focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy analysis.     

A Genetic‐Algorithm‐Based Optimized Clustering for Energy‐Efficient Routing in MWSN

With the increasing demands for mobile wireless sensor networks in recent years, designing an energy‐efficient clustering and routing protocol has become very important. This paper provides an analytical model to evaluate the power consumption of a mobile sensor node. Based on this, a clustering algorithm is designed to optimize the energy efficiency during cluster head formation. A genetic algorithm technique is employed to find the near‐optimal threshold for residual energy below which a node has to give up its role of being the cluster head. This clustering algorithm along with a hybrid routing concept is applied as the near‐optimal energy‐efficient routing technique to increase the overall efficiency of the network. Compared to the mobile low energy adaptive clustering hierarchy protocol, the simulation studies reveal that the energy‐efficient routing technique produces a longer network lifetime and achieves better energy efficiency.     

Zero forcing based sphere decoder for generalized spatial modulation systems

To reduce the number of radio frequency (RF) chains in multiple input multiple output (MIMO) systems, generalized spatial modulation (GSM) techniques have been proposed in the literature. In this paper, we propose a zero‐forcing (ZF)‐based detector, which performs an initial pruning of the search tree that will be considered as the initial condition in a sphere decoding (SD) algorithm. The proposed method significantly reduces the computational complexity of GSM systems while achieving a near maximum likelihood (ML) performance. We analyze the performance of the proposed method and provide an analytic performance difference between the proposed method and the ML detector. Simulation results show that the performance of the proposed method is very close to that of the ML detector, while achieving a significant computational complexity reduction in comparison with the conventional SD method, in terms of the number of visited nodes. We also present some simulations to assess the accuracy of our theoretical results.     

Highly Robust Indium‐Free Transparent Conductive Electrodes Based on Composites of Silver Nanowires and Conductive Metal Oxides

A hybrid approach for the realization of In‐free transparent conductive layers based on a composite of a mesh of silver nanowires (NWs) and a conductive metal‐oxide is demonstrated. As metal‐oxide room‐temperature‐processed sol–gel SnO_x or Al:ZnO prepared by low‐temperature (100 °C) atomic layer deposition is used, respectively. In this concept, the metal‐oxide is intended to fuse the wires together and also to “glue” them to the substrate. As a result, a low sheet resistance down to 5.2 Ω sq^‐1 is achieved with a concomitant average transmission of 87%. The adhesion of the NWs to the substrate is significantly improved and the resulting composites withstand adhesion tests without loss in conductivity. Owing to the low processing temperatures, this concept allows highly robust, highly conductive, and transparent coatings even on top of temperature sensitive objects, for example, polymer foils, organic devices. These Indium‐ and PEDOT:PSS‐free hybrid layers are successfully implemented as transparent top‐electrodes in efficient all‐solution‐processed semitransparent organic solar cells. It is obvious that this approach is not limited to organic solar cells but will generally be applicable in devices which require transparent electrodes.     

High Precision,Electrochemical Detection of Reversible Binding of Recombinant Proteins on Wide Bandgap GaN Electrodes Functionalized with Biomembrane Models

We report a novel hybrid charge sensor realized by the deposition of phospholipid monolayers on highly doped n‐GaN electrodes. To detect the binding of recombinant proteins with histidine‐tags, lipid vesicles containing chelator lipids were deposited on GaN electrodes pre‐coated with octadecyltrimethoxysilane monolayers. Owing to its optical transparency, GaN allows the confirmation of the fluidity of supported membranes by fluorescence recovery after photo‐bleaching (FRAP). The electrolyte‐(organic) insulator‐semiconductor (EIS) setup enables one to transduce variations in the surface charge density ΔQ into a change in the interface capacitance ΔC _p and, thus, the flat‐band potential ΔU _FB. The obtained results demonstrate that the membrane‐based charge sensor can reach a high sensitivity to detect reversible changes in the surface charge density on the membranes by the formation of chelator complexes, docking of eGFP with histidine tags, and cancellation by EDTA. The achievable resolution of ΔQ ≥ 0.1 μC/cm² is better than that obtained for membrane‐functionalized p‐GaAs, 0.9 μC/cm², and for ITO coated with a polymer supported lipid monolayer, 2.2 μC/cm². Moreover, we examined the potential application of optically active InGaN/GaN quantum dot structures, for the detection of changes in the surface potential from the photoluminescence signals measured at room temperature.     

High‐TC Interfacial Ferromagnetism in SrMnO3/LaMnO3 Superlattices

Heterostructures of strongly correlated oxides demonstrate various intriguing and potentially useful interfacial phenomena. LaMnO₃/SrMnO₃ superlattices are presented showcasing a new high‐temperature ferromagnetic phase with Curie temperature, T_C ≈360 K, caused by electron transfer from the surface of the LaMnO₃ donor layer into the neighboring SrMnO₃ acceptor layer. As a result, the SrMnO₃ (top)/LaMnO₃ (bottom) interface shows an enhancement of the magnetization as depth‐profiled by polarized neutron reflectometry. The length scale of charge transfer, λ_TF ≈2 unit cells, is obtained from in situ growth monitoring by optical ellipsometry, supported by optical simulations, and further confirmed by high resolution electron microscopy and spectroscopy. A model of the inhomogeneous distribution of electron density in LaMnO₃/SrMnO₃ layers along the growth direction is concluded to account for a complex interplay between ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic layers in superlattices.     

Towards a Better Prediction of Cell Settling on Nanostructure Arrays—Simple Means to Complicated Ends

Vertical arrays of nanostructures (NSs) are emerging as promising platforms for probing and manipulating live mammalian cells. The broad range of applications requires different types of interfaces, but cell settling on NS arrays is not yet fully controlled and understood. Cells are both seen to deform completely into NS arrays and to stay suspended like tiny fakirs, which have hitherto been explained with differences in NS spacing or density. Here, a better understanding of this phenomenon is provided by using a model that takes into account the extreme membrane deformation needed for a cell to settle into a NS array. It is shown that, in addition to the NS density, cell settling depends strongly on the dimensions of the single NS, and that the settling can be predicted for a given NS array geometry. The predictive power of the model is confirmed by experiments and good agreement with cases from the literature. Furthermore, the influence of cell‐related parameters is evaluated theoretically and a generic method of tuning cell settling through surface coating is demonstrated experimentally. These findings allow a more rational design of NS arrays for the numerous exciting biological applications where the mode of cell settling is crucial.