Design and Fabrication of Fiber-Optic Nanoprobes for Optical Sensing

This paper describes the design and fabrication of fiber-optic nanoprobes developed for optical detection in single living cells. It is critical to fabricate probes with well-controlled nanoapertures for optimized spatial resolution and optical transmission. The detection sensitivity of fiber-optic nanoprobe depends mainly on the extremely small excitation volume that is determined by the aperture sizes and penetration depths. We investigate the angle dependence of the aperture in shadow evaporation of the metal coating onto the tip wall. It was found that nanoaperture diameters of approximately 50 nm can be achieved using a 25° tilt angle. On the other hand, the aperture size is sensitive to the subtle change of the metal evaporation angle and could be blocked by irregular metal grains. Through focused ion beam (FIB) milling, optical nanoprobes with well-defined aperture size as small as 200 nm can be obtained. Finally, we illustrate the use of the nanoprobes by detecting a fluorescent species, benzo[a]pyrene tetrol (BPT), in single living cells. A quantitative estimation of the numbers of BPT molecules detected using fiber-optic nanoprobes for BPT solutions shows that the limit of detection was approximately 100 molecules.     

泡沫基体电镀前处理工艺的改进

采用泡沫基体机构洗涤粗化、大批量敏化和低浓度钯离子（0.020-0.30g/L Pd^2 ）活化等工艺，对泡沫基体电镀前处理工艺进行了改进，泡沫粗化效果好，敏化用的SnCl2耗量仅为原工艺的1／5，钯的耗量为原来的1／3，泡沫基体的利用率由90％提高到98％，大大地提高泡沫镍产品的质量，大幅度地降低生成成本，取得了较好的经济效益。     

Reduction of charge injection into PECVD SiNxHy by control of deposition chemistry

The high rate of charge trapping in thin-film silicon nitride causes its electrical properties to change with stressing level and time. The rate of shift of the high-frequency CV curves of Al/SiN_xH_y/cSi capacitors was used here to measure nitride charging rate and to compare PECVD nitrides deposited under various conditions of plasma power and gas mixture in the same parallel-plate reactor. By operating the plasma under high power to activate the NH₃ or N₂ and under low SiH₄ flow to ensure that all of the SiH4 reacts with N, it is possible to deposit N-rich nitride that has no detectable Si—H bonding, which bonding others have correlated with charge trapping. Nitride deposited under these conditions using NH₃ and 13 MHz rf power had charging rates for both gate polarities that were 20 times lower than those of nitride that had a “stoichiometric” N/Si ratio of 4/3 and that had its H distributed among Si—H and N—H bonds. MIS capacitors made with the latter nitride also had a high negative initial flat-bond voltage, indicating the presence of grown-in positive charge. This charge was large enough to invert the surface ofp-Si substrates. N-rich nitride free of Si—H that was deposited either using N₂ or using low-frequency rf power (≤400 kHz) had higher charging rates than did that deposited from NH₃ at 13 MHz. Also, the low-frequency material contained grown-in positive charge that is attributed to H⁺ implanted by the high ion bombardment energy of the low-frequency plasma.     

Design of micro-electromagnetic drive on reciprocally rotating disc used for micro-gyroscopes

For micro-gyroscopes, the angular rate detection components have to oscillate forwards and backwards alternatively. An innovative design of micro-electromagnetic drive module is proposed to make a Π-type thin disc reciprocally and efficiently rotate within a certain of angular interval. Twelve EM (Electromagnetic) poles, with iron cores at the center and wound by electroplated copper wires, enclosing the thin disc are designed to provide the magnetic drive power. Isotropic etching technique is employed to fabricate the high-aspect-ratio trench, housing of the follow-up electroplated copper, so that the contact angle of wire against trench can be increased and the potential defect of cavities and pores within the wire can be prevented. On the other hand, a Π-type thin disc, with a central bearing and a set of auxiliary bushing, is designed to conduct the pitch motion as an angular excitation, in addition to spinning, is exerted on the gyroscope. That is, the angular motion of the disc is two-dimensional: spinning, driven by the EM poles, and tilting, to respond to the exerted angular rate due to Coriolis effect.The efficacy of the micro-magnetic drive module is verified by theoretical analysis and computer simulations by the commercial software, Ansoft Maxewll. In comparison with the conventional planar windings in micro-scale systems, the magnetic drive force is increased by 150%.     

Multiphoton imaging with a novel compact diode‐pumped Ti:sapphire oscillator

Multiphoton laser scanning microscopy commonly relies on bulky and expensive femtosecond lasers. We integrated a novel minimal‐footprint Ti:sapphire oscillator, pumped by a frequency‐doubled distributed Bragg reflector tapered diode laser, into a clinical multiphoton tomograph and evaluated its imaging capability using different biological samples, i.e. cell monolayers, corneal tissue, and human skin. With the novel laser, the realization of very compact Ti:sapphire‐based systems for high‐quality multiphoton imaging at a significantly size and weight compared to current systems will become possible. Microsc. Res. Tech. 78:1154–1158, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Regioselective Synthesis of Naphtho‐fused Heterocycles via Palladium(0)‐Catalyzed Tandem Reaction of N‐Tosylhydrazones

We have developed a palladium(0)‐catalyzed tandem process which involves the cross‐coupling reaction of N‐tosylhydrazones with dibromide compounds followed by a sequence of intramolecular 5‐exo‐trig, 3‐exo‐trig cyclization, ring opening, and β‐hydride elimination to produce 6‐endo‐trig cyclized products. The strategy was successfully applied for the regioselective synthesis of substituted benzo[b]naphtho[2,1‐d]thiophenes, naphtho[1,2‐b]benzofurans, and benzo[a]carbazoles in moderate to excellent yields.

     

具备定位功能的ZigBee^R SoC

今日相容于IEEE802．15．4且适用于ZigBee的无线射频收发器、微控制器及系统单芯片（SOC）半导体装置已相当普及。高度整合的多功能SOC解决方案是促成ZigBee无线网络得以广泛运用在众多应用中的重要因素,包括工业监控、家庭及建筑自动化、传感器网络,乃至于无线医疗解决方案。在以上解决方案中增添无线射频装置的定位功能使得这些网络的价值得以大幅提升。     

Hydrogen Generation from CO2 Reforming of Biomass-Derived Methanol on Ni/SiO2 Catalyst

Topics in Catalysis - CO2 reforming of methanol for producing hydrogen was experimentally carried out in a fixed-bed reactor on 10%Ni/SiO2. The 10%Ni/SiO2 was completely reduced during H2...