Atomic Force Microscopy Study of Protein–Protein Interactions in the Cytochrome CYP11A1 (P450scc)-Containing Steroid Hydroxylase System

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) were used for monitoring of the procedure for cytochrome CYP11A1 monomerization in solution without phospholipids. It was shown that the incubation of 100 μM CYP11A1 with 12% Emulgen 913 in 50 mM KP, pH 7.4, for 10 min at T = 22°C leads to dissociation of hemoprotein aggregates to monomers with the monomerization degree of (82 ± 4)%. Following the monomerization procedure, CYP11A1 remained functionally active. AFM was employed to detect and visualize the isolated proteins as well as complexes formed between the components of the cytochrome CYP11A1-dependent steroid hydroxylase system. Both Ad and AdR were present in solution as monomers. The typical heights of the monomeric AdR, Ad and CYP11A1 images were measured by AFM and were found to correspond to the sizes 1.6 ± 0.2 nm, 1.0 ± 0.2 nm and 1.8 ± 0.2 nm, respectively. The binary Ad/AdR and AdR/CYP11A1_mon complexes with the heights 2.2 ± 0.2 nm and 2.8 ± 0.2 nm, respectively, were registered by use of AFM. The Ad/CYP11A1_mon complex formation reaction was kinetically characterized based on optical biosensor data. In addition, the ternary AdR/Ad/CYP11A1 complexes with a typical height of 4 ± 1 nm were AFM registered.     

DeleCut: Producing High-Quality SOI Structures by Hydrogen Ion Implantation

DeleCut, a new technology for producing SOI structures, is presented [1]. It is an improvement on the SmartCut^® process. DeleCut allows one to reduce annealing temperature and offers a lower concentration of radiation defects, a thinner transferred silicon layer, and a thinner transition layer between the silicon and the insulator (oxide). This process technology makes it possible to obtain silicon and insulator layers whose thicknesses are uniform within a few nanometers. A batch of SOI wafers of diameter 100–150 mm is fabricated with a pilot production line, the silicon films being free from dislocations. On the basis of the SOI structures, several types of submicrometer test CMOS circuits are successfully produced.     

Mass Spectrometric Identification of Proteins Enhanced by the Atomic Force Microscopy Immobilization Surface

An approach to highly-sensitive mass spectrometry detection of proteins after surface-enhanced concentrating has been elaborated. The approach is based on a combination of mass spectrometry and atomic force microscopy to detect target proteins. (1) Background: For this purpose, a technique for preliminary preparation of molecular relief surfaces formed as a result of a chemical or biospecific concentration of proteins from solution was developed and tested on several types of chip surfaces. (2) Methods: mass spectrometric identification of proteins using trailing detectors: ion trap, time of flight, orbital trap, and triple quadrupole. We used the electrospray type of ionization and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization. (3) Results: It is shown that when using locally functionalized atomically smooth surfaces, the sensitivity of the mass spectrometric method increases by two orders of magnitude as compared with measurements in solution. Conclusions: It has been demonstrated that the effective concentration of target proteins on specially prepared surfaces increases the concentration sensitivity of mass spectrometric detectors—time-of-flight, ion trap, triple quadrupole, and orbital ion trap in the concentration range from up to 10⁻¹⁵ M.     

Decrease in effective electron mobility in the channel of a metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor as the gate length is decreased

Effective electron mobility μ_eff in channels of metal-oxide-semiconductor transistors with a gate length L in the range of 3.8 to 0.34 μm was measured; the transistors were formed on wafers of the silicon-oninsulator type. It was found that μ_eff decreases as L is decreased. It is shown that this decrease can be accounted for by the effect of series resistances of the source and drain only if it is assumed that there is a rapid increase in these resistances as the gate voltage is decreased. This assumption is difficult to substantiate. A more realistic model is suggested; this model accounts for the observed decrease in μ_eff as L is decreased. The model implies that zones with a mobility lower than that in the middle part of the channel originate at the edges of the gate. An analysis shows that, in this case, the plot of the dependence of 1/μ_eff on 1/L should be linear, which is exactly what is observed experimentally. The use of this plot makes it possible to determine both the electron mobility μ₀ in the middle part of the channel and the quantity A that characterizes the zones with lowered mobility at the gate’s edges.     

Properties of silicon-on-insulator structures and devices

The physical grounds for making SOI structures by the DeleCut (ion irradiated deleted oxide cut) method are considered. This method is a modification of the commonly known Smart Cut? technique and aims at eliminating the disadvantages of the basic method [1]. The proposed method makes it possible to considerably lower the annealing temperature and the content of radiation defects in SOI structures. It allows the thickness of a split-off Si layer and a transition layer between the SOI layer and a buried oxide to be reduced. The method also reduces the nonuniformity in the thickness of the SOI layer and the insulator to several nanometers. By using DeleCut, new SOI structures were formed on wafers with diameters as large as 150 mm; the structures included dislocation-free SOI layers of 0.003–1.7 μm in thickness and a buried thermal SiO₂ oxide (0.05–0.5 μm). These structures have good electrical characteristics, which is supported by fabricating the submicrometer (0.2–0.5 μm) SOI-based CMOS transistors and test integrated circuits. __________ Translated from Fizika i Tekhnika Poluprovodnikov, Vol. 35, No. 9, 2001, pp. 1075–1083. Original Russian Text Copyright ? 2001 by Popov, Antonova, Frantsuzov, Safronov, Feofanov, Naumova, Kilanov.