Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Commons^™

Fabrication And Characterization Of Thinner Solid-State Nanopores, Denis Forbi Tita

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Solid State nanopores that are fabricated by the ion beam sculpting process and electron beam drilling have shown great promise as a sensing device for DNA and protein molecules. Even though biological pores such as the alpha-Haemolysin have been in use for quite some time, the use of solid state Nanopores in single biomolecule detection has been on the rise since the mid 1990s. Solid State nanopores have an advantage over biological pores in that they are more robust, stable, and can be sculpted to any desired size for use in translocation experiments. One of the major challenges in Nanopore …

Nanoscale Contacts Between Semiconducting Nanowires And Metallic Graphenes, Seongmin Kim, David B. Janes, Sung-Yool Choi, Sanghyun Ju

Birck and NCN Publications

Metal–semiconductor (M–S) junctions are important components in many semiconductor devices, and there is growing interest in realizing high quality M–S contacts that are optically transparent. In this paper, we present our investigations into the characteristics of M–S junction in a semiconducting ZnO nanowire that was directly grown on a multilayer graphene film (MGF). The synthesized nanowires were fabricated into two-terminal devices with MGF as one contact and Al as the other contact. By comparison with devices employing Al contacts at both ends, the nanowire resistivity and specific contact resistivity of the MGF–nanowire contact can be extracted. The extracted specific contact …

Near Field Enhancement In Silver Nanoantenna-Superlens Systems, Zhengtong Liu, Erping Li, Vladimir M. Shalaev, Alexander V. Kildishev

Birck and NCN Publications

We demonstrate near field enhancement generation in silver nanoantenna-superlens systems via numerical modeling. Using near-field interference and global optimization algorithms, we can design nanoantenna-superlens systems with mismatched permittivities, whose performance can match those with matched permittivities. The systems studied here may find broad applications in the fields of sensing, such as field-enhanced fluorescence and surface-enhanced Raman scattering, and the methodology used here can be applied to the designing and optimization of other devices, such as two-dimensional near field focusing lens. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4732793]

A Thermophone On Porous Polymeric Substrate, Girish Chitnis, Albert Kim, Seung Hyun Song, A. M. Jessop, J. S. Bolton, Babak Ziaie

Birck and NCN Publications

In this Letter, we present a simple, low-temperature method for fabricating a wide-band (>80 kHz) thermo-acoustic sound generator on a porous polymeric substrate. We were able to achieve up to 80 dB of sound pressure level with an input power of 0.511 W. No significant surface temperature increase was observed in the device even at an input power level of 2.5 W. Wide-band ultrasonic performance, simplicity of structure, and scalability of the fabrication process make this device suitable for many ranging and imaging applications. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4737005]

Nanowire-Graphene Hybrids For Li-Ion Insertion, Philip A. Morton, Mohammad Arif I. Shuvo, Yirong Lin

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Lithium ion batteries are one of the most popular energy storage devices due to its high energy density. However, their performance is hindered by the limited surface area of the anode. This research focuses on the use of graphene nanowire hybrids and their performance as anode material. These hybrid structures have a greater surface area then graphite, the most common anode material. Greater surface area will enhance lithium ion insertion, and thus improve battery performance. The graphene oxide (GO) will be synthesized using the Hummer’s plus method. The GO will be sonicated and reduced in an argon furnace to form …

Cooling Of Photoexcited Carriers In Graphene By Internal And Substrate Phonons, Tony Low, Vasili Perebeinos, Raseong Kim, Marcus Freitag, Phaedon Avouris

Birck and NCN Publications

We investigate the energy relaxation of hot carriers produced by photoexcitation of graphene through coupling to both intrinsic and remote ( substrate) surface polar phonons using the Boltzmann equation approach. We find that the energy relaxation of hot photocarriers in graphene on commonly used polar substrates, under most conditions, is dominated by remote surface polar phonons. We also calculate key characteristics of the energy relaxation process, such as the transient cooling time and steady-state carrier temperatures and photocarrier densities, which determine the thermoelectric and photovoltaic photoresponse, respectively. Substrate engineering can be a promising route to efficient optoelectronic devices driven by …

Nanowire Giant Magnetoresistance Thin Films For Magnetic Sensors, Bryan Cox

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation details a novel method to fabricate magnetic sensors using nanowire giant magnetoresistance (GMR) thin films. In 1988, Albert Fert and Peter Grünberg both independently discovered a new physical phenomenon called GMR. GMR is a quantum mechanical effect found in thin film materials that are composed of alternating nanoscale ferromagnetic and non-magnetic conductive layers. When a GMR material is in the presence of a magnetic field, a change in electrical resistance is observed. The GMR effect has been utilized to produce magnetic sensors that have been used in a variety of applications, such as computer hard drive read heads, …

A Nanostructured Fabry-Perot Interferometer For Label-Free Biodetection, Tianhua Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

A polymer nanostructured Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI) based biosensor has been developed, fabricated, and tested. Different from a conventional FPI, this nanostructured FPI has a layer of Au-coated nanopores inside its cavity. The Au-coated nanostructure layer offers significant enhancement of optical transducing signals due to the localized surface Plasmon resonance (L-SPR) effect. Compared to a traditional FPI for label-free biosensing applications, the polymer nanostructured FPI based biosensor offers increased sensing surface area, extended penetration depth of the excitation light, and amplification of optical transducing signals. Using a nanostructured FPI, measurements taken had great improvements in free spectral range (FSR), finesse, and …

Nanoencapsulated Copper Pthalocyanine As Photodynamic Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Prathima Arrabelly

All Capstone Projects

The growing resistance developed by microbes towards antimicrobial agents has driven our focus on developing alternative treatment modalities such as Photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy (PACT). It would be difficult for the microbes to develop resistance towards singlet oxygen generated during the PACT process. Photosensitizers are the vehicles of the transfer and translation of light energy into a type II chemical reaction (singlet oxygen generation) in photodynamic antimicrobial chemotherapy. PACT is proposed as a potential, low cost approach to treatment of locally occurring infection.

Photodynamic inactivation (PDI) of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus has been studied in cultures treated with photoactivated copper …

Nonlinear Mechanical Behavior Of The Human Common, External And Internal Carotid Arteries In Vivo, Alexey Kamenskiy, Yuris A. Dzenis, Jason N. Mactaggart, Thomas G. Lynch, Syed A. Jaffar Kazmi, Iraklis I. Pipinos

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Introduction—The mechanical environment and properties of the carotid artery play an important role in the formation and progression of atherosclerosis in the carotid bifurcation. The purpose of this work was to measure and compare the range and variation of circumferential stress and tangent elastic moduli in the human common (CCA), external (ECA) and internal (ICA) carotid arteries over the cardiac cycle in vivo.

Methods—Measurements were performed in the surgically exposed proximal cervical CCA, distal ECA and distal ICA of normotensive patients (n = 16) undergoing carotid endarterectomy. All measurements were completed in vivo over the cardiac cycle …

Multidentate Resorcinarene Surfactants For The Phase Transfer Of Metal Nanoparticles And Nanodiamonds: Applications In Catalysis And Diamond Film Growth, Vara Prasad Sheela

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses & Dissertations

One main objective of the present work is to functionalize cuboctahedral platinum nanoparticles with various multidentate resorcinarene surfactants and study their influence in determining their catalytic activity. We hypothesized that catalytically active and recyclable catalysts can be achieved by incomplete yet strong passivation of the nanoparticle surfaces by using multidentate resorcinarene surfactants. We have developed phase transfer protocols for functionalizing cuboctahedral platinum nanoparticles with resorcinarene thiol or amine. Fluorescence assay confirmed that both these nanoparticles contained almost comparable unpassivated metal area. The activity of such phase transferred nanoparticles was tested in the catalytic hydrogenation of allyl alcohol. The conversion of …

Preparation And Electrochemical Performance Of Tio2/Gns Nanocomposite As Anode Materials For Lithium-Ion Batteries, Lin-Lin Qin, Huan Zhang, Xiao-Jing Liu, Jian-Hui Xu, Yi-Ning Shi, Ming-Sen Zheng, Quan-Feng Dong

Journal of Electrochemistry

The honeycomb-like porous TiO₂/graphenes (TiO₂/GNs) nanocomposite was prepared by a reflux method. SEM and TEM results showed that nanosized anatase TiO₂ (about 5~10 nm) were dispersed uniformly on the surface of the GNs. The TiO₂/GNs composite showed excellent rate and cycling performance: A stable charge capacity of 169.5 mAh·g^-1 was obtained at 30C, and can restore to 241.7 mAh·g^-1 while current went back to 1C. The stable charge capacity of TiO₂/GNs nanocomposite electrode up to 201.9 mAh·g^-1 was achieved at 10C in the first cycle, and could be …

Preparation And Characterization Of Prussian Blue Modified Nanoelectrode, Wei Wang, Bao-Fa Su, Dong-Ping Zhan

Journal of Electrochemistry

The Pt nanoelectrodes were fabricated by using a laser-based pipet puller and the recessed nanoelectrodes were prepared by etching of disk Pt nanoelectrodes wtih high frequency ac voltage. Prussian blue microcrystal was synthesized electrochemically on the both disk and recessed Pt nanoelectrodes. The strength of mechanical adhesion for the Prussian blue microcrystal on the nanoelectrode was enhanced. A novel method for the controllable synthesis of single particle is proposed, which has potential applications in modified electrodes and single particle electrocatalysis.

On The Molecular Mechanism Of Electron Transfer Of Cytochrome C Modulated By Gold Nanoparticles In Nano-Sandwich Architecture, Shou-Rui Lin, Li-Xu Wang, Xiu-E Jiang, Li-Ping Guo

Journal of Electrochemistry

The effects of adsorbed gold nanoparticles on the surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) difference spectra of redox-induced cytochrome (Cyt) c in AuNPs/Cyt c/Au sandwich architecture were monitored by SEIRA spectroscopy. The results indicated that the intensity of SEIRA difference spectrum for the vibration of the heme was significantly increased due to the adsorption of gold nanoparticles on the Cyt c. This was induced by the electron transfer between the heme and the gold nanoparticles, which also promoted electron transfer of adsorbed protein. This study suggested a new technique for optimizing the electrochemical property of adsorbed protein.

Detection Of Pml/Rarî± Fusion Gene Using Gold Nanopaticles Modified Electrode By Chronocoulometry, Li-Man Wang, Li-Qing Lin, Shao-Huang Weng, Xin-Hua Lin, Yuan-Zhong Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

A gold nanoparticles modified electrode was prepared by electrodeposition at constant potential. The sulfydryl modified probe was immobilized onto surface of gold nanoparticles via Au-S covalent bond and hybridized with complementary target DNA sequences, then the DNA sensor was fabricated for the detection of PML/RARα fusion gene by chronocoulometry in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to characterize the surface morphology of gold nanoparticles and the constructing process of sensor. With hexaammineruthenium(Ⅲ) chloride (RuHex) as a novel electrochemical indicator, the chronocoulometric DNA biosensor was employed to monitor artificial APL PML/RARα fusion …

Protonization Of Amino Functional Groups Confined In Nanochannels, Hong-Li Gao, Kai-Lin Zhou, Chen Wang, Su-Juan Li, Hui Zhang, Xing-Hua Xia

Journal of Electrochemistry

Protonization process is the key step of acid-base reaction and occurs in many biological processes. Study of the protonization process of molecules and/or functional groups in confined conditions would assist understanding in the acid-base theory and confinement effect of biomolecules. In this paper, we developed a novel approach to study protonization of functional groups in porous anodic alumina array nanochannels by measuring the flux of electrochemical active probes using an Au film electrochemical detector sputtered at the end of the nanochannels. The protonization status of the surface functional groups in nanochannels can change the surface charges and further modulate the …

Using Inductance As A Tuning Parameter For Rf Meta-Atoms, Derrick Langley, Ronald Coutu Jr., Peter J. Collins

Faculty Publications

The resonant frequency of metamaterials structured with split ring resonator (SRR) meta-atoms is determined primarily through the capacitance and inductance of the individual meta-atoms. Two designs that vary inductance incrementally were modeled, simulated, fabricated, and tested to investigate the role inductance plays in metamaterial designs. The designs consisted of strategically adding sections to the SRR to increase the inductance, but in a manner that minimized capacitance variations. Each design showed a shift in resonant frequency that was proportional to the length of the added section. As the length of each section was increased, the resonant frequency shifted from 2.78 GHz …

Does The Low Hole Transport Mass In <110> And <111> Si Nanowires Lead To Mobility Enhancements At High Field And Stress: A Self-Consistent Tight-Binding Study, R. L. Kotlyar, T. D. Linton, R. Rios, M. D. Giles, S. M. Cea, K. J. Kuhn, Michael Povolotskyi, Tillmann Kubis, Gerhard Klimeck

Birck and NCN Publications

The hole surface roughness and phonon limited mobility in the silicon h100i, h110i, and h111i square nanowires under the technologically important conditions of applied gate bias and stress are studied with the self-consistent Poisson-sp3d5s*-SO tight-binding bandstructure method. Under an applied gate field, the hole carriers in a wire undergo a volume to surface inversion transition diminishing the positive effects of the high h110i and h111i valence band nonparabolicities, which are known to lead to the large gains of the phonon limited mobility at a zero field in narrow wires. Nonetheless, the hole mobility in the unstressed wires down to the …

Repeatable Low-Temperature Negative-Differential Resistance From Al0.18ga0.82n/Gan Resonant Tunneling Diodes Grown By Molecular-Beam Epitaxy On Free-Standing Gan Substrates, D. Li, L. Tang, C. Edmunds, J. Shao, G. Gardner, Michael J. Manfra, O. Malis

Birck and NCN Publications

Low-aluminum composition AlGaN/GaN double-barrier resonant tunneling structures were grown by plasma-assisted molecular-beam-epitaxy on free-standing c-plane GaN substrates grown by hydride-vapor phase epitaxy. Clear, exactly reproducible, negative-differential resistance signatures were observed from 4 x 4 mu m(2) devices at 1.5V and 1.7V at 77K. The relatively small value of the maximum peak-to-valley ratio (1.03) and the area dependence of the electrical characteristics suggest that charge transport is affected by leakage paths through dislocations. However, the reproducibility of the data indicates that electrical traps play no significant role in the charge transport in resonant tunneling diodes grown by molecular-beam-epitaxy under Ga-rich conditions …

Single-Molecule Tools Elucidate H2a.Z Nucleosome Composition, Jiji Chen, Andrew Miller, Ann L. Kirchmaier, Joseph M.K. Irudayaraj

Birck and NCN Publications

Although distinct epigenetic marks correlate with different chromatin states, how they are integrated within single nucleosomes to generate combinatorial signals remains largely unknown. We report the successful implementation of single molecule tools constituting fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), pulse interleave excitation-based Forster resonance energy transfer (PIE-FRET) and fluorescence lifetime imaging-based FRET (FLIM-FRET) to elucidate the composition of single nucleosomes containing histone variant H2A.Z (Htz1p in yeast) in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrate that yeast nucleosomes containing Htz1p are primarily composed of H4 K12ac and H3 K4me3 but not H3 K36me3 and that these patterns are conserved in mammalian cells. Quantification …

Laser-Based Spectroscopy And Spectrometry, Xiangnan He

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Laser-based spectroscopy and spectrometry were extensively investigated in nanoscience, materials science, biomedical science, and etc. Different lasers with wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared, and with duration from continuous-wave (CW) to femtoseconds have been employed in various spectroscopic techniques to investigate the properties of materials and nanostructures. However, the sensitivity, spectral resolution, and spatial resolution of these techniques still need to be improved to better serve the purposes of detecting and analyzing various materials. The objective of the research in this dissertation is to improve the sensitivity, spectral resolution, and spatial resolution of different laser-based spectroscopy and spectrometry techniques, such as …

Analysis Of Thermal Conductance Of Ballistic Point Contacts, Changwook Jeong, Mark S. Lundstrom

Birck and NCN Publications

Substantial reduction of thermal conductance (K-ph) was recently reported for air gap heterostructures (AGHs) in which two bulk layers were connected by low-density nanopillars. We analyze K-ph using a full phonon dispersion and including important phonon scattering. We find a transition from ballistic at low temperatures to quasi-ballistic transport near room temperature and explain the slow roll-off in K-ph that occurs near room temperature. We show that the density of nanopillars deduced from the analysis depends strongly on the phonon dispersion assumed. Our model provides a good agreement with experiment that will be necessary to design AGHs for thermoelectric applications. …

The Effects Of Diameter And Chirality On The Thermal Transport In Free-Standing And Supported Carbon-Nanotubes, Bo Qiu, Yan Wang, Xiulin Ruan, Qing Zhao

Birck and NCN Publications

We use molecular dynamics simulations to explore the lattice thermal transport in free-standing and supported single-wall carbon-nanotube (SWCNT) in comparison to that in graphene nanoribbon and graphene sheet. For free-standing SWCNT, the lattice thermal conductivity increases with diameter and approaches that of graphene, partly due to the curvature. Supported SWCNT thermal conductivity is reduced by 34%-41% compared to the free-standing case, which is less than that in supported graphene. Also, it shows an evident chirality dependence by varying about 10%, which we attribute to chirality-dependent interfacial phonon scattering. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4725194]

On The Best Bandstructure For Thermoelectric Performance: A Landauer Perspective, Changwook Jeong, Raseong Kim, Mark S. Lundstrom

Birck and NCN Publications

The question of what bandstructure produces the best thermoelectric device performance is revisited from a Landauer perspective. We find that a delta-function transport distribution function (TDF) results in operation at the Mahan-Sofo upper limit for the thermoelectric figure-of-merit, ZT. We show, however, the Mahan-Sofo upper limit itself depends on the bandwidth (BW) of the dispersion, and therefore, a finite BW dispersion produces a higher ZT when the lattice thermal conductivity is finite. Including a realistic model for scattering profoundly changes the results. Instead of a narrow band, we find that a broad BW is best. The prospects of increasing ZT …

Parametric Noise Squeezing And Parametric Resonance Of Microcantilevers In Air And Liquid Environments, Gyan Prakash, Arvind Raman, Jeff F. Rhoads, Ronald G. Reifenberger

Birck and NCN Publications

In this work, parametric noise squeezing and parametric resonance are realized through the use of an electronic feedback circuit to excite a microcantilever with a signal proportional to the product of the microcantilever's displacement and a harmonic signal. The cantilever's displacement is monitored using an optical lever technique. By adjusting the gain of an amplifier in the feedback circuit, regimes of parametric noise squeezing/amplification and the principal and secondary parametric resonances of fundamental and higher order eigenmodes can be easily accessed. The exceptionally symmetric amplitude response of the microcantilever in the narrow frequency bandwidth is traced to a nonlinear parametric …

Three-Dimensional Geometry Of The Human Carotid Artery, Alexey Kamenskiy, Jason N. Mactaggart, Iraklis I. Pipinos, Jai Bikhchandani, Yuris A. Dzenis

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Accurate characterization of carotid artery geometry is vital to our understanding of the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. Three-dimensional computer reconstructions based on medical imaging are now ubiquitous; however, mean carotid artery geometry has not yet been comprehensively characterized. The goal of this work was to build and study such geometry based on data from 16 male patients with severe carotid artery disease. Results of computerized tomography angiography were used to analyze the cross-sectional images implementing a semiautomated segmentation algorithm. Extracted data were used to reconstruct the mean three-dimensional geometry and to determine average values and variability of bifurcation and planarity angles, …

Quantized Hall Effect And Shubnikov-De Haas Oscillations In Highly Doped Bi2se3: Evidence For Layered Transport Of Bulk Carriers, Helin Cao, Jifa Tian, Ireneusz Miotkowski, Tian Shen, Jiuning Hu, Shan Qiao, Yong P. Chen

Birck and NCN Publications

Bi2Se3 is an important semiconductor thermoelectric material and a prototype topological insulator. Here we report observation of Shubnikov-de Hass oscillations accompanied by quantized Hall resistances (R-xy) in highly doped n-type Bi2Se3 with bulk carrier concentrations of few 10(19) cm(-3). Measurements under tilted magnetic fields show that the magnetotransport is 2D-like, where only the c-axis component of the magnetic field controls the Landau level formation. The quantized step size in 1/R-xy is found to scale with the sample thickness, and average similar to e(2)/h per quintuple layer. We show that the observed magnetotransport features do not come from the sample surface, …

Active Response Of Polymer Materials From External Stimuli – Solvents And Light; Grafting Reactions On Perovskite Layers, Jianxia Zhang

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The active response of a series of polymeric materials was investigated. Both solvent activated and light activated thin films and wire systems show dynamic behaviors when exposed to different stimuli.

Solvent mediated fluxional behavior of polymer thin films involved extensive, rapid curling both on infusion and evaporation of good solvents. These films can be either lab-fabricated ones or commercial ones, and the curling behavior can be as fast as seconds. Conditions including polymer materials, chosen solvents, and film geometry can affect the behavior.

Methods that allowed for the creation and retention of distorted wire structures were also developed; the asymmetric …

Amorphous Ni/Al Nanoscale Laminates As High-Energy Intermolecular Reactive Composites, Karthik Guda Vishnu, Mathew Cherukara, Hojin Kim, Alejandro Strachan

Birck and NCN Publications

We use molecular dynamics simulations to explore the potential use of amorphous metals in intermolecular reactive composites. Our simulations show that amorphous Ni/Al nanolaminates lead to an increase in temperature of up to 260 K over their crystalline counterparts; this increase corresponds to over 20% of the heat of fusion and can be explained in terms of the amorphization energy. The reactions are diffusion controlled and crystallization is observed in laminates with relatively long periods where high temperatures are experienced for sufficiently long times prior to intermixing; the effect of this process on the energetics and time involved in the …

Rehabilitation And Exercise Machine, Judith M. Burnfield, Yu Shu, Thad W. Buster, Carl Nelson

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

An improved rehabilitation and exercise machine is provided which allows a person with physical limitations, disabilities or chronic conditions to use the machine in order to rehabilitate their muscles, improve joint flexibility, and enhance cardiovascular fitness.