Patch-Type Vibration Visualization (PVV) Sensor System Based on Triboelectric Effect.

Self-powered wireless sensor systems have emerged as an important topic for condition monitoring in nuclear power plants. However, commercial wireless sensor systems still cannot be fully self-sustainable due to the high power consumption caused by excessive signal processing in a mini-electronic computing system. In this sense, it is essential not only to integrate the sensor system with energy-harvesting devices but also to develop simple data processing methods for low power schemes. In this paper, we report a patch-type vibration visualization (PVV) sensor system based on the triboelectric effect and a visualization technique for self-sustainable operation. The PVV sensor system composed of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET)/Al/LCD screen directly converts the triboelectric signal into an informative black pattern on the LCD screen without excessive signal processing, enabling extremely low power operation. In addition, a proposed image processing method reconverts the black patterns to frequency and acceleration values through a remote-control camera. With these simple signal-to-pattern conversion and pattern-to-data reconversion techniques, a vibration visualization sensor network has successfully been demonstrated.

Nature-replicated nano-in-micro structures for triboelectric energy harvesting.

Triboelectric nanogenerators with nature-replicated interface structures are presented. Effective contact areas of the triboelectric surfaces are largely enhanced because of the densely packed nano-in-micro hierarchical structures in nature. The enlarged contact area causes stronger triboelectric charge density, which results in output power increment. The interface engineering also allows the improved humidity resistance, which is an important parameter for the stable energy harvesting.

Sensitive and selective electrochemical detection of dopamine using an electrode modified with carboxylated carbonaceous spheres.

A highly sensitive and selective electrochemical sensor of dopamine (DA) has been developed by employing carboxylated carbonaceous spheres to modify glassy carbon electrodes (GCEs). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy were used to characterize as-prepared carbonaceous spheres. The results show that the diameter of carboxylated carbonaceous spheres is uniformly 500 nm and that their surfaces mainly expose carboxyl groups with negative charges. Electrochemical measurements demonstrate that carboxylated carbonaceous spheres greatly improve the accumulation of positively charged dopamine, leading to good sensing performance on a modified GCE. Through applying the differential pulse voltammetric approach, linear calibration curves were obtained in a range of about 0.1 to 40 µM with a detection limit down to 30 nM. Furthermore, depending on the charge-based discrimination, the modified electrode displays good selective detection of DA and reliable anti-interference to UA and glucose besides a weak and negligible response to AA. Therefore, the carboxylated carbonaceous sphere introduced here is a good candidate to develop electrochemical sensors for the sensitive and selective detection of DA.

Self-aligned nanoforest in silicon nanowire for sensitive conductance modulation.

A self-aligned and localized nanoforest structure is constructed in a top-down fabricated silicon nanowire (SiNW). The surface-to-volume ratio (SVR) of the SiNW is enhanced due to the local nanoforest formation. The conductance modulation property of the SiNWs, which is an important characteristic in sensor and charge transfer based applications, can be largely enhanced. For the selective modification of the channel region, localized Joule-heating and subsequent metal-assisted chemical etching (mac-etch) are employed. The nanoforest is formed only in the channel region without misalignment due to the self-aligned process of Joule-heating. The modified SiNW is applied to a porphyrin-silicon hybrid device to verify the enhanced conductance modulation. The charge transfer efficiency between the porphyrin and the SiNW, which is caused by external optical excitation, is clearly increased compared to the initial SiNW. The effect of the local nanoforest formation is enhanced when longer etching times and larger widths are used.

A nanoforest structure for practical surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates.

A nanoforest structure for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) active substrates is fabricated and analyzed. The detailed morphology of the resulting structure can be easily controlled by modifying the process parameters such as initial gold layer thickness and etching time. The applicability of the nanoforest substrate as a label-free SERS immunosensor is demonstrated using influenza A virus subtype H1N1. Selective binding of the H1N1 surface antigen and the anti-H1 antibody is directly detected by the SERS signal differences. Simple fabrication and high throughput with strong in-plane hot-spots imply that the nanoforest structure can be a practical sensing component of a chip-based SERS sensing system.

Transformable functional nanoscale building blocks with wafer-scale silicon nanowires.

Through the fusion of electrostatics and mechanical dynamics, we demonstrate a transformable silicon nanowire (SiNW) field effect transistor (FET) through a wafer-scale top-down approach. By felicitously taking advantage of the proposed electrostatic SiNW-FET with mechanically movable SiNWs, all essential logic gates, including address decoders, can be monolithically integrated into a single device. The unification of various functional devices, such as pn-diodes, FETs, logic gates, and address decoders, can therefore eliminate the complex fabrication issues associated with nanoscale integration. These results represent a step toward the creation of multifunctional and flexible nanoelectronics.

Multi-layer nanogap array for high-performance SERS substrate.

A multi-layer nanogap array composed of three linearly aligned gold nanogaps is fabricated for a surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) substrate. The overall process for the proposed structure is simple and reliable with the use of a photolithography-free fabrication process, which includes only deposition and etching. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is employed to form a uniform and highly controllable nanogap array. The nanogap width, a crucial parameter in SERS, is determined by the sacrificial film thickness of CVD. Experiments on nanogap width and polarization angle dependence are carried out to characterize the fabricated multi-layer nanogap array as an SERS substrate.

A nanoscale vacuum field emission gated diode with an umbrella cathode.

A nanoscale field emission vacuum channel gated diode structure is proposed and a tungsten cathode with an umbrella-like geometry and sharp vertical edge is fabricated. The edge of the suspended cathode becomes the field emission surface. Unlike in the traditional transistor with the gate typically located between the source and the drain, the bottom silicon plate becomes the gate here and the anode terminal is located between the umbrella cathode and the gate. The fabricated devices show excellent diode characteristics and the gated diode structure is attractive for extremely low gate leakage.

Methodologies for Fabricating Flexible Supercapacitors.

The spread of wearable and flexible electronics devices has been accelerating in recent years for a wide range of applications. Development of an appropriate flexible power source to operate these flexible devices is a key challenge. Supercapacitors are attractive for powering portable lightweight consumer devices due to their long cycle stability, fast charge-discharge cycle, outstanding power density, wide operating temperatures and safety. Much effort has been devoted to ensure high mechanical and electrochemical stability upon bending, folding or stretching and to develop flexible electrodes, substrates and overall geometrically-flexible structures. Supercapacitors have attracted considerable attention and shown many applications on various scales. In this review, we focus on flexible structural design under six categories: paper-like, textile-like, wire-like, origami, biomimetics based design and micro-supercapacitors. Finally, we present our perspective of flexible supercapacitors and emphasize current technical difficulties to stimulate further research.

Printable Gel Polymer Electrolytes for Solid-State Printed Supercapacitors.

Supercapacitors prepared by printing allow a simple manufacturing process, easy customization, high material efficiency and wide substrate compatibility. While printable active layers have been widely studied, printable electrolytes have not been thoroughly investigated despite their importance. A printable electrolyte should not only have high ionic conductivity, but also proper viscosity, small particle size and chemical stability. Here, gel-polymer electrolytes (GPE) that are compatible with printing were developed and their electrochemical performance was analyzed. Five GPE formulations based on various polymer-conductive substance combinations were investigated. Among them, GPE made of polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) polymer matrix and LiClO4 conductive substance exhibited the best electrochemical performance, with a gravimetric capacitance of 176.4 F/g and areal capacitance of 152.7 mF/cm2 at a potential scan rate of 10 mV/s. The in-depth study of the in-plane solid-state supercapacitors based on various printed GPEs suggests that printable electrolytes provide desirable attributes for high-performance printed energy devices such as supercapacitors, batteries, fuel cells and dye-sensitized solar cells.

All 3D-Printed Flexible ZnO UV Photodetector on an Ultraflat Substrate.

An all three-dimensional (3D)-printed flexible ZnO ultraviolet (UV) photodetector is demonstrated, where the 3D-printing method is used not only for the electrode and photosensitive material but also for creating a substrate. An ultraflat and flexible substrate capable of serving as the backbone layer is developed using a water-dissolvable polymer layer for surface planarization. A two-layered printing followed by surface treatment is demonstrated for the substrate preparation. As mechanical support but flexible, a thick and sparse thermoplastic polyurethane layer is printed. On its surface, a thin and dense poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is then printed. A precise control of PVA reflow using a microwater droplet results in a flexible and extremely uniform substrate. A Cu-Ag nanowire network is directly 3D printed on the flexible substrate for the conducting layer, followed by ZnO for the photosensitive material. Unlike the planar two-dimensional printing that provides thin films, 3D printing allows the electrode to have a step height, which can be made like a dam to accommodate a thick film of ZnO. Photosensitivity as a function of various ZnO thickness values was investigated to establish an optimal thickness for UV response. The device was also tested in natural sunlight along with stability and reliability.

On-Demand Printing of Wearable Thermotherapy Pad.

Thermotherapy is an effective method for pain relief, recovery from injury, and general healthcare. The ordinary heat pad used for thermotherapy at home is not usually tailored to the individual but supplied in a few different pre-fixed sizes and shapes for mass marketing. A customized wearable heat pad often requires expert support. Herein, an instant, custom-fit, and on-demand heat pad for thermotherapy is demonstrated. The heater is directly printed using silver nanoparticle ink on an off-the-shelf medical grade tape by inkjet technology. By coating the tape with silica nanoparticles as ink-absorbing layer and chloride ions as chemical sintering agent, stable heater patterns are printed without the need for subsequent high temperature sintering process. A 3D scanner is used to acquire body information, and a customized heater is produced using the information. The printed heat pad is attached to the shoulder and the effect of thermotherapy is verified objectively through electroencephalography and subjectively through survey. This printed heat pad produced by simple and low-cost fabrication provides wearable medical devices for personal thermotherapy.

Electrically-generated memristor based on inkjet printed silver nanoparticles.

A method to electrically induce memristor performance from inkjet-printed silver (Ag) nanoparticles is presented, which is effective on a specifically designed hourglass-shaped Ag metal device. Joule heating-induced oxidation in the bottleneck region, when applying a high current to the device, results in a metal-electrolyte-metal structure produced from just a single metal ink for the memristor operation. This electrically induced memristor shows a nonuniform dispersion of the Ag nanoparticles within the oxide electrolyte layer, depending on the bias polarity adopted during the initial metal rupture process. A versatile and useful range of controllable memristor behaviors, from volatile threshold switching to nonvolatile unipolar as well as bipolar resistive switching, are observed based on the reversible rejuvenation and rupture of the Ag nanofilaments according to the Ag cation migration within the oxide electrolyte. The interplay between the electric field induced redox reaction and thermal diffusion of the Ag nanoparticles constitutes the primary reason for the different switching behaviors, further supported by thermo-field simulation results. The bipolar switching memristor demonstrates reliable endurance even under harsh DC switching conditions with low power consumption compared with its unipolar switching operation. The observed range of controllable switching behavior can be exploited for future low power flexible memory, as a selector in crossbar memory architecture, synaptic learning, and others.

Carbon Nanotube Based γ Ray Detector.

A single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) based γ ray detector is demonstrated without a conventional scintillation mechanism. The change in the conductance of a two terminal SWCNT resistor in response to γ ray exposure is exploited as a sensing mechanism. Radiation-induced ambient oxygen dissociation and subsequent adsorption of oxygen species on the SWCNT surface alter its electrical properties. The responses to the total dose and dose rate are investigated along with the sensing mechanism. The detector showed good sensitivity to γ ray and a capability to distinguish radiation dose rates ranging from 2.4 to 16.4 R/min.

Wearable UV Sensor Based on Carbon Nanotube-Coated Cotton Thread.

A fabric-compatible UV sensor is presented using a cellulose-based thread coated with single-wall carbon nanotube ink. Two-terminal resistive responses of the thread were measured upon exposure to UV, and the effects of intensity, wavelength, and on/off cycling were studied. The sensor was tested in the field under direct sunlight, demonstrating practical usability for a wearable/flexible UV sensor system. The results here confirm the potential for an inexpensive wearable sensor in contrast to the conventional rigid and bulky solid-state detectors.

A Single Input Multiple Output (SIMO) Variation-Tolerant Nanosensor.

Successful transition to commercialization and practical implementation of nanotechnology innovations may very well need device designs that are tolerant to the inherent variations and imperfections in all nanomaterials including carbon nanotubes, graphene, and others. As an example, a single-walled carbon nanotube network based gas sensor is promising for a wide range of applications such as environment, industry, and biomedical and wearable devices due to its high sensitivity, fast response, and low power consumption. However, a long-standing issue has been the production of extremely high purity semiconducting nanotubes, thereby contributing to the delay in the market adoption of those sensors. Inclusion of even less than 0.1% of metallic nanotubes, which is inevitable, is found to result in a significant deterioration of sensor-to-sensor uniformity. Acknowledging the coexistence of metallic and semiconducting nanotubes as well as all other possible imperfections, we herein present a novel variation-tolerant sensor design where the sensor response is defined by a statistical Gaussian measure in contrast to a traditional deterministic approach. The single input and multiple output data are attained using multiport electrodes fabricated over a relatively large area single nanotube ensemble. The data processing protocol discards outlier data points and the origin of the outliers is investigated. Both the experimental demonstration and complementary analytical modeling support the hypothesis that the statistical analysis of the device can strengthen the credibility of the sensor constructed using nanomaterials with any imperfections. The proposed strategy can also be applied to physical, radiation, and biosensors as well as other electronic devices.

Single nanowire on graphene (SNOG) as an efficient, reproducible, and stable SERS-active platform.

Developing a well-defined nanostructure that can provide strong, reproducible, and stable SERS signals is quite important for the practical application of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensors. We report here a novel single nanowire (NW) on graphene (SNOG) structure as an efficient, reproducible, and stable SERS-active platform. Au NWs having a well-defined single-crystal geometry on a monolayer graphene-coated metal film can form a well-defined, continuous nanogap structure that provides extremely reproducible and stable SERS signals. The in-NW reproducibility was verified by 2-dimensional Raman mapping, and the NW-to-NW reproducibility was verified by the cumulative curves of 32 SERS spectra. The simulation also indicated that a highly regular, line-shaped hot spot formed between the Au NW and graphene. Furthermore, SNOG platforms showed improved photostability and long-term oxidation immunity. We anticipate that SNOG platforms will be appropriate for practical biological and chemical sensor applications that demand reproducible, stable, and strong signal production.

Logic circuits composed of flexible carbon nanotube thin-film transistor and ultra-thin polymer gate dielectric.

Printing electronics has become increasingly prominent in the field of electronic engineering because this method is highly efficient at producing flexible, low-cost and large-scale thin-film transistors. However, TFTs are typically constructed with rigid insulating layers consisting of oxides and nitrides that are brittle and require high processing temperatures, which can cause a number of problems when used in printed flexible TFTs. In this study, we address these issues and demonstrate a method of producing inkjet-printed TFTs that include an ultra-thin polymeric dielectric layer produced by initiated chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) at room temperature and highly purified 99.9% semiconducting carbon nanotubes. Our integrated approach enables the production of flexible logic circuits consisting of CNT-TFTs on a polyethersulfone (PES) substrate that have a high mobility (up to 9.76 cm(2) V(-1) sec(-)1), a low operating voltage (less than 4 V), a high current on/off ratio (3 × 10(4)), and a total device yield of 90%. Thus, it should be emphasized that this study delineates a guideline for the feasibility of producing flexible CNT-TFT logic circuits with high performance based on a low-cost and simple fabrication process.

Controllable electrical and physical breakdown of poly-crystalline silicon nanowires by thermally assisted electromigration.

The importance of poly-crystalline silicon (poly-Si) in semiconductor manufacturing is rapidly increasing due to its highly controllable conductivity and excellent, uniform deposition quality. With the continuing miniaturization of electronic components, low dimensional structures such as 1-dimensional nanowires (NWs) have attracted a great deal of attention. But such components have a much higher current density than 2- or 3-dimensional films, and high current can degrade device lifetime and lead to breakdown problems. Here, we report on the electrical and thermal characteristics of poly-Si NWs, which can also be used to control electrical and physical breakdown under high current density. This work reports a controllable catastrophic change of poly-Si NWs by thermally-assisted electromigration and underlying mechanisms. It also reports the direct and real time observation of these catastrophic changes of poly-Si nanowires for the first time, using scanning electron microscopy.

Electrothermal Annealing (ETA) Method to Enhance the Electrical Performance of Amorphous-Oxide-Semiconductor (AOS) Thin-Film Transistors (TFTs).

An electro-thermal annealing (ETA) method, which uses an electrical pulse of less than 100 ns, was developed to improve the electrical performance of array-level amorphous-oxide-semiconductor (AOS) thin-film transistors (TFTs). The practicality of the ETA method was experimentally demonstrated with transparent amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O (a-IGZO) TFTs. The overall electrical performance metrics were boosted by the proposed method: up to 205% for the trans-conductance (gm), 158% for the linear current (Ilinear), and 206% for the subthreshold swing (SS). The performance enhancement were interpreted by X-ray photoelectron microscopy (XPS), showing a reduction of oxygen vacancies in a-IGZO after the ETA. Furthermore, by virtue of the extremely short operation time (80 ns) of ETA, which neither provokes a delay of the mandatory TFTs operation such as addressing operation for the display refresh nor demands extra physical treatment, the semipermanent use of displays can be realized.