Plasmonic Sensing Studies of a Gas-Phase Cystic Fibrosis Marker in Moisture Laden Air.

A plasmonic sensing platform was developed as a noninvasive method to monitor gas-phase biomarkers related to cystic fibrosis (CF). The nanohole array (NHA) sensing platform is based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and offers a rapid data acquisition capability. Among the numerous gas-phase biomarkers that can be used to assess the lung health of CF patients, acetaldehyde was selected for this investigation. Previous research with diverse types of sensing platforms, with materials ranging from metal oxides to 2-D materials, detected gas-phase acetaldehyde with the lowest detection limit at the µmol/mol (parts-per-million (ppm)) level. In contrast, this work presents a plasmonic sensing platform that can approach the nmol/mol (parts-per-billion (ppb)) level, which covers the required concentration range needed to monitor the status of lung infection and find pulmonary exacerbations. During the experimental measurements made by a spectrometer and by a smartphone, the sensing examination was initially performed in a dry air background and then with high relative humidity (RH) as an interferent, which is relevant to exhaled breath. At a room temperature of 23.1 °C, the lowest detection limit for the investigated plasmonic sensing platform under dry air and 72% RH conditions are 250 nmol/mol (ppb) and 1000 nmol/mol (ppb), respectively.

Mobility Extraction in 2D Transition Metal Dichalcogenide Devices-Avoiding Contact Resistance Implicated Overestimation.

Schottky barrier (SB) transistors operate distinctly different from conventional metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors, in a unique way that the gate impacts the carrier injection from the metal source/drain contacts into the channel region. While it has been long recognized that this can have severe implications for device characteristics in the subthreshold region, impacts of contact gating of SB in the on-state of the devices, which affects evaluation of intrinsic channel properties, have been yet comprehensively studied. Due to the fact that contact resistance (RC ) is always gate-dependent in a typical back-gated device structure, the traditional approach of deriving field-effect mobility from the maximum transconductance (gm ) is in principle not correct and can even overestimate the mobility. In addition, an exhibition of two different threshold voltages for the channel and the contact region leads to another layer of complexity in determining the true carrier concentration calculated from Q = COX * (VG -VTH ). Through a detailed experimental analysis, the effect of different effective oxide thicknesses, distinct SB heights, and doping-induced reductions in the SB width are carefully evaluated to gain a better understanding of their impact on important device metrics.

Integrated contact lens sensor system based on multifunctional ultrathin MoS2 transistors.

Smart contact lenses attract extensive interests due to their capability of directly monitoring physiological and ambient information. However, previous demonstrations usually lacked efficient sensor modalities, facile fabrication process, mechanical stability, or biocompatibility. Here, we demonstrate a flexible approach for fabrication of multifunctional smart contact lenses with an ultrathin MoS2 transistors-based serpentine mesh sensor system. The integrated sensor systems contain a photodetector for receiving optical information, a glucose sensor for monitoring glucose level directly from tear fluid, and a temperature sensor for diagnosing potential corneal disease. Unlike traditional sensors and circuit chips sandwiched in the lens substrate, this serpentine mesh sensor system can be directly mounted onto the lenses and maintain direct contact with tears, delivering high detection sensitivity, while being mechanically robust and not interfering with either blinking or vision. Furthermore, the in vitro cytotoxicity tests reveal good biocompatibility, thus holding promise as next-generation soft electronics for healthcare and medical applications.

A Cloud-connected NO2 and Ozone Sensor System for Personalized Pediatric Asthma Research and Management.

This paper presents a cloud-connected indoor air quality sensor system that can be deployed to patients' homes to study personal microenvironmental exposure for asthma research and management. The system consists of multiple compact sensor units that can measure residential NO2, ozone, humidity, and temperature at one-minute resolution and a cloud-based informatic system that acquires, stores, and visualizes the microenvironmental data in real-time. The sensor hardware can measure NO2 as low as 10 ppb and ozone at 15 ppb. The cloud informatic system is implemented using open-source software on Amazon Web Service for easy deployment and scalability. This system was successfully deployed to pediatric asthma patients' homes in a pilot study. In this study, we discovered that some families had short-term NO2 exposure higher than EPA's one-hour exposure limit (100 ppb), and NO2 micro-pollution episodes often arise from natural gas appliance usage such as gas stove burning during cooking. By combining the personalized air pollutant exposure measurements with the physiological responses from monitoring devices, patient diaries, or medical records, this system can potentially enable novel asthma research and personalized asthma management.

Miniaturized nanohole array based plasmonic sensor for the detection of acetone and ethanol with insights into the kinetics of adsorptive plasmonic sensing.

The present work demonstrates development of a miniaturized plasmonic platform comprised of a Au nanohole array (NHA) on a Si/Si3N4 substrate. Plasmonic responses of the NHA platform, which is coated with Cu-benzenetricarboxylate metal organic framework (MOF), are found to be promising even towards 500 nmol mol-1 (ppb) of acetone or ethanol vapors at room temperature. The sensing characteristics are further investigated by varying the operating temperature (296 K to 318 K) of the sensor and the concentrations of vapors (500 nmol mol-1 to 320 µmol mol-1). The plasmonic responses for the sensors are correlated with the adsorption of vapors on the MOF surface and modeled in accordance to Langmuir-type adsorption. Kinetic parameters are estimated for the adsorption of fixed concentrations of acetone and ethanol vapors within the studied operating temperature range. The linear variation of characteristic response time constants with the operating temperature provides Arrhenius activation energies for the adsorption of acetone and ethanol vapors. The comparatively lower activation energy estimated for the adsorption of ethanol results in faster and more sensitive response of the sensor towards that analyte. The plasmonic sensor for the detection of nmol mol-1 level acetone and ethanol vapors at room temperature along with the kinetic correlation on plasmonic response with the adsorption of the analytes described herein offer new insights to existing reports on surface modification and plasmonic detection.

Tuning the Polarity of MoTe2 FETs by Varying the Channel Thickness for Gas-Sensing Applications.

In this study, electrical characteristics of MoTe2 field-effect transistors (FETs) are investigated as a function of channel thickness. The conductivity type in FETs, fabricated from exfoliated MoTe2 crystals, switched from p-type to ambipolar to n-type conduction with increasing MoTe2 channel thickness from 10.6 nm to 56.7 nm. This change in flake-thickness-dependent conducting behavior of MoTe2 FETs can be attributed to modulation of the Schottky barrier height and related bandgap alignment. Change in polarity as a function of channel thickness variation is also used for ammonia (NH3) sensing, which confirms the p- and n-type behavior of MoTe2 devices.

Generation and enhancement of surface acoustic waves on a highly doped p-type GaAs substrate.

Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) have been widely studied due to their unique advantage to couple the mechanical, electrical, and optical characteristics of semiconductor materials and have successfully been used in many industrial applications. In this work, we report a design that uses piezoelectric material Zinc Oxide (ZnO) to enhance the generation and propagation of SAWs on the surface of a highly doped p-type Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) substrate, which is more extensively used in optoelectronic devices than intrinsic GaAs structures. To maximize the piezoelectricity and successfully generate SAWs, high quality c-axis orientation of the ZnO film is needed; thus we experiment and develop optimized recipes of a radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering system to deposit ZnO on the GaAs substrate. To further optimize the SAW performance, an intermediate Silicon Oxide (SiO2) layer is added between the ZnO film and GaAs substrate. Additionally, we test samples with varied thickness of ZnO films and dimensions of interdigital transducer (IDT) fingers to figure out their individual effect on SAW properties. The results and techniques demonstrated in this paper will provide guidance for further studies on enhancing SAWs propagating along many other doped semiconductor materials. This combination of acoustics and optoelectronics in doped semiconductors is a promising start to building enhanced and hybrid devices in various fields.

Discrimination of 1- and 2-Propanol by Using the Transient Current Change of a Semiconducting ZnFe2 O4 Chemiresistor.

A semiconducting metal oxide (SMO) chemiresistor (ZnFe2 O4 ) is used for discriminating two isomeric volatile organic compounds (VOCs), namely 1- and 2-propanol. The transient current of the SMO chemiresistor is correlated with the aerobic oxidation of organic vapors on its surface. The changes in transient current of the ZnFe2 O4 chemiresistor are measured at different temperatures (260-320 °C) for detecting equal concentrations (200 ppm) of the two structural isomers of propanol. The transient current of ZnFe2 O4 reflects a faster oxidation of 2-propanol than 1-propanol on the surface. First-principles calculations and kinetic studies on the interaction of 1- and 2-propanol over ZnFe2 O4 provide further insight in support of the experimental evidence. The calculations predict more spontaneous adsorption of 2-propanol on the (111) surface of ZnFe2 O4 than 1-propanol. Kinetic parameters for the oxidation of isomeric vapors are estimated by modelling the transient current of ZnFe2 O4 using the Langmuir-Hinshelwood reaction mechanism. The faster oxidation of 2-propanol and comparatively lower activation energy for the respective process over ZnFe2 O4 is justified in accordance to the chemical structures of vapors. The findings have strong implications in exploring a new technique for discriminating isomeric VOCs, which is significant for environmental monitoring and medical applications.

Electronic Characteristics of MoSe2 and MoTe2 for Nanoelectronic Applications.

Single-crystalline MoSe2 and MoTe2 platelets were grown by Chemical Vapor Transport (CVT), followed by exfoliation, device fabrication, optical and electrical characterization. We observed that for the field-effect-transistor (FET) channel thickness in range of 5.5 nm to 8.5 nm, MoTe2 shows p-type, whereas MoSe2 with channel thickness range of 1.6 nm to 10.5 nm, shows n-type conductivity behavior. At room temperature, both MoSe2 and MoTe2 FETs have high ON/OFF current ratio and low contact resistance. Controlling charge carrier type and mobility in MoSe2 and MoTe2 layers can pave a way for utilizing these materials for heterojunction nanoelctronic devices with superior performance.

Control of polarity in multilayer MoTe2 field-effect transistors by channel thickness.

In this study, electronic properties of field-effect transistors (FETs) fabricated from exfoliated MoTe2 single crystals are investigated as a function of channel thickness. The conductivity type in FETs gradually changes from n-type for thick MoTe2 layers (above ≈ 65 nm) to ambipolar behavior for intermediate MoTe2 thickness (between ≈ 60 and 15 nm) to p- type for thin layers (below ≈ 10 nm). The n-type behavior in quasi-bulk MoTe2 is attributed to doping with chlorine atoms from the TeCl4 transport agent used for the chemical vapor transport (CVT) growth of MoTe2. The change in polarity sign with decreasing channel thickness may be associated with increasing role of surface states in ultra-thin layers, which in turn influence carrier concentration and dynamics in the channel due to modulation of Schottky barrier height and band-bending at the metal/semiconductor interface.

An Antimony Selenide Molecular Ink for Flexible Broadband Photodetectors.

The need for low-cost high-performance broadband photon detection with sensitivity in the near infrared (NIR) has driven interest in new materials that combine high absorption with traditional electronic infrastructure (CMOS) compatibility. Here, we demonstrate a facile, low-cost and scalable, catalyst-free one-step solution-processed approach to grow one-dimensional Sb2Se3 nanostructures directly on flexible substrates for high-performance NIR photodetectors. Structural characterization and compositional analyses reveal high-quality single-crystalline material with orthorhombic crystal structure and a near-stoichiometric Sb/Se atomic ratio. We measure a direct band gap of 1.12 eV, which is consistent with predictions from theoretical simulations, indicating strong NIR potential. The fabricated metal-semiconductor-metal photodetectors exhibit fast response (on the order of milliseconds) and high performance (responsivity ~ 0.27 A/W) as well as excellent mechanical flexibility and durability. The results demonstrate the potential of molecular-ink-based Sb2Se3 nanostructures for flexible electronic and broadband optoelectronic device applications.

Gas Sensing with Bare and Graphene-covered Optical Nano-Antenna Structures.

The motivation behind this work is to study the gas phase chemical sensing characteristics of optical (plasmonic) nano-antennas (ONA) and graphene/graphene oxide-covered versions of these structures. ONA are devices that have their resonating frequency in the visible range. The basic principle governing the detection mechanism for ONA is refractive index sensing. The change in the concentration of the analyte results in a differing amount of adsorbate and correlated shifts in the resonance wavelength of the device. In this work, bare and graphene or graphene oxide covered ONA have been evaluated for gas sensing performance. Four different analytes (ethanol, acetone, nitrogen dioxide and toluene) were used in testing. ONA response behavior to different analytes was modified by adsorption within the graphene and graphene oxide overlayers. This work is a preliminary study to understand resonance wavelength shift caused by different analytes. Results imply that the combination of well-structured ONA functionalized by graphene-based adsorbers can give sensitive and selective sensors but baseline drift effects identified in this work must be addressed for applied measurements.

Compact optical microfluidic uric acid analysis system.

We designed, fabricated and tested a novel compact fluorescence analysis system for quantification of uric acid (UA) in clinical samples at the point-of-care. To perform an analysis, diluted saliva, urine or blood samples are simply placed in a disposable thin-film sample holder using a dropper. A new enzyme immobilization technique was developed to retain within the sample holder two enzymes and a molecule, which transforms into a fluorescer in amounts depending on the UA concentration. The small instrument (7.5 cm × 5 cm × 5 cm) into which the sample holder is placed for analysis contains an LED, a narrow-band filter and an amplified photodiode. The analysis time is 30s, and the dynamic range of the system is 4-400 µM of UA. The calibration curve for transparent saliva and urine was made using solutions of UA. The calibration curve for opaque blood was obtained with spiked samples of blood. The three different types of clinical samples were collected from three subjects and simply diluted before their measurements. Analysis with our instrument yielded UA concentrations within the expected concentration ranges. Development of instruments based on the current laboratory prototype is expected to result in products for clinical trials and point-of-care.

Computational methodology for absolute calibration curves for microfluidic optical analyses.

Optical fluorescence and absorption are two of the primary techniques used for analytical microfluidics. We provide a thorough yet tractable method for computing the performance of diverse optical micro-analytical systems. Sample sizes range from nano- to many micro-liters and concentrations from nano- to milli-molar. Equations are provided to trace quantitatively the flow of the fundamental entities, namely photons and electrons, and the conversion of energy from the source, through optical components, samples and spectral-selective components, to the detectors and beyond. The equations permit facile computations of calibration curves that relate the concentrations or numbers of molecules measured to the absolute signals from the system. This methodology provides the basis for both detailed understanding and improved design of microfluidic optical analytical systems. It saves prototype turn-around time, and is much simpler and faster to use than ray tracing programs. Over two thousand spreadsheet computations were performed during this study. We found that some design variations produce higher signal levels and, for constant noise levels, lower minimum detection limits. Improvements of more than a factor of 1,000 were realized.