Large scale fabrication of graphene over transparent flexible polymer, Polyethelyne tetrapthalate (PET), and its application in flexible field emission display is reported here. We used Cu foil (~160 mm x 60 mm) to grow graphene by thermal chemical vapor deposition process and transfer the graphene over a polymer using a straightforward hot press lamination technique. The fabrication method is facile as there is no rigorous chemical process involved and the process is also applicable towards the fabrication of large scale graphene over a wide range of transparent flexible substrates for foldable micro-electronics applications. Further, we demonstrate the application of graphene/PET polymer film as anode of transparent flexible field emission display device. The device shows low turn-on voltage ~ 1.75V/μm and high current density of ~ 65μA/cm2 with field enhancement factor (β) ~1000.

We analyze the apo and holo calmodulin (CaM) structures by sequentiallyinserting a perturbation on every residue of the protein, and monitoring thelinear response. Residue crosscorrelation matrices obtained from 20 ns longmolecular dynamics simulation of the apo-form are used as the kernel in thelinear response. We determine two residues whose perturbation equivalentlyyields the experimentally determined displacement profiles of CaM, relevantto the binding of the trifluoperazine (TFP) ligand. They reside onstructurally equivalent positions on the N- and C-terminus lobes of CaM, andare not in direct contact with the binding region. The direction of theperturbation that must be inserted on these residues is an important factorin recovering the conformational change, implying that highly selectivebinding must occur near these sites to invoke the necessary conformationalchange.

In this study we have established a new approach to more accurately mapacoustic wave speed (which is a measure of stiffness) within soft biologicaltissues at micrometer length scales using scanning acoustic microscopy. Byusing thin (5 μm thick) histological sections of human skin and porcinecartilage, this method exploits the phase information preserved in theinterference between acoustic waves reflected from the substrate surface aswell as internal reflections from the acoustic lens. A stack of images weretaken with the focus point of acoustic lens positioned at or above thesubstrate surface, and processed pixel by pixel using custom softwaredeveloped with LABVIEW and IMAQ (National Instruments) to extract phaseinformation. Scanning parameters, such as acoustic wave frequency and gateposition were optimized to get reasonable phase and lateral resolution. Thecontribution from substrate inclination or uneven scanning surface wasremoved prior to further processing. The wave attenuation was also obtainedfrom these images.

In tissue engineering, a successful tissue scaffold is not simply a 3D-micro/nanofibered, highly porous environment that mimics a native extra cellular matrix (ECM). To maintain an ideal medium for cells to grow and proliferate, the biodegradable scaffold should be generally hydrophilic and should serve as a reservoir of cell nutrients, growth factors and other components present in the blood flow. Synthetic biodegradable polymers have found wide applications in micro/nanofibered scaffolding materials because of their proven biocompatibility, availability of established processing techniques, good mechanical properties and controlled, regulated biodegradation time. But, high hydrophobicity of these polymers does not allow to realize a moist environment in the scaffold typical for native ECM and favorable for the cells.

We have recently found that electrospun polymeric blends of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and poly-d,l-lactide (PDLL) provide mechanically strong micro/nanofibered materials of high hydrophilicity. These materials have a regulated absorption ability of blood or other biological liquids of up to ~8-10 g/g without swelling or changing the shape of the fibers. As demonstrated by spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry, strong polymer chains assembly of PDLL-PVP occurs when the corresponding blends are processed into micro/nanofibers by electrospinning or casted into films. The polymer chain assembly is not affected by absorbed liquids. The matrices preserve their liquid absorption ability after drying. Preliminary testing of matrices in humans demonstrated a high efficacy of the scaffolds for wound healing acceleration.

Nano-scale superlattice (SL) based devices, such as quantum cascade lasers QCLs, have recently become very important due to their capability to identify toxic and explosive chemicals. In manufacturing these Mid-IR photonic devices, atomic-level scanning tunneling microscopes (STM) and transmission electron microscopes (TEM) have been used to characterize the growth quality of superlattice wafers. However, these methods yield observations that are localized and cannot view the entire structure and even now we have not been able to correlate these measured crystal lattice images with device performance. The x-ray scanning technique has greater likelihood of success given that it can observe not only the localized, but also the entire superlattice structure. By extracting special features and key parameters in x-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, the epitaxial quality of QCL superlattices can be evaluated and correlated to the performance of fabricated QCL devices. We can then differentiate and classify different grades of wafers before starting device fabrication and testing.

Such an example of the usefulness of XRD can be found with strain-balanced superlattices, such as InGaAs/InAlAs, where there is notable decrease in laser performance after relaxation. It can also be found with type-II InAs/GaSb strained layer superlattice, which is currently the best candidate for room temperature mid-IR detectors and focal plane arrays. Experimentally measured x-ray patterns are compared to simulation results and problem sources are identified.

Recently, tremendous progress has been made toward application of organic (small molecule/polymer) light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) in full color flat panel displays and other devices. However, with current technologies, OLEDs are still struggling with high manufacturing costs which really limit the size of OLEDs panels and with life time, especially differential aging of colors. To be more cost-effective for fabricating OLEDs, we believe solution-processing would be an attractive path due to its simplicity and highly reduced equipment costs. This proceeding paper discusses our recent progress in development of new polymer systems that are highly solvent-resistant but maintaining their photophysical properties and hybrid quantum-dots (QDs)-polymer nanocomposites for their use in multicolor and multilayer OLEDs pixels through solution-processing. Our new polymer systems are named conductive semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (C-Semi-IPNs) served in different layers of OLEDs devices, containing an inert polymer network and conducting polymer(s) including hole transport and emissive materials. Since these do not require complicated chemical modification or introduction of reactive moieties to OLED materials, many state-of-the-arts emissive polymers can be utilized to achieve RGB and white OLEDs. The research findings on hybrid QDoligomer nanocomposite as a good analogue lead to the successful design and synthesis of QDpolymer nanocomposites which were used to build proof-of-the-concept devices showing a good promise in providing excellent color purity and stability as well as device robustness.

The impact of dimer formations at the surfaces of the internal atoms of silicon (Si) thin film was evaluated by examining silicon-on-insulator (SOI) and plate models. In the SOI models, a dimer formation was modeled at one side of the Si thin film. The plate models had two dimers at each surface, which had been considered as a Si bulk model in previous studies. First principles calculation showed that the deviations of Si atoms from the first to fourth layers of the SOI models did not differ remarkably from those of the plate models. The internal atoms deeper than the fifth layer showed near-zero deviation in some of the SOI models and had evident non-zero deviation in the other SOI models. All the SOI and plate models showed lower Si atom self-energy than in the Si bulk. The layer-to-layer distance of internal atoms in the films became longer than that of atoms in Si bulk. These results indicated that (i) Si films with dimer surfaces are relaxed by deviations in the whole film, and (ii) even the thick plate model with 32 layers dose not reveal the nature of Si bulk.

Creation of nanoscale building blocks with various sizes and shapes are critical for the progress of nanotechnology. The synthesis of GaN nanowires by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using Ga and NH3 as source materials on SiO2/Si substrate was systematically studied. Various types of catalyst materials, including gold (film and nanoparticle), nickel (film and nanoparticle), silver, cobalt and iron, have been used. The growth runs have been carried out at temperatures between 800 and 1100oC under two different carrier gases; H2 and Ar. Initial growth runs using Ar as carrier gas resulted in microscale-faceted nanostructures and short nanorods regardless of the growth temperature or reactor pressure. We have successfully achieved ultra-dense interwoven long nanowires using hydrogen as carrier gas at 1100oC. In fact, the yield has been very high for both gold and nickel catalysts. It should be emphasized that combination of high-temperature and hydrogen has resulted in ultra-dense interwoven long GaN nanowires. These results suggest a radical change in growth kinetics at high temperatures in the presence of H2. The GaN nanowire diameters are in the range of 15 nm to 50 nm and lengths up to hundred microns. The grown nanowires have been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM with EDS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

A sequential two step 32 keV Au implantation and 1.5 MeV Au irradiation technique has been used to synthesize Si nanoclusters (NCs) in Si. The low energy amorphising implantation has been carried out over a fluence range of (1 – 100) × 1015 cm−2 while the high energy recrystallizing irradiation fluence was fixed at 1 × 1015 cm−2. Samples were further annealed in air at temperatures between 500° to 950° C for a fixed annealing time of 1 hr and were characterized using Raman scattering at an excitation wavelength of 514.5 nm. Results on as-implanted and irradiated samples indicate formation of strained NCs in the top amorphised layer. Annealing around 500°C has been found to result in strain relief after which the data could be well explained using a phonon confinement model with an extremely narrow size distribution.

The effects of Al, Cr and Sn on segregation, microstructure, phase stability and hardness of Nb-24Ti-18Si-5X (X = Al, Cr, Sn, at%) alloys were studied. The microstructure of the as cast alloys with Cr, Al and Sn respectively contained (Nb,Ti)ss, Nb3Si, αNb5Si3 and C14-NbCr2 Laves, (Nb,Ti)ss and βNb5Si3 and (Nb,Ti)ss, Nb3Sn and Nb5Si3. The microstructures of the heat treated alloys with Al and Cr (1500 o C/100 h) contained (Nb,Ti)ss and αNb5Si3 and the alloy with Sn (1200 o C/100 h) contained (Nb,Ti)ss, Nb3Sn and αNb5Si3. Compared with Al and Cr, alloying with Sn enhanced the stability of the as cast microstructure, caused strong macrosegregation of Si and Ti, suppressed the segregation of Ti in the (Nb,Ti)ss that was promoted by Al and Cr, had the strongest effect on the macrohardness of the cast and heat treated alloys and on the vol% of the Nbss. All three alloying additions promoted the transformation of βNb5Si3 to αNb5Si3 during heat treatment and decreased the hardness of Nb5Si3 in the as cast alloys with Sn having the strongest effect and Al the weakest. After the heat treatment the hardness of Nb5Si3 increased in the alloys containing Cr and Sn and decreased in the Al containing alloy with Cr having the strongest effect.

In this work, we studied metal/SnO2 junctions using transport properties. Parameters such as barrier height, ideality factor and series resistance were estimated at different temperatures. Schottky barrier height showed a small deviation of the theoretical value mainly because the barrier was considered fixed as described by ideal thermionic emission-diffusion model. These deviations have been explained by assuming the presence of barrier height inhomogeneities. Such assumption can also explain the high ideality factor as well as the Schottky barrier height and ideality factor dependence on temperature.

Optical studies are reported of multiple quantum wells, based on AlGaN for emission in the deep ultraviolet. The materials are grown using gas source molecular beam epitaxy in a growth regime which transitions from purely two-dimensional to mixed two- and three-dimensional well formation. Low temperature photoluminescence and absorption measurements are used to obtain the Stokes shift, and temperature dependence is used to estimate the thermal activation energy associated with photoluminescence intensity decrease. Variations in these energies are attributed to the well morphologies.

Compaction of β-Zn4Sb3 was carried out by current-assisted short term sintering under pressure (STS) using different material and process parameters. Surface Seebeck mapping (PSM) of the compacted specimens (along the uniaxial pressing direction) shows a wide gradation ranging from ∼40–180 μV/K due to electro-migration of Zinc along the current direction. The wide distribution of S corresponds to a mixture of Zn-Sb phases [1] which arise depending on the extent of Zinc migration during the STS process. Variation in the material and process parameters (average particle size, heating rate, compaction time/temperature) results in different spatial distribution of S. Measurements of electrical (σ), thermal (κ) conductivities and Seebeck (S) coefficients between room temperature and 523 K were carried out on two specimens having different average S values and distributions as observed by the PSM. The results indicate an increase in the lattice thermal conductivity (κL) and subsequent lower ZT in the specimens compared to the reported values for β-Zn4Sb3.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in thermal properties of materials. This arises mostly from the practical needs of heat removal and thermal management, which have now become critical issues for the continuing progress in electronic and optoelectronic industries. Another motivation for the study of thermal properties at nanoscale is from a fundamental science perspective. Thermal conductivity of different allotropes of carbon materials span a uniquely large range of values with the highest in graphene and carbon nanotube and the lowest in amorphous or disordered carbon. Here we describe the thermal properties of graphene and carbon-based materials and analyze the prospects of applications of carbon materials in thermal management.

The raw single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) were chemically and thermally treated and then milled in ball mill. After this SWCNT were irradiated by electron beam with energy 2.3 MeV up to fluence 1014 e-/cm2 at room temperature. Then SWCNT were saturated with hydrogen at pressure 5 bar and quenching down to the temperature 78 K. The sorption capability was measured by means of mass-spectroscopy and volumetric methods. The double increasing of mass hydrogen content in electron bombarded SWCNT was showed comparatively with non-irradiated samples.

Surface activated direct bonding of a magnetooptic garnet crystal to a Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) wafer is discussed for the application to waveguide optical nonreciprocal devices. An interferometric waveguide isolator is discussed that uses nonreciprocal phase shift brought about by a first-order magneto-optic effect. In an SOI waveguide, the low refractive index of buried oxide layer enhances the magneto-optic phase shift. This contributes to reduce the device size together with the strong field confinement of high index contrast waveguide. The interferometric isolator can be extended to an optical circulator by adopting appropriate 3-dB directional couplers to construct a Mach-Zehnder interferometer.

In this report, large-scale vertically aligned ZnO nanowires, with diameter around 75 nm and length around 2-5 μm, were synthesized on a-plane sapphire by a single step chemical vapor deposition method. The XRD pattern of the as-prepared sample showed a strong ZnO (0002) peak and a weak ZnO (0004) peak that indicate good orientation and high crystal quality of the ZnO nanowires. The sample was then treated by hydrogen plasma, without exhibiting obvious structural damage to the nanowires. The photoluminescence spectra of as-prepared and H2-plasma-treated samples were then examined. A strong green emission peak (centered at 520 nm) was observed in the PL spectrum of as-prepared sample. In sharp contrast, a significant increase of the near-band edge emission (centered at 380 nm) and a strong decrease of the green emission (centered at 520 nm) were found in the PL spectrum of H2-plasma-treated sample. We propose that an efficient passivation of oxygen vacancies by H atoms will cause a drastic decrease of the green emission. More important, it would lead to a significant reduction of surface depletion layer, leading to a great enlargement of total effect area for UV emission. Meanwhile, the significant enhancement of the intensity of UV emission might also attribute to the combined effects of structure-induced waveguide behavior and UV amplified spontaneous emission. It is expected that the enhanced UV emission of vertically aligned ZnO nanowires can be used to improve the performance of UV light emitting devices.

In advanced nuclear applications, high temperature and a corrosive environment are present in addition to a high dose radiation field causing displacement damage in the material. In recent times it has been shown that Nanostructured Ferritic Alloys (NFA’s) such as advanced Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) steels are suitable for this environment as they tolerate high dose irradiation without significant changes in microstructure or relevant mechanical properties.

Ion beam irradiation is a fast and cost effective way to induce radiation damage in materials but has limited penetration depth. Therefore, small scale mechanical testing such as nanoindentation and micro compression testing in combination with FIB based sample preparation for micro structural characterization has to be performed allowing a full assessment of the materials’ behavior under radiation environment. In this work two different ODS materials have been irradiated using proton and combined proton and He beams up to 1 dpa at different temperatures. Nanoindentation and LEAP measurements were performed in order to assess the changes in properties of these alloys due to irradiation. The same techniques were applied to intermetallic nanostructured alloys in order to investigate the effectiveness of the metal-intermetallic interface to provide defect sinks for He and radiation damage. It was found that irradiation can cause the formation of intermetallic particles even at room temperature while increasing the material strength significantly.