Opto-fluidics based microscopy and flow cytometry on a cell phone for blood analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Hongying; Ozcan, Aydogan

2015-01-01

Blood analysis is one of the most important clinical tests for medical diagnosis. Flow cytometry and optical microscopy are widely used techniques to perform blood analysis and therefore cost-effective translation of these technologies to resource limited settings is critical for various global health as well as telemedicine applications. In this chapter, we review our recent progress on the integration of imaging flow cytometry and fluorescent microscopy on a cell phone using compact, light-weight and cost-effective opto-fluidic attachments integrated onto the camera module of a smartphone. In our cell-phone based opto-fluidic imaging cytometry design, fluorescently labeled cells are delivered into the imaging area using a disposable micro-fluidic chip that is positioned above the existing camera unit of the cell phone. Battery powered light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are butt-coupled to the sides of this micro-fluidic chip without any lenses, which effectively acts as a multimode slab waveguide, where the excitation light is guided to excite the fluorescent targets within the micro-fluidic chip. Since the excitation light propagates perpendicular to the detection path, an inexpensive plastic absorption filter is able to reject most of the scattered light and create a decent dark-field background for fluorescent imaging. With this excitation geometry, the cell-phone camera can record fluorescent movies of the particles/cells as they are flowing through the microchannel. The digital frames of these fluorescent movies are then rapidly processed to quantify the count and the density of the labeled particles/cells within the solution under test. With a similar opto-fluidic design, we have recently demonstrated imaging and automated counting of stationary blood cells (e.g., labeled white blood cells or unlabeled red blood cells) loaded within a disposable cell counting chamber. We tested the performance of this cell-phone based imaging cytometry and blood analysis platform

Optofluidic in-fiber interferometer based on hollow optical fiber with two cores.

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Tingting; Yang, Xinghua; Liu, Zhihai; Yang, Jun; Li, Song; Kong, Depeng; Qi, Xiuxiu; Yu, Wenting; Long, Qunlong; Yuan, Libo

2017-07-24

We demonstrate a novel integrated optical fiber interferometer for in-fiber optofluidic detection. It is composed of a specially designed hollow optical fiber with a micro-channel and two cores. One core on the inner surface of the micro-channel is served as sensing arm and the other core in the annular cladding is served as reference arm. Fusion-and-tapering method is employed to couple light from a single mode fiber to the hollow optical fiber in this device. Sampling is realized by side opening a microhole on the surface of the hollow optical fiber. Under differential pressure between the end of the hollow fiber and the microhole, the liquids can form steady microflows in the micro-channel. Simultaneously, the interference spectrum of the interferometer device shifts with the variation of the concentration of the microfluid in the channel. The optofluidic in-fiber interferometer has a sensitivity of refractive index around 2508 nm/RIU for NaCl. For medicine concentration detection, its sensitivity is 0.076 nm/mmolL -1 for ascorbic acid. Significantly, this work presents a compact microfluidic in-fiber interferometer with a micro-channel which can be integrated with chip devices without spatial optical coupling and without complex manufacturing procedure of the waveguide on the chips.

Fiber-Based, Injection-Molded Optofluidic Systems: Improvements in Assembly and Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marco Matteucci

2015-12-01

Full Text Available We present a method to fabricate polymer optofluidic systems by means of injection molding that allow the insertion of standard optical fibers. The chip fabrication and assembly methods produce large numbers of robust optofluidic systems that can be easily assembled and disposed of, yet allow precise optical alignment and improve delivery of optical power. Using a multi-level chip fabrication process, complex channel designs with extremely vertical sidewalls, and dimensions that range from few tens of nanometers to hundreds of microns can be obtained. The technology has been used to align optical fibers in a quick and precise manner, with a lateral alignment accuracy of 2.7 ± 1.8 μm. We report the production, assembly methods, and the characterization of the resulting injection-molded chips for Lab-on-Chip (LoC applications. We demonstrate the versatility of this technology by carrying out two types of experiments that benefit from the improved optical system: optical stretching of red blood cells (RBCs and Raman spectroscopy of a solution loaded into a hollow core fiber. The advantages offered by the presented technology are intended to encourage the use of LoC technology for commercialization and educational purposes.

Optofluidic analysis system for amplification-free, direct detection of Ebola infection

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, H.; Parks, J. W.; Wall, T. A.; Stott, M. A.; Stambaugh, A.; Alfson, K.; Griffiths, A.; Mathies, R. A.; Carrion, R.; Patterson, J. L.; Hawkins, A. R.; Schmidt, H.

2015-09-01

The massive outbreak of highly lethal Ebola hemorrhagic fever in West Africa illustrates the urgent need for diagnostic instruments that can identify and quantify infections rapidly, accurately, and with low complexity. Here, we report on-chip sample preparation, amplification-free detection and quantification of Ebola virus on clinical samples using hybrid optofluidic integration. Sample preparation and target preconcentration are implemented on a PDMS-based microfluidic chip (automaton), followed by single nucleic acid fluorescence detection in liquid-core optical waveguides on a silicon chip in under ten minutes. We demonstrate excellent specificity, a limit of detection of 0.2 pfu/mL and a dynamic range of thirteen orders of magnitude, far outperforming other amplification-free methods. This chip-scale approach and reduced complexity compared to gold standard RT-PCR methods is ideal for portable instruments that can provide immediate diagnosis and continued monitoring of infectious diseases at the point-of-care.

High-throughput, label-free, single-cell, microalgal lipid screening by machine-learning-equipped optofluidic time-stretch quantitative phase microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Baoshan; Lei, Cheng; Kobayashi, Hirofumi; Ito, Takuro; Yalikun, Yaxiaer; Jiang, Yiyue; Tanaka, Yo; Ozeki, Yasuyuki; Goda, Keisuke

2017-05-01

The development of reliable, sustainable, and economical sources of alternative fuels to petroleum is required to tackle the global energy crisis. One such alternative is microalgal biofuel, which is expected to play a key role in reducing the detrimental effects of global warming as microalgae absorb atmospheric CO 2 via photosynthesis. Unfortunately, conventional analytical methods only provide population-averaged lipid amounts and fail to characterize a diverse population of microalgal cells with single-cell resolution in a non-invasive and interference-free manner. Here high-throughput label-free single-cell screening of lipid-producing microalgal cells with optofluidic time-stretch quantitative phase microscopy was demonstrated. In particular, Euglena gracilis, an attractive microalgal species that produces wax esters (suitable for biodiesel and aviation fuel after refinement), within lipid droplets was investigated. The optofluidic time-stretch quantitative phase microscope is based on an integration of a hydrodynamic-focusing microfluidic chip, an optical time-stretch quantitative phase microscope, and a digital image processor equipped with machine learning. As a result, it provides both the opacity and phase maps of every single cell at a high throughput of 10,000 cells/s, enabling accurate cell classification without the need for fluorescent staining. Specifically, the dataset was used to characterize heterogeneous populations of E. gracilis cells under two different culture conditions (nitrogen-sufficient and nitrogen-deficient) and achieve the cell classification with an error rate of only 2.15%. The method holds promise as an effective analytical tool for microalgae-based biofuel production. © 2017 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry. © 2017 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

Femtosecond laser fabrication of fiber based optofluidic platform for flow cytometry applications

Science.gov (United States)

Serhatlioglu, Murat; Elbuken, Caglar; Ortac, Bulend; Solmaz, Mehmet E.

2017-02-01

Miniaturized optofluidic platforms play an important role in bio-analysis, detection and diagnostic applications. The advantages of such miniaturized devices are extremely low sample requirement, low cost development and rapid analysis capabilities. Fused silica is advantageous for optofluidic systems due to properties such as being chemically inert, mechanically stable, and optically transparent to a wide spectrum of light. As a three dimensional manufacturing method, femtosecond laser scanning followed by chemical etching shows great potential to fabricate glass based optofluidic chips. In this study, we demonstrate fabrication of all-fiber based, optofluidic flow cytometer in fused silica glass by femtosecond laser machining. 3D particle focusing was achieved through a straightforward planar chip design with two separately fabricated fused silica glass slides thermally bonded together. Bioparticles in a fluid stream encounter with optical interrogation region specifically designed to allocate 405nm single mode fiber laser source and two multi-mode collection fibers for forward scattering (FSC) and side scattering (SSC) signals detection. Detected signal data collected with oscilloscope and post processed with MATLAB script file. We were able to count number of events over 4000events/sec, and achieve size distribution for 5.95μm monodisperse polystyrene beads using FSC and SSC signals. Our platform shows promise for optical and fluidic miniaturization of flow cytometry systems.

Tunable on chip optofluidic laser

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bakal, Avraham; Vannahme, Christoph; Kristensen, Anders

2015-01-01

A chip scale tunable laser in the visible spectral band is realized by generating a periodic droplet array inside a microfluidic channel. Combined with a gain medium within the droplets, the periodic structure provides the optical feedback of the laser. By controlling the pressure applied to two...

Optofluidic Approaches for Enhanced Microsensor Performances

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Genni Testa

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Optofluidics is a relatively young research field able to create a tight synergy between optics and micro/nano-fluidics. The high level of integration between fluidic and optical elements achievable by means of optofluidic approaches makes it possible to realize an innovative class of sensors, which have been demonstrated to have an improved sensitivity, adaptability and compactness. Many developments in this field have been made in the last years thanks to the availability of a new class of low cost materials and new technologies. This review describes the Italian state of art on optofluidic devices for sensing applications and offers a perspective for further future advances. We introduce the optofluidic concept and describe the advantages of merging photonic and fluidic elements, focusing on sensor developments for both environmental and biomedical monitoring.

Optofluidic fluorescent imaging cytometry on a cell phone.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Hongying; Mavandadi, Sam; Coskun, Ahmet F; Yaglidere, Oguzhan; Ozcan, Aydogan

2011-09-01

Fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry are widely used tools in biomedical sciences. Cost-effective translation of these technologies to remote and resource-limited environments could create new opportunities especially for telemedicine applications. Toward this direction, here we demonstrate the integration of imaging cytometry and fluorescent microscopy on a cell phone using a compact, lightweight, and cost-effective optofluidic attachment. In this cell-phone-based optofluidic imaging cytometry platform, fluorescently labeled particles or cells of interest are continuously delivered to our imaging volume through a disposable microfluidic channel that is positioned above the existing camera unit of the cell phone. The same microfluidic device also acts as a multilayered optofluidic waveguide and efficiently guides our excitation light, which is butt-coupled from the side facets of our microfluidic channel using inexpensive light-emitting diodes. Since the excitation of the sample volume occurs through guided waves that propagate perpendicular to the detection path, our cell-phone camera can record fluorescent movies of the specimens as they are flowing through the microchannel. The digital frames of these fluorescent movies are then rapidly processed to quantify the count and the density of the labeled particles/cells within the target solution of interest. We tested the performance of our cell-phone-based imaging cytometer by measuring the density of white blood cells in human blood samples, which provided a decent match to a commercially available hematology analyzer. We further characterized the imaging quality of the same platform to demonstrate a spatial resolution of ~2 μm. This cell-phone-enabled optofluidic imaging flow cytometer could especially be useful for rapid and sensitive imaging of bodily fluids for conducting various cell counts (e.g., toward monitoring of HIV+ patients) or rare cell analysis as well as for screening of water quality in

Development of an opto-fluidic micro-system dedicated to chemical analysis in a nuclear environment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geoffray, F.; Canto, F.; Couston, L. [CEA, Centre de Marcoule, Nuclear Energy Division, RadioChemistry and Processes Department, SERA/LAMM, F-30207 Bagnols-sur-Ceze (France); Allenet, T.; Bucci, D.; Broquin, J.E. [IMEP-LaHC, Universite de Grenoble Alpes, UMR 5130 CNRS, Minatec-Grenoble-INP, CS 50257, 38016 Grenoble (France); Jardinier, E. [CEA, Centre de Marcoule, Nuclear Energy Division, RadioChemistry and Processes Department, SERA/LAMM, F-30207 Bagnols-sur-Ceze (France); IMEP-LaHC, Universite de Grenoble Alpes, UMR 5130 CNRS, Minatec-Grenoble-INP, CS 50257, 38016 Grenoble (France)

2016-07-01

Micromachining techniques enable the fabrication of innovative lab-on-a-chip. Following the trend in chemical and biological analysis, the use of microsystems also appears compelling in the nuclear industry. The volume reduction of radioactive solutions is especially attractive in order to reduce the workers radiation exposition in the context of off-line analysis in spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. We hence present the development of an opto-fluidic sensor combining micro-fluidic channels for fluid transportation and integrated optics for detection. With the aim of achieving automated microanalysis with reduced response time the sensor is made compatible with a commercial micro-fluidic holder. Therefore the chip is connected to computer controlled pumps and electro-valves thanks to capillary tubing. In this paper we emphasis on the fluid handling capacities of the opto-fluidic sensor. (authors)

Optical bio-sensors in microfluidic chips

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pollnau, Markus; Dongre, C.; Pham Van So, P.V.S.; Bernhardi, Edward; Worhoff, Kerstin; de Ridder, R.M.; Hoekstra, Hugo

2012-01-01

Direct femtosecond laser writing is used to integrate optical waveguides that intersect the microfluidic channels in a commercial optofluidic chip. With laser excitation, fluorescently labeled DNA molecules of different sizes are separated by capillary electrophoresis with high operating speed and

Optofluidics of plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Demetri Psaltis

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Optofluidics is a tool for synthesizing optical systems, making use of the interaction of light with fluids. In this paper we explore optofluidic mechanisms that have evolved in plants where sunlight and fluidic control combine to define most of the functionality of the plan. We hope that the presentation of how plants function, from an optofluidics point of view, will open a window for the optics community to the vast literature of plant physiology and provide inspiration for new ideas for the design of bio-mimetic optofluidic devices.

Advances of Optofluidic Microcavities for Microlasers and Biosensors

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Zhiqing Feng

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Optofluidic microcavities with high Q factor have made rapid progress in recent years by using various micro-structures. On one hand, they are applied to microfluidic lasers with low excitation thresholds. On the other hand, they inspire the innovation of new biosensing devices with excellent performance. In this article, the recent advances in the microlaser research and the biochemical sensing field will be reviewed. The former will be categorized based on the structures of optical resonant cavities such as the Fabry–Pérot cavity and whispering gallery mode, and the latter will be classified based on the working principles into active sensors and passive sensors. Moreover, the difficulty of single-chip integration and recent endeavors will be briefly discussed.

Optofluidic UV-Vis spectrophotometer for online monitoring of photocatalytic reactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ning; Tan, Furui; Zhao, Yu; Tsoi, Chi Chung; Fan, Xudong; Yu, Weixing; Zhang, Xuming

2016-06-29

On-chip integration of optical detection units into the microfluidic systems for online monitoring is highly desirable for many applications and is also well in line with the spirit of optofluidics technology-fusion of optics and microfluidics for advanced functionalities. This paper reports the construction of a UV-Vis spectrophotometer on a microreactor, and demonstrates the online monitoring of the photocatalytic degradations of methylene blue and methyl orange under different flow rates and different pH values by detecting the intensity change and/or the peak shift. The integrated device consists of a TiO2-coated glass substrate, a PDMS micro-sized reaction chamber and two flow cells. By comparing with the results of commercial equipment, we have found that the measuring range and the sensitivity are acceptable, especially when the transmittance is in the range of 0.01-0.9. This integrated optofluidic device can significantly cut down the test time and the sample volume, and would provide a versatile platform for real-time characterization of photochemical performance. Moreover, its online monitoring capability may enable to access the usually hidden information in biochemical reactions like intermediate products, time-dependent processes and reaction kinetics.

Optofluidic UV-Vis spectrophotometer for online monitoring of photocatalytic reactions

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ning; Tan, Furui; Zhao, Yu; Tsoi, Chi Chung; Fan, Xudong; Yu, Weixing; Zhang, Xuming

2016-06-01

On-chip integration of optical detection units into the microfluidic systems for online monitoring is highly desirable for many applications and is also well in line with the spirit of optofluidics technology-fusion of optics and microfluidics for advanced functionalities. This paper reports the construction of a UV-Vis spectrophotometer on a microreactor, and demonstrates the online monitoring of the photocatalytic degradations of methylene blue and methyl orange under different flow rates and different pH values by detecting the intensity change and/or the peak shift. The integrated device consists of a TiO2-coated glass substrate, a PDMS micro-sized reaction chamber and two flow cells. By comparing with the results of commercial equipment, we have found that the measuring range and the sensitivity are acceptable, especially when the transmittance is in the range of 0.01-0.9. This integrated optofluidic device can significantly cut down the test time and the sample volume, and would provide a versatile platform for real-time characterization of photochemical performance. Moreover, its online monitoring capability may enable to access the usually hidden information in biochemical reactions like intermediate products, time-dependent processes and reaction kinetics.

Proposal of highly sensitive optofluidic sensors based on dispersive photonic crystal waveguides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xiao, Sanshui; Mortensen, Niels Asger

2007-01-01

Optofluidic sensors based on highly dispersive two-dimensional photonic crystal waveguides are studied theoretically. Results show that these structures are strongly sensitive to the refractive index of the infiltrated liquid (nl), which is used to tune dispersion of the photonic crystal waveguide....... The waveguide mode-gap edge shifts about 1.2 nm for δnl = 0.002. The shifts can be explained well by band structure theory combined with first-order perturbation theory. These devices are potentially interesting for chemical sensing applications....

Optofluidic time-stretch microscopy: recent advances

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Cheng; Nitta, Nao; Ozeki, Yasuyuki; Goda, Keisuke

2018-04-01

Flow cytometry is an indispensable method for valuable applications in numerous fields such as immunology, pathology, pharmacology, molecular biology, and marine biology. Optofluidic time-stretch microscopy is superior to conventional flow cytometry methods for its capability to acquire high-quality images of single cells at a high-throughput exceeding 10,000 cells per second. This makes it possible to extract copious information from cellular images for accurate cell detection and analysis with the assistance of machine learning. Optofluidic time-stretch microscopy has proven its effectivity in various applications, including microalga-based biofuel production, evaluation of thrombotic disorders, as well as drug screening and discovery. In this review, we discuss the principles and recent advances of optofluidic time-stretch microscopy.

Detection of viability of micro-algae cells by optofluidic hologram pattern.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Junsheng; Yu, Xiaomei; Wang, Yanjuan; Pan, Xinxiang; Li, Dongqing

2018-03-01

A rapid detection of micro-algae activity is critical for analysis of ship ballast water. A new method for detecting micro-algae activity based on lens-free optofluidic holographic imaging is presented in this paper. A compact lens-free optofluidic holographic imaging device was developed. This device is mainly composed of a light source, a small through-hole, a light propagation module, a microfluidic chip, and an image acquisition and processing module. The excited light from the light source passes through a small hole to reach the surface of the micro-algae cells in the microfluidic chip, and a holographic image is formed by the diffraction light of surface of micro-algae cells. The relation between the characteristics in the hologram pattern and the activity of micro-algae cells was investigated by using this device. The characteristics of the hologram pattern were extracted to represent the activity of micro-algae cells. To demonstrate the accuracy of the presented method and device, four species of micro-algae cells were employed as the test samples and the comparison experiments between the alive and dead cells of four species of micro-algae were conducted. The results show that the developed method and device can determine live/dead microalgae cells accurately.

Monolithic integration of DUV-induced waveguides into plastic microfluidic chip for optical manipulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Khoury Arvelo, Maria; Vannahme, Christoph; Sørensen, Kristian Tølbøl

2014-01-01

A monolithic polymer optofluidic chip for manipulation of microbeads in flow is demonstrated. On this chip, polymer waveguides induced by Deep UV lithography are integrated with microfluidic channels. The optical propagation losses of the waveguides are measured to be 0.66±0.13 dB/mm at a wavelen......A monolithic polymer optofluidic chip for manipulation of microbeads in flow is demonstrated. On this chip, polymer waveguides induced by Deep UV lithography are integrated with microfluidic channels. The optical propagation losses of the waveguides are measured to be 0.66±0.13 d......B/mm at a wavelength of λ = 808 nm. An optimized bead tracking algorithm is implemented, allowing for determination of the optical forces acting on the particles. The algorithm features a spatio-temporal mapping of coordinates for uniting partial trajectories, without increased processing time. With an external laser...

High-Throughput Accurate Single-Cell Screening of Euglena gracilis with Fluorescence-Assisted Optofluidic Time-Stretch Microscopy.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Baoshan Guo

Full Text Available The development of reliable, sustainable, and economical sources of alternative fuels is an important, but challenging goal for the world. As an alternative to liquid fossil fuels, algal biofuel is expected to play a key role in alleviating global warming since algae absorb atmospheric CO2 via photosynthesis. Among various algae for fuel production, Euglena gracilis is an attractive microalgal species as it is known to produce wax ester (good for biodiesel and aviation fuel within lipid droplets. To date, while there exist many techniques for inducing microalgal cells to produce and accumulate lipid with high efficiency, few analytical methods are available for characterizing a population of such lipid-accumulated microalgae including E. gracilis with high throughout, high accuracy, and single-cell resolution simultaneously. Here we demonstrate high-throughput, high-accuracy, single-cell screening of E. gracilis with fluorescence-assisted optofluidic time-stretch microscopy-a method that combines the strengths of microfluidic cell focusing, optical time-stretch microscopy, and fluorescence detection used in conventional flow cytometry. Specifically, our fluorescence-assisted optofluidic time-stretch microscope consists of an optical time-stretch microscope and a fluorescence analyzer on top of a hydrodynamically focusing microfluidic device and can detect fluorescence from every E. gracilis cell in a population and simultaneously obtain its image with a high throughput of 10,000 cells/s. With the multi-dimensional information acquired by the system, we classify nitrogen-sufficient (ordinary and nitrogen-deficient (lipid-accumulated E. gracilis cells with a low false positive rate of 1.0%. This method holds promise for evaluating cultivation techniques and selective breeding for microalgae-based biofuel production.

Preface to Special Topic: Selected Papers from the 5th International Conference on Optofluidics

OpenAIRE

Fan, Shih-Kang; Yang, Zhenchuan

2016-01-01

The 5th International Conference on Optofluidics (Optofluidics 2015) was held in Taipei, Taiwan, July 26–29, 2015. The aim of this conference was to provide a forum to promote scientific exchange and to foster closer networks and collaborative ties between leading international researchers in optics and micro/nanofluidics across various disciplines. The scope of Optofluidics 2015 was deliberately broad and interdisciplinary, encompassing the latest advances and the most innovat...

On-chip spectroscopy with thermally tuned high-Q photonic crystal cavities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Liapis, Andreas C., E-mail: andreas.liapis@gmail.com; Gao, Boshen; Siddiqui, Mahmudur R. [The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627 (United States); Shi, Zhimin [Department of Physics, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida 33620 (United States); Boyd, Robert W. [The Institute of Optics, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627 (United States); Department of Physics and School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5 (Canada)

2016-01-11

Spectroscopic methods are a sensitive way to determine the chemical composition of potentially hazardous materials. Here, we demonstrate that thermally tuned high-Q photonic crystal cavities can be used as a compact high-resolution on-chip spectrometer. We have used such a chip-scale spectrometer to measure the absorption spectra of both acetylene and hydrogen cyanide in the 1550 nm spectral band and show that we can discriminate between the two chemical species even though the two materials have spectral features in the same spectral region. Our results pave the way for the development of chip-size chemical sensors that can detect toxic substances.

Optofluidic time-stretch quantitative phase microscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Baoshan; Lei, Cheng; Wu, Yi; Kobayashi, Hirofumi; Ito, Takuro; Yalikun, Yaxiaer; Lee, Sangwook; Isozaki, Akihiro; Li, Ming; Jiang, Yiyue; Yasumoto, Atsushi; Di Carlo, Dino; Tanaka, Yo; Yatomi, Yutaka; Ozeki, Yasuyuki; Goda, Keisuke

2018-03-01

Innovations in optical microscopy have opened new windows onto scientific research, industrial quality control, and medical practice over the last few decades. One of such innovations is optofluidic time-stretch quantitative phase microscopy - an emerging method for high-throughput quantitative phase imaging that builds on the interference between temporally stretched signal and reference pulses by using dispersive properties of light in both spatial and temporal domains in an interferometric configuration on a microfluidic platform. It achieves the continuous acquisition of both intensity and phase images with a high throughput of more than 10,000 particles or cells per second by overcoming speed limitations that exist in conventional quantitative phase imaging methods. Applications enabled by such capabilities are versatile and include characterization of cancer cells and microalgal cultures. In this paper, we review the principles and applications of optofluidic time-stretch quantitative phase microscopy and discuss its future perspective. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Preface to Special Topic: Selected Papers from the 5th International Conference on Optofluidics.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Shih-Kang; Yang, Zhenchuan

2016-01-01

The 5th International Conference on Optofluidics (Optofluidics 2015) was held in Taipei, Taiwan, July 26-29, 2015. The aim of this conference was to provide a forum to promote scientific exchange and to foster closer networks and collaborative ties between leading international researchers in optics and micro/nanofluidics across various disciplines. The scope of Optofluidics 2015 was deliberately broad and interdisciplinary, encompassing the latest advances and the most innovative developments in micro/nanoscale science and technology. Topics ranged from fundamental research to its applications in chemistry, physics, biology, materials, and medicine.

Silicon-Nitride-based Integrated Optofluidic Biochemical Sensors using a Coupled-Resonator Optical Waveguide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiawei eWANG

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Silicon nitride (SiN is a promising material platform for integrating photonic components and microfluidic channels on a chip for label-free, optical biochemical sensing applications in the visible to near-infrared wavelengths. The chip-scale SiN-based optofluidic sensors can be compact due to a relatively high refractive index contrast between SiN and the fluidic medium, and low-cost due to the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS-compatible fabrication process. Here, we demonstrate SiN-based integrated optofluidic biochemical sensors using a coupled-resonator optical waveguide (CROW in the visible wavelengths. The working principle is based on imaging in the far field the out-of-plane elastic-light-scattering patterns of the CROW sensor at a fixed probe wavelength. We correlate the imaged pattern with reference patterns at the CROW eigenstates. Our sensing algorithm maps the correlation coefficients of the imaged pattern with a library of calibrated correlation coefficients to extract a minute change in the cladding refractive index. Given a calibrated CROW, our sensing mechanism in the spatial domain only requires a fixed-wavelength laser in the visible wavelengths as a light source, with the probe wavelength located within the CROW transmission band, and a silicon digital charge-coupled device (CCD / CMOS camera for recording the light scattering patterns. This is in sharp contrast with the conventional optical microcavity-based sensing methods that impose a strict requirement of spectral alignment with a high-quality cavity resonance using a wavelength-tunable laser. Our experimental results using a SiN CROW sensor with eight coupled microrings in the 680nm wavelength reveal a cladding refractive index change of ~1.3 × 10^-4 refractive index unit (RIU, with an average sensitivity of ~281 ± 271 RIU-1 and a noise-equivalent detection limit (NEDL of 1.8 ×10^-8 RIU ~ 1.0 ×10^-4 RIU across the CROW bandwidth of ~1 nm.

Multi-color fluorescent DNA analysis in an integrated optofluidic lab-on-a-chip

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dongre, C.; van Weerd, J.; van Weeghel, R.; Martinez-Vazquez, R.; Osellame, R.; Cerullo, G.; Besselink, G.A.J.; van den Vlekkert, H.H.; Hoekstra, Hugo; Pollnau, Markus

Sorting and sizing of DNA molecules within the human genome project has enabled the genetic mapping of various illnesses. By employing tiny lab-on-a-chip devices for such DNA analysis, integrated DNA sequencing and genetic diagnostics have become feasible. However, such diagnostic chips typically

Waveguide-based optofluidics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Karnutsch, Christian; Tomljenovic-Hanic, Snjezana; Monat, Christelle

2010-01-01

blocks in many applications, from microlasers and biomedical sensor systems to optical switches and integrated circuits. In this paper, we show that PhC microcavities can be formed by infusing a liquid into a selected section of a uniform PhC waveguide and that the optical properties of these cavities...... and highlight the benefits of an optofluidic approach, focusing on optofluidic cavities created in silicon photonic crystal (PhC) waveguide platforms. These cavities can be spatially and spectrally reconfigured, thus allowing a dynamic control of their optical characteristics. PhC cavities are major building...... can be tuned and adapted. By taking advantage of the negative thermo-optic coefficient of liquids, we describe a method which renders PhC cavities insensitive to temperature changes in the environment. This is only one example where the fluid-control of optical elements results in a functionality...

Femtosecond laser direct-write of optofluidics in polymer-coated optical fiber

Science.gov (United States)

Joseph, Kevin A. J.; Haque, Moez; Ho, Stephen; Aitchison, J. Stewart; Herman, Peter R.

2017-03-01

Multifunctional lab in fiber technology seeks to translate the accomplishments of optofluidic, lab on chip devices into silica fibers. a robust, flexible, and ubiquitous optical communication platform that can underpin the `Internet of Things' with distributed sensors, or enable lab on chip functions deep inside our bodies. Femtosecond lasers have driven significant advances in three-dimensional processing, enabling optical circuits, microfluidics, and micro-mechanical structures to be formed around the core of the fiber. However, such processing typically requires the stripping and recoating of the polymer buffer or jacket, increasing processing time and mechanically weakening the device. This paper reports on a comprehensive assessment of laser damage in urethane-acrylate-coated fiber. The results show a sufficient processing window is available for femtosecond laser processing of the fiber without damaging the polymer jacket. The fiber core, cladding, and buffer could be simultaneously processed without removal of the buffer jacket. Three-dimensional lab in fiber devices were successfully fabricated by distortion-free immersionlens focusing, presenting fiber-cladding optical circuits and progress towards chemically-etched channels, microfluidic cavities, and MEMS structure inside buffer-coated fiber.

Lab-on-fiber electrophoretic trace mixture separating and detecting an optofluidic device based on a microstructured optical fiber.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xinghua; Guo, Xiaohui; Li, Song; Kong, Depeng; Liu, Zhihai; Yang, Jun; Yuan, Libo

2016-04-15

We report an in-fiber integrated electrophoretic trace mixture separating and detecting an optofluidic optical fiber sensor based on a specially designed optical fiber. In this design, rapid in situ separation and simultaneous detection of mixed analytes can be realized under electro-osmotic flow in the microstructured optical fiber. To visually display the in-fiber separating and detecting process, two common fluorescent indicators are adopted as the optofluidic analytes in the optical fiber. Results show that a trace amount of the mixture (0.15 μL) can be completely separated within 3.5 min under a high voltage of 5 kV. Simultaneously, the distributed information of the separated analytes in the optical fiber can be clearly obtained by scanning along the optical fiber using a 355 nm laser. The emission from the analytes can be efficiently coupled into the inner core and guides to the remote end of the optical fiber. In addition, the thin cladding around the inner core in the optical fiber can prevent the fluorescent cross talk between the analytes in this design. Compared to previous optical fiber optofluidic devices, this device first realizes simultaneously separating treatment and the detection of the mixed samples in an optical fiber. Significantly, such an in-fiber integrated separating and detecting optofluidic device can find wide applications in various analysis fields involves mixed samples, such as biology, chemistry, and environment.

A reconfigurable optofluidic Michelson interferometer using tunable droplet grating.

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, L K; Liu, A Q; Soh, Y C; Lim, C S; Lin, C L

2010-04-21

This paper presents a novel optofluidic Michelson interferometer based on droplet microfluidics used to create a droplet grating. The droplet grating is formed by a stream of plugs in the microchannel with constant refractive index variation. It has a real-time tunability in the grating period through varying the flow rates of the liquids and index variation via different combinations of liquids. The optofluidic Michelson interferometer is highly sensitive and is suitable for the measurement of biomedical and biochemical buffer solutions. The experimental results show that it has a sensitivity of 66.7 nm per refractive index unit (RIU) and a detection range of 0.086 RIU.

Roadmap for optofluidics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Minzioni, Paolo; Osellame, Roberto; Sada, Cinzia

2017-01-01

that optofluidic technologies will become more and more common in everyday life in the future, causing a significant impact on many aspects of our society. A characteristic of this research field, deriving from both its interdisciplinary origin and applications, is that in order to develop suitable solutions a...

High-Resolution Digital-to-Time Converter Implemented in an FPGA Chip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hai Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the design and implementation of a new digital-to-time converter (DTC. The obtained resolution is 1.02 ps, and the dynamic range is about 590 ns. The experimental results indicate that the measured differential nonlinearity (DNL and integral nonlinearity (INL are −0.17~+0.13 LSB and −0.35~+0.62 LSB, respectively. This DTC builds coarse and fine Vernier delay lines constructed by programmable delay lines (PDLs to ensure high performance delay. Benefited by the close-loop feedback mechanism of the PDLs’ control module, the presented DTC has excellent voltage and temperature stability. What is more, the proposed DTC can be implemented in a single field programmable gate array (FPGA chip.

Transparent Nanopore Cavity Arrays Enable Highly Parallelized Optical Studies of Single Membrane Proteins on Chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Diederichs, Tim; Nguyen, Quoc Hung; Urban, Michael; Tampé, Robert; Tornow, Marc

2018-06-13

Membrane proteins involved in transport processes are key targets for pharmaceutical research and industry. Despite continuous improvements and new developments in the field of electrical readouts for the analysis of transport kinetics, a well-suited methodology for high-throughput characterization of single transporters with nonionic substrates and slow turnover rates is still lacking. Here, we report on a novel architecture of silicon chips with embedded nanopore microcavities, based on a silicon-on-insulator technology for high-throughput optical readouts. Arrays containing more than 14 000 inverted-pyramidal cavities of 50 femtoliter volumes and 80 nm circular pore openings were constructed via high-resolution electron-beam lithography in combination with reactive ion etching and anisotropic wet etching. These cavities feature both, an optically transparent bottom and top cap. Atomic force microscopy analysis reveals an overall extremely smooth chip surface, particularly in the vicinity of the nanopores, which exhibits well-defined edges. Our unprecedented transparent chip design provides parallel and independent fluorescent readout of both cavities and buffer reservoir for unbiased single-transporter recordings. Spreading of large unilamellar vesicles with efficiencies up to 96% created nanopore-supported lipid bilayers, which are stable for more than 1 day. A high lipid mobility in the supported membrane was determined by fluorescent recovery after photobleaching. Flux kinetics of α-hemolysin were characterized at single-pore resolution with a rate constant of 0.96 ± 0.06 × 10 -3 s -1 . Here, we deliver an ideal chip platform for pharmaceutical research, which features high parallelism and throughput, synergistically combined with single-transporter resolution.

Sol-gel materials for optofluidics - process and applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mikkelsen, Morten Bo Lindholm

2011-01-01

This Ph.D. thesis is concerned with the use of sol-gel materials in optofluidic applications and the physics of DNA molecules in nanoconfinement. The bottom-up formation of solid material, which is provided by the sol-gel process, enables control of the chemical composition and porosity...... of the material. At early stages of gelation, thin gel coatings can be structured by nanoimprint lithography, and purely inorganic silica materials can be obtained by subsequent thermal annealing. The sol-gel process thus constitutes a unique method for nanofabrication of silica materials of special properties....... In this work, sol-gel silica is introduced as a new material class for the fabrication of lab-on-a-chip devices for DNA analysis. An imprint process with a rigid, non-permeable stamp was developed, which enabled fabrication of micro- and nanofluidic silica channels in a single process step without use of any...

A 1,000 Frames/s Programmable Vision Chip with Variable Resolution and Row-Pixel-Mixed Parallel Image Processors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nanjian Wu

2009-07-01

Full Text Available A programmable vision chip with variable resolution and row-pixel-mixed parallel image processors is presented. The chip consists of a CMOS sensor array, with row-parallel 6-bit Algorithmic ADCs, row-parallel gray-scale image processors, pixel-parallel SIMD Processing Element (PE array, and instruction controller. The resolution of the image in the chip is variable: high resolution for a focused area and low resolution for general view. It implements gray-scale and binary mathematical morphology algorithms in series to carry out low-level and mid-level image processing and sends out features of the image for various applications. It can perform image processing at over 1,000 frames/s (fps. A prototype chip with 64 × 64 pixels resolution and 6-bit gray-scale image is fabricated in 0.18 mm Standard CMOS process. The area size of chip is 1.5 mm × 3.5 mm. Each pixel size is 9.5 μm × 9.5 μm and each processing element size is 23 μm × 29 μm. The experiment results demonstrate that the chip can perform low-level and mid-level image processing and it can be applied in the real-time vision applications, such as high speed target tracking.

X-CHIP: an integrated platform for high-throughput protein crystallization and on-the-chip X-ray diffraction data collection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kisselman, Gera; Qiu, Wei; Romanov, Vladimir; Thompson, Christine M.; Lam, Robert; Battaile, Kevin P.; Pai, Emil F.; Chirgadze, Nickolay Y.

2011-01-01

The X-CHIP (X-ray Crystallography High-throughput Integrated Platform) is a novel microchip that has been developed to combine multiple steps of the crystallographic pipeline from crystallization to diffraction data collection on a single device to streamline the entire process. The X-CHIP (X-ray Crystallization High-throughput Integrated Platform) is a novel microchip that has been developed to combine multiple steps of the crystallographic pipeline from crystallization to diffraction data collection on a single device to streamline the entire process. The system has been designed for crystallization condition screening, visual crystal inspection, initial X-ray screening and data collection in a high-throughput fashion. X-ray diffraction data acquisition can be performed directly on-the-chip at room temperature using an in situ approach. The capabilities of the chip eliminate the necessity for manual crystal handling and cryoprotection of crystal samples, while allowing data collection from multiple crystals in the same drop. This technology would be especially beneficial for projects with large volumes of data, such as protein-complex studies and fragment-based screening. The platform employs hydrophilic and hydrophobic concentric ring surfaces on a miniature plate transparent to visible light and X-rays to create a well defined and stable microbatch crystallization environment. The results of crystallization and data-collection experiments demonstrate that high-quality well diffracting crystals can be grown and high-resolution diffraction data sets can be collected using this technology. Furthermore, the quality of a single-wavelength anomalous dispersion data set collected with the X-CHIP at room temperature was sufficient to generate interpretable electron-density maps. This technology is highly resource-efficient owing to the use of nanolitre-scale drop volumes. It does not require any modification for most in-house and synchrotron beamline systems and offers

X-CHIP: an integrated platform for high-throughput protein crystallization and on-the-chip X-ray diffraction data collection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kisselman, Gera; Qiu, Wei; Romanov, Vladimir; Thompson, Christine M.; Lam, Robert [Ontario Cancer Institute, Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4 (Canada); Battaile, Kevin P. [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States); Pai, Emil F.; Chirgadze, Nickolay Y., E-mail: nchirgad@uhnresearch.ca [Ontario Cancer Institute, Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario M5G 2C4 (Canada); University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8 (Canada)

2011-06-01

The X-CHIP (X-ray Crystallography High-throughput Integrated Platform) is a novel microchip that has been developed to combine multiple steps of the crystallographic pipeline from crystallization to diffraction data collection on a single device to streamline the entire process. The X-CHIP (X-ray Crystallization High-throughput Integrated Platform) is a novel microchip that has been developed to combine multiple steps of the crystallographic pipeline from crystallization to diffraction data collection on a single device to streamline the entire process. The system has been designed for crystallization condition screening, visual crystal inspection, initial X-ray screening and data collection in a high-throughput fashion. X-ray diffraction data acquisition can be performed directly on-the-chip at room temperature using an in situ approach. The capabilities of the chip eliminate the necessity for manual crystal handling and cryoprotection of crystal samples, while allowing data collection from multiple crystals in the same drop. This technology would be especially beneficial for projects with large volumes of data, such as protein-complex studies and fragment-based screening. The platform employs hydrophilic and hydrophobic concentric ring surfaces on a miniature plate transparent to visible light and X-rays to create a well defined and stable microbatch crystallization environment. The results of crystallization and data-collection experiments demonstrate that high-quality well diffracting crystals can be grown and high-resolution diffraction data sets can be collected using this technology. Furthermore, the quality of a single-wavelength anomalous dispersion data set collected with the X-CHIP at room temperature was sufficient to generate interpretable electron-density maps. This technology is highly resource-efficient owing to the use of nanolitre-scale drop volumes. It does not require any modification for most in-house and synchrotron beamline systems and offers

Bio-optofluidics and biophotonics at the cellular level

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bañas, Andrew Rafael; Palima, Darwin; Tauro, Sandeep

2012-01-01

We present ongoing research and development activities for constructing a compact next generation BioPhotonics Workstation and a Bio-optofluidic Cell Sorter (cell-BOCS) for all-optical micro-manipulation platforms utilizing low numerical aperture beam geometries. Unlike conventional high NA optical...

Sub-GHz-resolution C-band Nyquist-filtering interleaver on a high-index-contrast photonic integrated circuit.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuang, Leimeng; Zhu, Chen; Corcoran, Bill; Burla, Maurizio; Roeloffzen, Chris G H; Leinse, Arne; Schröder, Jochen; Lowery, Arthur J

2016-03-21

Modern optical communications rely on high-resolution, high-bandwidth filtering to maximize the data-carrying capacity of fiber-optic networks. Such filtering typically requires high-speed, power-hungry digital processes in the electrical domain. Passive optical filters currently provide high bandwidths with low power consumption, but at the expense of resolution. Here, we present a passive filter chip that functions as an optical Nyquist-filtering interleaver featuring sub-GHz resolution and a near-rectangular passband with 8% roll-off. This performance is highly promising for high-spectral-efficiency Nyquist wavelength division multiplexed (N-WDM) optical super-channels. The chip provides a simple two-ring-resonator-assisted Mach-Zehnder interferometer, which has a sub-cm2 footprint owing to the high-index-contrast Si3N4/SiO2 waveguide, while manifests low wavelength-dependency enabling C-band (> 4 THz) coverage with more than 160 effective free spectral ranges of 25 GHz. This device is anticipated to be a critical building block for spectrally-efficient, chip-scale transceivers and ROADMs for N-WDM super-channels in next-generation optical communication networks.

Three-dimensional optofluidic device for isolating microbes

Science.gov (United States)

Keloth, A.; Paterson, L.; Markx, G. H.; Kar, A. K.

2015-03-01

Development of efficient methods for isolation and manipulation of microorganisms is essential to study unidentified and yet-to-be cultured microbes originating from a variety of environments. The discovery of novel microbes and their products have the potential to contribute to the development of new medicines and other industrially important bioactive compounds. In this paper we describe the design, fabrication and validation of an optofluidic device capable of redirecting microbes within a flow using optical forces. The device holds promise to enable the high throughput isolation of single microbes for downstream culture and analysis. Optofluidic devices are widely used in clinical research, cell biology and biomedical engineering as they are capable of performing analytical functions such as controlled transportation, compact and rapid processing of nanolitres to millilitres of clinical or biological samples. We have designed and fabricated a three dimensional optofluidic device to control and manipulate microorganisms within a microfluidic channel. The device was fabricated in fused silica by ultrafast laser inscription (ULI) followed by selective chemical etching. The unique three-dimensional capability of ULI is utilized to integrate microfluidic channels and waveguides within the same substrate. The main microfluidic channel in the device constitutes the path of the sample. Optical waveguides are fabricated at right angles to the main microfluidic channel. The potential of the optical scattering force to control and manipulate microorganisms is discussed in this paper. A 980 nm continuous wave (CW) laser source, coupled to the waveguide, is used to exert radiation pressure on the particle and particle migrations at different flow velocities are recorded. As a first demonstration, device functionality is validated using fluorescent microbeads and initial trials with microalgae are presented.

Optofluidic Sensor for Inline Hemolysis Detection on Whole Blood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhou, Chen; Keshavarz Hedayati, Mehdi; Zhu, Xiaolong

2018-01-01

-plasma separation, which is complex, time-consuming, and not easy to integrate into point-of-care (PoC) systems. Here, we demonstrate an optofluidic sensor composed of nanofilters on an optical waveguide, which enables evanescent-wave absorption measurement of hemoglobin in plasma with the capability of real......-time inline detection on whole blood without extra sample preparation like centrifugation. Long-term testing with inline integration in a modified, commercial blood gas analyzer shows high reliability and repeatability of the measurements even with the presence of interference from bilirubin. We envision...... that the present work has large potential in improving diagnosis quality by enabling PoC hemolysis detection in blood gas analyzers and can also lend unique sensing capabilities to other applications dealing with complex turbid media....

Multi-color fluorescent DNA analysis in an integrated optofluidic lab on a chip

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dongre, C.

2010-01-01

Abstract: Sorting and sizing of DNA molecules within the human genome project has enabled the genetic mapping of various illnesses. Furthermore by employing tiny lab-on-a-chip device, integrated DNA sequencing and genetic diagnostics have become feasible. We present the combination of capillary

Optofluidic laser scanner based on a rotating liquid prism.

Science.gov (United States)

Kopp, Daniel; Lehmann, Lukas; Zappe, Hans

2016-03-20

We demonstrate an electrowetting-actuated optofluidic system based on a rotatable liquid prism implemented as a two-dimensional laser scanner. The system is fabricated through a novel technology using a patterned flexible polymeric foil on which a high density of electrodes is structured and which is subsequently inserted into a cylindrical housing. The resulting radial electrode array is used for electrowetting actuation of two fluids filled into the cylinder, which allows a controllable tilt and orientation of the planar liquid interface and thus represents a tunable rotating prism. Finite element simulations and subsequent experimental verification show that this highly planar and precisely positionable liquid/liquid interface may be actuated to a deflection angle of ±6.4°, with a standard deviation of ±0.18°, and rotated 360° about the vertical axis. Power consumption is limited to several microwatts, and switching times of several hundred milliseconds were determined.

Wide range optofluidically tunable multimode interference fiber laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antonio-Lopez, J E; LiKamWa, P; Sanchez-Mondragon, J J; May-Arrioja, D A

2014-01-01

An optofluidically tunable fiber laser based on multimode interference (MMI) effects with a wide tuning range is proposed and demonstrated. The tunable mechanism is based on an MMI fiber filter fabricated using a special fiber known as no-core fiber, which is a multimode fiber (MMF) without cladding. Therefore, when the MMI filter is covered by liquid the optical properties of the no-core fiber are modified, which allow us to tune the peak wavelength response of the MMI filter. Rather than applying the liquid on the entire no-core fiber, we change the liquid level along the no-core fiber, which provides a highly linear tuning response. In addition, by selecting the adequate refractive index of the liquid we can also choose the tuning range. We demonstrate the versatility of the optofluidically tunable MMI filter by wavelength tuning two different gain media, erbium doped fiber and a semiconductor optical amplifier, achieving tuning ranges of 55 and 90 nm respectively. In both cases, we achieve side-mode suppression ratios (SMSR) better than 50 dBm with output power variations of less than 0.76 dBm over the whole tuning range. (paper)

Monolithic optofluidic ring resonator lasers created by femtosecond laser nanofabrication.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandrahalim, Hengky; Chen, Qiushu; Said, Ali A; Dugan, Mark; Fan, Xudong

2015-05-21

We designed, fabricated, and characterized a monolithically integrated optofluidic ring resonator laser that is mechanically, thermally, and chemically robust. The entire device, including the ring resonator channel and sample delivery microfluidics, was created in a block of fused-silica glass using a 3-dimensional femtosecond laser writing process. The gain medium, composed of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) dissolved in quinoline, was flowed through the ring resonator. Lasing was achieved at a pump threshold of approximately 15 μJ mm(-2). Detailed analysis shows that the Q-factor of the optofluidic ring resonator is 3.3 × 10(4), which is limited by both solvent absorption and scattering loss. In particular, a Q-factor resulting from the scattering loss can be as high as 4.2 × 10(4), suggesting the feasibility of using a femtosecond laser to create high quality optical cavities.

An automatic chip structure optical inspection system for electronic components

Science.gov (United States)

Song, Zhichao; Xue, Bindang; Liang, Jiyuan; Wang, Ke; Chen, Junzhang; Liu, Yunhe

2018-01-01

An automatic chip structure inspection system based on machine vision is presented to ensure the reliability of electronic components. It consists of four major modules, including a metallographic microscope, a Gigabit Ethernet high-resolution camera, a control system and a high performance computer. An auto-focusing technique is presented to solve the problem that the chip surface is not on the same focusing surface under the high magnification of the microscope. A panoramic high-resolution image stitching algorithm is adopted to deal with the contradiction between resolution and field of view, caused by different sizes of electronic components. In addition, we establish a database to storage and callback appropriate parameters to ensure the consistency of chip images of electronic components with the same model. We use image change detection technology to realize the detection of chip images of electronic components. The system can achieve high-resolution imaging for chips of electronic components with various sizes, and clearly imaging for the surface of chip with different horizontal and standardized imaging for ones with the same model, and can recognize chip defects.

A passive UHF RFID tag chip with a dual-resolution temperature sensor in a 0.18 μm standard CMOS process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng Peng; Zhang Qi; Wu Nanjian

2011-01-01

This paper presents a passive EPC Gen-2 UHF RFID tag chip with a dual-resolution temperature sensor. The chip tag integrates a temperature sensor, an RF/analog front-end circuit, an NVM memory and a digital baseband in a standard CMOS process. The sensor with a low power sigma—delta (ΣΔ) ADC is designed to operate in low and high resolution modes. It can not only achieve the target accuracy but also reduce the power consumption and the sensing time. A CMOS-only RF rectifier and a single-poly non-volatile memory (NVM) are designed to realize a low cost tag chip. The 192-bit-NVM tag chip with an area of 1 mm 2 is implemented in a 0.18-μm standard CMOS process. The sensitivity of the tag is −10.7 dBm/−8.4 dBm when the sensor is disabled/enabled. It achieves a maximum reading/sensing distance of 4 m/3.1 m at 2 W EIRP. The inaccuracy of the sensor is −0.6 °C/0.5 °C (−1.0 °C/1.2 °C) in the operating range from 5 to 15 °C in high resolution mode (−30 to 50 °C in low resolution mode). The resolution of the sensor achieves 0.02 °C (0.18 °C) in high (low) resolution mode. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

A compact and portable optofluidic device for detection of liquid properties and label-free sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Lahoz, F.; Martín, I. R.; Walo, D.; Gil-Rostra, J.; Yubero, F.; Gonzalez-Elipe, A. R.

2017-06-01

Optofluidic lasers have been widely investigated over the last few years mainly because they can be easily integrated in sensor devices. However, high power pulse lasers are required as excitation sources, which, in practice, limit the portability of the system. Trying to overcome some of these limitations, in this paper we propose the combined use of a small CW laser with a Fabry-Perot optofluidic planar microcavity showing high sensitivity and versatility for detection of liquid properties and label-free sensing. Firstly, a fluorescein solution in ethanol is used to demonstrate the high performances of the FP microcavity as a temperature sensor both in the laser (high pump power above laser threshold) and in the fluorescence (low pump power) regimes. A shift in the wavelength of the resonant cavity modes is used to detect changes in the temperature and our results show that high sensitivities could be already obtained using cheap and portable CW diode lasers. In the second part of the paper, the demonstration of this portable device for label-free sensing is illustrated under low CW pumping. The wavelength positions of the optofluidic resonant modes are used to detect glucose concentrations in water solutions using a protein labelled with a fluorescent dye as the active medium.

High throughput on-chip analysis of high-energy charged particle tracks using lensfree imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Luo, Wei; Shabbir, Faizan; Gong, Chao; Gulec, Cagatay; Pigeon, Jeremy; Shaw, Jessica; Greenbaum, Alon; Tochitsky, Sergei; Joshi, Chandrashekhar [Electrical Engineering Department, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States); Ozcan, Aydogan, E-mail: ozcan@ucla.edu [Electrical Engineering Department, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States); Bioengineering Department, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States); California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095 (United States)

2015-04-13

We demonstrate a high-throughput charged particle analysis platform, which is based on lensfree on-chip microscopy for rapid ion track analysis using allyl diglycol carbonate, i.e., CR-39 plastic polymer as the sensing medium. By adopting a wide-area opto-electronic image sensor together with a source-shifting based pixel super-resolution technique, a large CR-39 sample volume (i.e., 4 cm × 4 cm × 0.1 cm) can be imaged in less than 1 min using a compact lensfree on-chip microscope, which detects partially coherent in-line holograms of the ion tracks recorded within the CR-39 detector. After the image capture, using highly parallelized reconstruction and ion track analysis algorithms running on graphics processing units, we reconstruct and analyze the entire volume of a CR-39 detector within ∼1.5 min. This significant reduction in the entire imaging and ion track analysis time not only increases our throughput but also allows us to perform time-resolved analysis of the etching process to monitor and optimize the growth of ion tracks during etching. This computational lensfree imaging platform can provide a much higher throughput and more cost-effective alternative to traditional lens-based scanning optical microscopes for ion track analysis using CR-39 and other passive high energy particle detectors.

Optofluidics for handling and analysis of single living cells

KAUST Repository

Perozziello, Gerardo

2017-12-07

Optofluidics is a field with important applications in areas such as biotechnology, chemical synthesis and analytical chemistry. Optofluidic devices combine optical elements into microfluidic devices in ways that increase portability and sensitivity of analysis for diagnostic or screening purposes .In fact in these devices fluids give fine adaptability, mobility and accessibility to nanoscale photonic devices which otherwise could not be realized using conventional devices. This review describes several cases inwhich optical or microfluidic approaches are used to trap single cells in proximity of integrated optical sensor for being analysed.

Optofluidics for handling and analysis of single living cells

KAUST Repository

Perozziello, Gerardo; Candeloro, Patrizio; Coluccio, Maria Laura; Di Fabrizio, Enzo M.

2017-01-01

Optofluidics is a field with important applications in areas such as biotechnology, chemical synthesis and analytical chemistry. Optofluidic devices combine optical elements into microfluidic devices in ways that increase portability and sensitivity of analysis for diagnostic or screening purposes .In fact in these devices fluids give fine adaptability, mobility and accessibility to nanoscale photonic devices which otherwise could not be realized using conventional devices. This review describes several cases inwhich optical or microfluidic approaches are used to trap single cells in proximity of integrated optical sensor for being analysed.

High-performance, scalable optical network-on-chip architectures

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Xianfang

The rapid advance of technology enables a large number of processing cores to be integrated into a single chip which is called a Chip Multiprocessor (CMP) or a Multiprocessor System-on-Chip (MPSoC) design. The on-chip interconnection network, which is the communication infrastructure for these processing cores, plays a central role in a many-core system. With the continuously increasing complexity of many-core systems, traditional metallic wired electronic networks-on-chip (NoC) became a bottleneck because of the unbearable latency in data transmission and extremely high energy consumption on chip. Optical networks-on-chip (ONoC) has been proposed as a promising alternative paradigm for electronic NoC with the benefits of optical signaling communication such as extremely high bandwidth, negligible latency, and low power consumption. This dissertation focus on the design of high-performance and scalable ONoC architectures and the contributions are highlighted as follow: 1. A micro-ring resonator (MRR)-based Generic Wavelength-routed Optical Router (GWOR) is proposed. A method for developing any sized GWOR is introduced. GWOR is a scalable non-blocking ONoC architecture with simple structure, low cost and high power efficiency compared to existing ONoC designs. 2. To expand the bandwidth and improve the fault tolerance of the GWOR, a redundant GWOR architecture is designed by cascading different type of GWORs into one network. 3. The redundant GWOR built with MRR-based comb switches is proposed. Comb switches can expand the bandwidth while keep the topology of GWOR unchanged by replacing the general MRRs with comb switches. 4. A butterfly fat tree (BFT)-based hybrid optoelectronic NoC (HONoC) architecture is developed in which GWORs are used for global communication and electronic routers are used for local communication. The proposed HONoC uses less numbers of electronic routers and links than its counterpart of electronic BFT-based NoC. It takes the advantages of

Crossing the Resolution Limit in Near-Infrared Imaging of Silicon Chips: Targeting 10-nm Node Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krishna Agarwal

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The best reported resolution in optical failure analysis of silicon chips is 120-nm half pitch demonstrated by Semicaps Private Limited, whereas the current and future industry requirement for 10-nm node technology is 100-nm half pitch. We show the first experimental evidence for resolution of features with 100-nm half pitch buried in silicon (λ/10.6, thus fulfilling the industry requirement. These results are obtained using near-infrared reflection-mode imaging using a solid immersion lens. The key novel feature of our approach is the choice of an appropriately sized collection pinhole. Although it is usually understood that, in general, resolution is improved by using the smallest pinhole consistent with an adequate signal level, it is found that in practice for silicon chips there is an optimum pinhole size, determined by the generation of induced currents in the sample. In failure analysis of silicon chips, nondestructive imaging is important to avoid disturbing the functionality of integrated circuits. High-resolution imaging techniques like SEM or TEM require the transistors to be exposed destructively. Optical microscopy techniques may be used, but silicon is opaque in the visible spectrum, mandating the use of near-infrared light and thus poor resolution in conventional optical microscopy. We expect our result to change the way semiconductor failure analysis is performed.

Bio-optofluidics and Bio-photonics: Programmable Phase Optics activities at DTU Fotonik

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bañas, Andrew Rafael; Palima, Darwin; Pedersen, Finn

We present ongoing research and development activities for constructing a compact next generation BioPhotonics Workstation and a Bio-optofluidic Cell Sorter (cell-BOCS) for all-optical micromanipulation platforms utilizing low numerical aperture beam geometries. Unlike conventional high NA optical...... tweezers, the BioPhotonics workstation is e.g. capable of long range 3D manipulation. This enables a variety of biological studies such as manipulation of intricate microfabricated assemblies or for automated and parallel optofluidic cell sorting. To further reduce its overhead, we propose ways of making...... the BioPhotonics Workstation platform more photon efficient by studying the 3D distribution of the counter propagating beams and utilizing the Generalized Phase Contrast (GPC) method for illuminating the applied spatial light modulators....

Inverse Opal Photonic Crystals as an Optofluidic Platform for Fast Analysis of Hydrocarbon Mixtures.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Qiwei; Mahpeykar, Seyed Milad; Burgess, Ian B; Wang, Xihua

2018-06-13

Most of the reported optofluidic devices analyze liquid by measuring its refractive index. Recently, the wettability of liquid on various substrates has also been used as a key sensing parameter in optofluidic sensors. However, the above-mentioned techniques face challenges in the analysis of the relative concentration of components in an alkane hydrocarbon mixture, as both refractive indices and wettabilities of alkane hydrocarbons are very close. Here, we propose to apply volatility of liquid as the key sensing parameter, correlate it to the optical property of liquid inside inverse opal photonic crystals, and construct powerful optofluidic sensors for alkane hydrocarbon identification and analysis. We have demonstrated that via evaporation of hydrocarbons inside the periodic structure of inverse opal photonic crystals and observation of their reflection spectra, an inverse opal film could be used as a fast-response optofluidic sensor to accurately differentiate pure hydrocarbon liquids and relative concentrations of their binary and ternary mixtures in tens of seconds. In these 3D photonic crystals, pure chemicals with different volatilities would have different evaporation rates and can be easily identified via the total drying time. For multicomponent mixtures, the same strategy is applied to determine the relative concentration of each component simply by measuring drying time under different temperatures. Using this optofluidic sensing platform, we have determined the relative concentrations of ternary hydrocarbon mixtures with the difference of only one carbon between alkane hydrocarbons, which is a big step toward detailed hydrocarbon analysis for practical use.

Impact of high-pressure coolant supply on chip formation in milling

Science.gov (United States)

Klocke, F.; Döbbeler, B.; Lakner, T.

2017-10-01

Machining of titanium alloys is considered as difficult, because of their high temperature strength, low thermal conductivity and low E-modulus, which contributes to high mechanical loads and high temperatures in the contact zone between tool and workpiece. The generated heat in the cutting zone can be dissipated only in a low extent. When cutting steel materials, up to 75% of the process heat is transported away by the chips, contrary to only 25% when machining titanium alloys. As a result, the cutting tool heats up, which leads to high tool wear. Therefore, machining of titanium alloys is only possible with relatively low cutting speeds. This leads to low levels of productivity for milling processes with titanium alloys. One way to increase productivity is to use more cutting edges in tools with the same diameter. However, the limiting factor of adding more cutting edges to a milling tool is the minimum size of the chip spaces, which are sufficient for a stable chip evacuation. This paper presents experimental results on the chip formation and chip size influenced by high-pressure coolant supply, which can lead to smaller chips and to smaller sizes of the chip spaces, respectively. Both influences, the pressure of the supplied coolant and the volumetric flow rate were individually examined. Alpha-beta annealed titanium TiAl6V4 was examined in relation to the reference material quenched and tempered steel 42CrMo4+QT (AISI 4140+QT). The work shows that with proper chip control due to high-pressure coolant supply in milling, the number of cutting edges on the same diameter tool can be increased, which leads to improved productivity.

Nanoparticle-coated micro-optofluidic ring resonator as a detector for microscale gas chromatographic vapor analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Scholten, K; Collin, W R; Fan, X; Zellers, E T

2015-05-28

A vapor sensor comprising a nanoparticle-coated microfabricated optofluidic ring resonator (μOFRR) is introduced. A multilayer film of polyether functionalized, thiolate-monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles (MPN) was solvent cast on the inner wall of the hollow cylindrical SiOxμOFRR resonator structure, and whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonances were generated with a 1550 nm tunable laser via an optical fiber taper. Reversible shifts in the WGM resonant wavelength upon vapor exposure were detected with a photodetector. The μOFRR chip was connected to a pair of upstream etched-Si chips containing PDMS-coated separation μcolumns and calibration curves were generated from the peak-area responses to five volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Calibration curves were linear, and the sensitivities reflected the influence of analyte volatility and analyte-MPN functional group affinity. Sorption-induced changes in film thickness apparently dominate over changes in the refractive index of the film as the determinant of responses for all VOCs. Peaks from the MPN-coated μOFRR were just 20-50% wider than those from a flame ionization detector for similar μcolumn separation conditions, reflecting the rapid response of the sensor for VOCs. The five VOCs were baseline separated in <1.67 min, with detection limits as low as 38 ng.

Nanoparticle-coated micro-optofluidic ring resonator as a detector for microscale gas chromatographic vapor analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Scholten, K.; Collin, W. R.; Fan, X.; Zellers, E. T.

2015-05-01

A vapor sensor comprising a nanoparticle-coated microfabricated optofluidic ring resonator (μOFRR) is introduced. A multilayer film of polyether functionalized, thiolate-monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles (MPN) was solvent cast on the inner wall of the hollow cylindrical SiOx μOFRR resonator structure, and whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonances were generated with a 1550 nm tunable laser via an optical fiber taper. Reversible shifts in the WGM resonant wavelength upon vapor exposure were detected with a photodetector. The μOFRR chip was connected to a pair of upstream etched-Si chips containing PDMS-coated separation μcolumns and calibration curves were generated from the peak-area responses to five volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Calibration curves were linear, and the sensitivities reflected the influence of analyte volatility and analyte-MPN functional group affinity. Sorption-induced changes in film thickness apparently dominate over changes in the refractive index of the film as the determinant of responses for all VOCs. Peaks from the MPN-coated μOFRR were just 20-50% wider than those from a flame ionization detector for similar μcolumn separation conditions, reflecting the rapid response of the sensor for VOCs. The five VOCs were baseline separated in <1.67 min, with detection limits as low as 38 ng.

High-Tc dc-SQUID gradiometers in flip-chip configuration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peiselt, K; Schmidl, F; Linzen, S; Anton, A S; Huebner, U; Seidel, P

2003-01-01

We describe a new design of a gradiometric flip-chip antenna, which is inductively coupled to a dc-SQUID gradiometer. Both components are patterned out of thin films of the high-T c superconductor YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-x (YBCO). For the flip-chip antenna, a 40 mm x 10 mm SrTiO 3 single crystalline substrate is used, while the gradiometer sensors are prepared on 10 mm x 10 mm SrTiO 3 bicrystal substrates. Special attention is paid to the inductive coupling between the flip-chip antenna and the read-out gradiometer antenna. We investigate different designs of coupling loops in order to optimize the coupling inductance between both components of the sensor. With optimized coupling the sensor achieves a field-gradient resolution of 12 fT cm -1 Hz -1/2 in the white noise region and of 310 fT cm -1 Hz -1/2 at 1 Hz in the unshielded laboratory environment

High-Tc dc-SQUID gradiometers in flip-chip configuration

Science.gov (United States)

Peiselt, K.; Schmidl, F.; Linzen, S.; Anton, A. S.; Hübner, U.; Seidel, P.

2003-12-01

We describe a new design of a gradiometric flip-chip antenna, which is inductively coupled to a dc-SQUID gradiometer. Both components are patterned out of thin films of the high-Tc superconductor YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO). For the flip-chip antenna, a 40 mm × 10 mm SrTiO3 single crystalline substrate is used, while the gradiometer sensors are prepared on 10 mm × 10 mm SrTiO3 bicrystal substrates. Special attention is paid to the inductive coupling between the flip-chip antenna and the read-out gradiometer antenna. We investigate different designs of coupling loops in order to optimize the coupling inductance between both components of the sensor. With optimized coupling the sensor achieves a field-gradient resolution of 12 fT cm-1 Hz-1/2 in the white noise region and of 310 fT cm-1 Hz-1/2 at 1 Hz in the unshielded laboratory environment.

GOSSIPO-4: an array of high resolution TDCs with a PLL control

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zappon, F.; van Beuzekom, M.; Gromov, V.; Kluit, R.; Fang, X.; Kruth, A.

2012-01-01

GOSSIPO-4 is a prototype chip featuring an array of high resolution Time to Digital Converters with a PLL control that has been taped out the 9th of August 2011. This prototype is the successor of GOSSIPO-3 test chip and the precursor of the 65k pixel chip TimePix3. The prototype is being developed

Perspective: Fabrication of integrated organ-on-a-chip via bioprinting.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Qingzhen; Lian, Qin; Xu, Feng

2017-05-01

Organ-on-a-chip has emerged as a powerful platform with widespread applications in biomedical engineering, such as pathology studies and drug screening. However, the fabrication of organ-on-a-chip is still a challenging task due to its complexity. For an integrated organ-on-a-chip, it may contain four key elements, i.e., a microfluidic chip, live cells/microtissues that are cultured in this chip, components for stimulus loading to mature the microtissues, and sensors for results readout. Recently, bioprinting has been used for fabricating organ-on-a-chip as it enables the printing of multiple materials, including biocompatible materials and even live cells in a programmable manner with a high spatial resolution. Besides, all four elements for organ-on-a-chip could be printed in a single continuous procedure on one printer; in other words, the fabrication process is assembly free. In this paper, we discuss the recent advances of organ-on-a-chip fabrication by bioprinting. Light is shed on the printing strategies, materials, and biocompatibility. In addition, some specific bioprinted organs-on-chips are analyzed in detail. Because the bioprinted organ-on-a-chip is still in its early stage, significant efforts are still needed. Thus, the challenges presented together with possible solutions and future trends are also discussed.

High-throughput label-free detection of aggregate platelets with optofluidic time-stretch microscopy (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Yiyue; Lei, Cheng; Yasumoto, Atsushi; Ito, Takuro; Guo, Baoshan; Kobayashi, Hirofumi; Ozeki, Yasuyuki; Yatomi, Yutaka; Goda, Keisuke

2017-02-01

According to WHO, approximately 10 million new cases of thrombotic disorders are diagnosed worldwide every year. In the U.S. and Europe, their related diseases kill more people than those from AIDS, prostate cancer, breast cancer and motor vehicle accidents combined. Although thrombotic disorders, especially arterial ones, mainly result from enhanced platelet aggregability in the vascular system, visual detection of platelet aggregates in vivo is not employed in clinical settings. Here we present a high-throughput label-free platelet aggregate detection method, aiming at the diagnosis and monitoring of thrombotic disorders in clinical settings. With optofluidic time-stretch microscopy with a spatial resolution of 780 nm and an ultrahigh linear scanning rate of 75 MHz, it is capable of detecting aggregated platelets in lysed blood which flows through a hydrodynamic-focusing microfluidic device at a high throughput of 10,000 particles/s. With digital image processing and statistical analysis, we are able to distinguish them from single platelets and other blood cells via morphological features. The detection results are compared with results of fluorescence-based detection (which is slow and inaccurate, but established). Our results indicate that the method holds promise for real-time, low-cost, label-free, and minimally invasive detection of platelet aggregates, which is potentially applicable to detection of platelet aggregates in vivo and to the diagnosis and monitoring of thrombotic disorders in clinical settings. This technique, if introduced clinically, may provide important clinical information in addition to that obtained by conventional techniques for thrombotic disorder diagnosis, including ex vivo platelet aggregation tests.

Integration of micro-optics and microfluidics in a glass chip by fs-laser for optofluidic applications

Science.gov (United States)

Osellame, Roberto; Martinez, Rebeca; Laporta, Paolo; Ramponi, Roberta; Cerullo, Giulio

2009-02-01

A lab-on-a-chip (LOC) is a device that incorporates in a single substrate the functionalities of a biological laboratory, i.e. a network of fluidic channels, reservoirs, valves, pumps and sensors, all with micrometer dimensions. Its main advantages are the possibility of working with small samples quantities (from nano- to picoliters), high sensitivity, speed of analysis and the possibility of measurement automation and standardization. They are becoming the most powerful tools of analytical chemistry with a broad application in life sciences, biotechnology and drug development. The next technological challenge of LOCs is direct on-chip integration of photonic functionalities for sensing of biomolecules flowing in the microchannels. Ultrafast laser processing of the bulk of a dielectric material is a very flexible and simple method to produce photonic devices inside microfluidic chips for capillary electrophoresis (CE) or chemical microreactors. By taking advantage of the unique three-dimensional capabilities of this fabrication technique, more complex functionalities, such as splitters or Mach-Zehnder interferometers, can be implemented. In this work we report on the use of femtosecond laser pulses to fabricate photonic devices (as waveguides, splitters and interferometers) inside commercial CE chips, without affecting the manufacturing procedure of the microfluidic part of the device. The fabrication of single waveguides intersecting the channels allows one to perform absorption or Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) sensing of the molecules separated inside the microchannels. Waveguide splitters are used for multipoint excitation of the microfluidic channel for parallel or higher sensitivity measurements. Finally, Mach-Zehnder interferometers are used for label-free sensing of the samples flowing in the microfluidic channels by means of refractive index changes detection.

Optofluidic intracavity spectroscopy for spatially, temperature, and wavelength dependent refractometry

Science.gov (United States)

Kindt, Joel D.

A microfluidic refractometer was designed based on previous optofluidic intracavity spectroscopy (OFIS) chips utilized to distinguish healthy and cancerous cells. The optofluidic cavity is realized by adding high reflectivity dielectric mirrors to the top and bottom of a microfluidic channel. This creates a plane-plane Fabry-Perot optical cavity in which the resonant wavelengths are highly dependent on the optical path length inside the cavity. Refractometry is a useful method to determine the nature of fluids, including the concentration of a solute in a solvent as well as the temperature of the fluid. Advantages of microfluidic systems are the easy integration with lab-on-chip devices and the need for only small volumes of fluid. The unique abilities of the microfluidic refractometer in this thesis include its spatial, temperature, and wavelength dependence. Spatial dependence of the transmission spectrum is inherent through a spatial filtering process implemented with an optical fiber and microscope objective. A sequence of experimental observations guided the change from using the OFIS chip as a cell discrimination device to a complimentary refractometer. First, it was noted the electrode structure within the microfluidic channel, designed to trap and manipulate biological cells with dielectrophoretic (DEP) forces, caused the resonant wavelengths to blue-shift when the electrodes were energized. This phenomenon is consistent with the negative dn/dT property of water and water-based solutions. Next, it was necessary to develop a method to separate the optical path length into physical path length and refractive index. Air holes were placed near the microfluidic channel to exclusively measure the cavity length with the known refractive index of air. The cavity length was then interpolated across the microfluidic channel, allowing any mechanical changes to be taken into account. After the separation of physical path length and refractive index, it was of interest

Integrated hollow microneedle-optofluidic biosensor for therapeutic drug monitoring in sub-nanoliter volumes

Science.gov (United States)

Ranamukhaarachchi, Sahan A.; Padeste, Celestino; Dübner, Matthias; Häfeli, Urs O.; Stoeber, Boris; Cadarso, Victor J.

2016-07-01

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) typically requires painful blood drawn from patients. We propose a painless and minimally-invasive alternative for TDM using hollow microneedles suitable to extract extremely small volumes (microneedle is functionalized to be used as a micro-reactor during sample collection to trap and bind target drug candidates during extraction, without requirements of sample transfer. An optofluidic device is integrated with this microneedle to rapidly quantify drug analytes with high sensitivity using a straightforward absorbance scheme. Vancomycin is currently detected by using volumes ranging between 50-100 μL with a limit of detection (LoD) of 1.35 μM. The proposed microneedle-optofluidic biosensor can detect vancomycin with a sample volume of 0.6 nL and a LoD of <100 nM, validating this painless point of care system with significant potential to reduce healthcare costs and patients suffering.

Novel High Pressure Pump-on-a-Chip Technology, Phase II

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — HJ Science & Technology, Inc. proposes to develop a novel high pressure "pump-on-a-chip" (HPPOC) technology capable of generating high pressure and flow rate on...

Bleaching and diffusion dynamics in optofluidic dye lasers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gersborg-Hansen, Morten; Balslev, Søren; Mortensen, Asger

2007-01-01

The authors have investigated the bleaching dynamics that occur in optofluidic dye lasers where the liquid laser dye in a microfluidic channel is locally bleached due to optical pumping. They find that for microfluidic devices, the dye bleaching may be compensated through diffusion of dye molecules...

A compact imaging spectroscopic system for biomolecular detections on plasmonic chips.

Science.gov (United States)

Lo, Shu-Cheng; Lin, En-Hung; Wei, Pei-Kuen; Tsai, Wan-Shao

2016-10-17

In this study, we demonstrate a compact imaging spectroscopic system for high-throughput detection of biomolecular interactions on plasmonic chips, based on a curved grating as the key element of light diffraction and light focusing. Both the curved grating and the plasmonic chips are fabricated on flexible plastic substrates using a gas-assisted thermal-embossing method. A fiber-coupled broadband light source and a camera are included in the system. Spectral resolution within 1 nm is achieved in sensing environmental index solutions and protein bindings. The detected sensitivities of the plasmonic chip are comparable with a commercial spectrometer. An extra one-dimensional scanning stage enables high-throughput detection of protein binding on a designed plasmonic chip consisting of several nanoslit arrays with different periods. The detected resonance wavelengths match well with the grating equation under an air environment. Wavelength shifts between 1 and 9 nm are detected for antigens of various concentrations binding with antibodies. A simple, mass-productive and cost-effective method has been demonstrated on the imaging spectroscopic system for real-time, label-free, highly sensitive and high-throughput screening of biomolecular interactions.

Surface enhanced raman spectroscopy on chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hübner, Jörg; Anhøj, Thomas Aarøe; Zauner, Dan

2007-01-01

In this paper we report low resolution surface enhanced Raman spectra (SERS) conducted with a chip based spectrometer. The flat field spectrometer presented here is fabricated in SU-8 on silicon, showing a resolution of around 3 nm and a free spectral range of around 100 nm. The output facet...... is projected onto a CCD element and visualized by a computer. To enhance the otherwise rather weak Raman signal, a nanosurface is prepared and a sample solutions is impregnated on this surface. The surface enhanced Raman signal is picked up using a Raman probe and coupled into the spectrometer via an optical...... fiber. The obtained spectra show that chip based spectrometer together with the SERS active surface can be used as Raman sensor....

SWIFTS: on-chip very high spectral resolution spectrometer

Science.gov (United States)

le Coarer, E.; Venancio, L. G.; Kern, P.; Ferrand, J.; Puget, P.; Ayraud, M.; Bonneville, C.; Demonte, B.; Morand, A.; Boussey, J.; Barbier, D.; Blaize, S.; Gonthiez, T.

2017-11-01

The size and the weight of state of the art spectrometers is a serious issue regarding space applications. SWIFTS (Stationary Wave Integrated Fourier Transform Spectrometer) is a new FTS family without any moving part. This very promising technology is an original way to fully sample the Fourier interferogram obtained in a waveguide by either a reflection (SWIFTS Lippmann) or counter-propagative (SWIFTS Gabor) interference phenomenon. The sampling is simultaneously performed the optical path thanks to "nano-detectors" located in the evanescent field of the waveguide. For instance a 1.7cm long waveguide properly associated to the detector achieves directly a resolution of 0.13cm-1 on a few centimetre long instruments. Here, firstly we present the development status of this new kind of spectrometers and the first results obtained with on going development of spectrometer covering simultaneously the visible domain from 400 to 1000 nm like an Echelle spectrometer. Valuable technologies allows one to extend the concept to various wavelength domains. Secondly, we present the results obtained in the frame of an activity funded by the European Space Agency where several potential applications in space missions have been identified and studied.

High-resolution X-ray imaging - a powerful nondestructive technique for applications in semiconductor industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zschech, Ehrenfried; Yun, Wenbing; Schneider, Gerd

2008-01-01

The availability of high-brilliance X-ray sources, high-precision X-ray focusing optics and very efficient CCD area detectors has contributed essentially to the development of transmission X-ray microscopy (TXM) and X-ray computed tomography (XCT) with sub-50 nm resolution. Particularly, the fabrication of high aspect ratio Fresnel zone plates with zone widths approaching 15 nm has contributed to the enormous improvement in spatial resolution during the previous years. Currently, Fresnel zone plates give the ability to reach spatial resolutions of 15 to 20 nm in the soft and of about 30 to 50 nm in the hard X-ray energy range. X-ray microscopes with rotating anode X-ray sources that can be installed in an analytical lab next to a semiconductor fab have been developed recently. These unique TXM/XCT systems provide an important new capability of nondestructive 3D imaging of internal circuit structures without destructive sample preparation such as cross sectioning. These lab systems can be used for failure localization in micro- and nanoelectronic structures and devices, e.g., to visualize voids and residuals in on-chip metal interconnects without physical modification of the chip. Synchrotron radiation experiments have been used to study new processes and materials that have to be introduced into the semiconductor industry. The potential of TXM using synchrotron radiation in the soft X-ray energy range is shown for the nondestructive in situ imaging of void evolution in embedded on-chip copper interconnect structures during electromigration and for the imaging of different types of insulating thin films between the on-chip interconnects (spectromicroscopy). (orig.)

Registration performance on EUV masks using high-resolution registration metrology

Science.gov (United States)

Steinert, Steffen; Solowan, Hans-Michael; Park, Jinback; Han, Hakseung; Beyer, Dirk; Scherübl, Thomas

2016-10-01

Next-generation lithography based on EUV continues to move forward to high-volume manufacturing. Given the technical challenges and the throughput concerns a hybrid approach with 193 nm immersion lithography is expected, at least in the initial state. Due to the increasing complexity at smaller nodes a multitude of different masks, both DUV (193 nm) and EUV (13.5 nm) reticles, will then be required in the lithography process-flow. The individual registration of each mask and the resulting overlay error are of crucial importance in order to ensure proper functionality of the chips. While registration and overlay metrology on DUV masks has been the standard for decades, this has yet to be demonstrated on EUV masks. Past generations of mask registration tools were not necessarily limited in their tool stability, but in their resolution capabilities. The scope of this work is an image placement investigation of high-end EUV masks together with a registration and resolution performance qualification. For this we employ a new generation registration metrology system embedded in a production environment for full-spec EUV masks. This paper presents excellent registration performance not only on standard overlay markers but also on more sophisticated e-beam calibration patterns.

High-resolution non-destructive three-dimensional imaging of integrated circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Holler, Mirko; Guizar-Sicairos, Manuel; Tsai, Esther H R; Dinapoli, Roberto; Müller, Elisabeth; Bunk, Oliver; Raabe, Jörg; Aeppli, Gabriel

2017-03-15

Modern nanoelectronics has advanced to a point at which it is impossible to image entire devices and their interconnections non-destructively because of their small feature sizes and the complex three-dimensional structures resulting from their integration on a chip. This metrology gap implies a lack of direct feedback between design and manufacturing processes, and hampers quality control during production, shipment and use. Here we demonstrate that X-ray ptychography-a high-resolution coherent diffractive imaging technique-can create three-dimensional images of integrated circuits of known and unknown designs with a lateral resolution in all directions down to 14.6 nanometres. We obtained detailed device geometries and corresponding elemental maps, and show how the devices are integrated with each other to form the chip. Our experiments represent a major advance in chip inspection and reverse engineering over the traditional destructive electron microscopy and ion milling techniques. Foreseeable developments in X-ray sources, optics and detectors, as well as adoption of an instrument geometry optimized for planar rather than cylindrical samples, could lead to a thousand-fold increase in efficiency, with concomitant reductions in scan times and voxel sizes.

High-resolution non-destructive three-dimensional imaging of integrated circuits

Science.gov (United States)

Holler, Mirko; Guizar-Sicairos, Manuel; Tsai, Esther H. R.; Dinapoli, Roberto; Müller, Elisabeth; Bunk, Oliver; Raabe, Jörg; Aeppli, Gabriel

2017-03-01

Modern nanoelectronics has advanced to a point at which it is impossible to image entire devices and their interconnections non-destructively because of their small feature sizes and the complex three-dimensional structures resulting from their integration on a chip. This metrology gap implies a lack of direct feedback between design and manufacturing processes, and hampers quality control during production, shipment and use. Here we demonstrate that X-ray ptychography—a high-resolution coherent diffractive imaging technique—can create three-dimensional images of integrated circuits of known and unknown designs with a lateral resolution in all directions down to 14.6 nanometres. We obtained detailed device geometries and corresponding elemental maps, and show how the devices are integrated with each other to form the chip. Our experiments represent a major advance in chip inspection and reverse engineering over the traditional destructive electron microscopy and ion milling techniques. Foreseeable developments in X-ray sources, optics and detectors, as well as adoption of an instrument geometry optimized for planar rather than cylindrical samples, could lead to a thousand-fold increase in efficiency, with concomitant reductions in scan times and voxel sizes.

A high-resolution programmable Vernier delay generator based on carry chains in FPGA.

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Ke; Li, Xiangyu; Zhu, Rihong

2017-06-01

This paper presents an architecture of a high-resolution delay generator implemented in a single field programmable gate array chip by exploiting the method of utilizing dedicated carry chains. It serves as the core component in various physical instruments. The proposed delay generator contains the coarse delay step and the fine delay step to guarantee both large dynamic range and high resolution. The carry chains are organized in the Vernier delay loop style to fulfill the fine delay step with high precision and high linearity. The delay generator was implemented in the EP3SE110F1152I3 Stratix III device from Altera on a self-designed test board. Test results show that the obtained resolution is 38.6 ps, and the differential nonlinearity/integral nonlinearity is in the range of [-0.18 least significant bit (LSB), 0.24 LSB]/(-0.02 LSB, 0.01 LSB) under the nominal supply voltage of 1100 mV and environmental temperature of 20  ° C. The delay generator is rather efficient concerning resource cost, which uses only 668 look-up tables and 146 registers in total.

A high-resolution programmable Vernier delay generator based on carry chains in FPGA

Science.gov (United States)

Cui, Ke; Li, Xiangyu; Zhu, Rihong

2017-06-01

This paper presents an architecture of a high-resolution delay generator implemented in a single field programmable gate array chip by exploiting the method of utilizing dedicated carry chains. It serves as the core component in various physical instruments. The proposed delay generator contains the coarse delay step and the fine delay step to guarantee both large dynamic range and high resolution. The carry chains are organized in the Vernier delay loop style to fulfill the fine delay step with high precision and high linearity. The delay generator was implemented in the EP3SE110F1152I3 Stratix III device from Altera on a self-designed test board. Test results show that the obtained resolution is 38.6 ps, and the differential nonlinearity/integral nonlinearity is in the range of [-0.18 least significant bit (LSB), 0.24 LSB]/(-0.02 LSB, 0.01 LSB) under the nominal supply voltage of 1100 mV and environmental temperature of 2 0°C. The delay generator is rather efficient concerning resource cost, which uses only 668 look-up tables and 146 registers in total.

Optofluidic tuning of photonic crystal band edge lasers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bernal, Felipe; Christiansen, Mads Brøkner; Gersborg-Hansen, Morten

2007-01-01

We demonstrate optofluidic tuning of polymer photonic crystal band edge lasers with an imposed rectangular symmetry. The emission wavelength depends on both lattice constant and cladding refractive index. The emission wavelength is shown to change 1 nm with a cladding refractive index change of 10......−2. The rectangular symmetry modification alters the emission characteristics of the devices and the relative emission intensities along the symmetry axes depend on cladding refractive index, suggesting a sensor concept based on detection of intensity rather than wavelength....

An in-fiber integrated optofluidic device based on an optical fiber with an inner core.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xinghua; Yuan, Tingting; Teng, Pingping; Kong, Depeng; Liu, Chunlan; Li, Entao; Zhao, Enming; Tong, Chengguo; Yuan, Libo

2014-06-21

A new kind of optofluidic in-fiber integrated device based on a specially designed hollow optical fiber with an inner core is designed. The inlets and outlets are built by etching the surface of the optical fiber without damaging the inner core. A reaction region between the end of the fiber and a solid point obtained after melting is constructed. By injecting samples into the fiber, the liquids can form steady microflows and react in the region. Simultaneously, the emission from the chemiluminescence reaction can be detected from the remote end of the optical fiber through evanescent field coupling. The concentration of ascorbic acid (AA or vitamin C, Vc) is determined by the emission intensity of the reaction of Vc, H2O2, luminol, and K3Fe(CN)6 in the optical fiber. A linear sensing range of 0.1-3.0 mmol L(-1) for Vc is obtained. The emission intensity can be determined within 2 s at a total flow rate of 150 μL min(-1). Significantly, this work presents information for the in-fiber integrated optofluidic devices without spatial optical coupling.

Optofluidic control of axonal guidance

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Ling; Ordonez, Simon; Black, Bryan; Mohanty, Samarendra K.

2013-03-01

Significant efforts are being made for control on axonal guidance due to its importance in nerve regeneration and in the formation of functional neuronal circuitry in-vitro. These include several physical (topographic modification, optical force, and electric field), chemical (surface functionalization cues) and hybrid (electro-chemical, photochemical etc) methods. Here, we report comparison of the effect of linear flow versus microfluidic flow produced by an opticallydriven micromotor in guiding retinal ganglion axons. A circularly polarized laser tweezers was used to hold, position and spin birefringent calcite particle near growth cone, which in turn resulted in microfluidic flow. The flow rate and resulting shear-force on axons could be controlled by a varying the power of the laser tweezers beam. The calcite particles were placed separately in one chamber and single particle was transported through microfluidic channel to another chamber containing the retina explant. In presence of flow, the turning of axons was found to strongly correlate with the direction of flow. Turning angle as high as 90° was achieved. Optofluidic-manipulation can be applied to other types of mammalian neurons and also can be extended to stimulate mechano-sensing neurons.

NanoTopoChip: High-throughput nanotopographical cell instruction.

Science.gov (United States)

Hulshof, Frits F B; Zhao, Yiping; Vasilevich, Aliaksei; Beijer, Nick R M; de Boer, Meint; Papenburg, Bernke J; van Blitterswijk, Clemens; Stamatialis, Dimitrios; de Boer, Jan

2017-10-15

Surface topography is able to influence cell phenotype in numerous ways and offers opportunities to manipulate cells and tissues. In this work, we develop the Nano-TopoChip and study the cell instructive effects of nanoscale topographies. A combination of deep UV projection lithography and conventional lithography was used to fabricate a library of more than 1200 different defined nanotopographies. To illustrate the cell instructive effects of nanotopography, actin-RFP labeled U2OS osteosarcoma cells were cultured and imaged on the Nano-TopoChip. Automated image analysis shows that of many cell morphological parameters, cell spreading, cell orientation and actin morphology are mostly affected by the nanotopographies. Additionally, by using modeling, the changes of cell morphological parameters could by predicted by several feature shape parameters such as lateral size and spacing. This work overcomes the technological challenges of fabricating high quality defined nanoscale features on unprecedented large surface areas of a material relevant for tissue culture such as PS and the screening system is able to infer nanotopography - cell morphological parameter relationships. Our screening platform provides opportunities to identify and study the effect of nanotopography with beneficial properties for the culture of various cell types. The nanotopography of biomaterial surfaces can be modified to influence adhering cells with the aim to improve the performance of medical implants and tissue culture substrates. However, the necessary knowledge of the underlying mechanisms remains incomplete. One reason for this is the limited availability of high-resolution nanotopographies on relevant biomaterials, suitable to conduct systematic biological studies. The present study shows the fabrication of a library of nano-sized surface topographies with high fidelity. The potential of this library, called the 'NanoTopoChip' is shown in a proof of principle HTS study which

Optofluidics-based DNA structure-competitive aptasensor for rapid on-site detection of lead(II) in an aquatic environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Feng; Zhu, Anna; Wang, Hongchen

2014-11-07

Lead ions (Pb(2+)), ubiquitous and one of the most toxic metallic pollutants, have attracted increasing attentions because of their various neurotoxic effects. Pb(2+) has been proven to induce a conformational change in G-quadruplex (G4) aptamers to form a stabilizing G4/Pb(2+) complex. Based on this principle, an innovative optofluidics-based DNA structure-competitive aptasensor was developed for Pb(2+) detection in an actual aquatic environment. The proposed sensing system has good characteristics, such as high sensitivity and selectivity, reusability, easy operation, rapidity, robustness, portability, use of a small sample volume, and cost effectiveness. A fluorescence-labeled G4 aptamer was utilized as a molecular probe. A DNA probe, a complementary strand of G4 aptamer, was immobilized onto the sensor surface. When the mixture of Pb(2+) solution and G4 aptamer was introduced into the optofluidic cell, Pb(2+) and the DNA probe bound competitively with the G4 aptamer. A high Pb(2+) concentration reduced the binding of the aptamer and the DNA probe; thus, a low-fluorescence signal was detected. A sensitive sensing response to Pb(2+) in the range of 1.0-300.0 nM with a low detection limit of 0.22 nM was exhibited under optimal conditions. The potential interference of the environmental sample matrix was assessed with spiked samples, and the recovery of Pb(2+) ranged from 80 to 105% with a relative standard deviation value of monitoring of other trace analytes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optofluidic Applications of Diblock Copolymer Derived Nanoporous Polymers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gopalakrishnan, Nimi

To confine light in a liquid and thereby form a liquid core waveguide, the surrounding cladding materials must have a lower refractive index than the liquid core. In the context of biosensing, it is a challenge to obtain the right cladding material, as most of the relevant liquids are aqueous and...... waveguiding particle filters can be a promising platform for optofluidic and biosensing applications....

Property-driven functional verification technique for high-speed vision system-on-chip processor

Science.gov (United States)

Nshunguyimfura, Victor; Yang, Jie; Liu, Liyuan; Wu, Nanjian

2017-04-01

The implementation of functional verification in a fast, reliable, and effective manner is a challenging task in a vision chip verification process. The main reason for this challenge is the stepwise nature of existing functional verification techniques. This vision chip verification complexity is also related to the fact that in most vision chip design cycles, extensive efforts are focused on how to optimize chip metrics such as performance, power, and area. Design functional verification is not explicitly considered at an earlier stage at which the most sound decisions are made. In this paper, we propose a semi-automatic property-driven verification technique. The implementation of all verification components is based on design properties. We introduce a low-dimension property space between the specification space and the implementation space. The aim of this technique is to speed up the verification process for high-performance parallel processing vision chips. Our experimentation results show that the proposed technique can effectively improve the verification effort up to 20% for the complex vision chip design while reducing the simulation and debugging overheads.

A pocket device for high-throughput optofluidic holographic microscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Mandracchia, B.; Bianco, V.; Wang, Z.; Paturzo, M.; Bramanti, A.; Pioggia, G.; Ferraro, P.

2017-06-01

Here we introduce a compact holographic microscope embedded onboard a Lab-on-a-Chip (LoC) platform. A wavefront division interferometer is realized by writing a polymer grating onto the channel to extract a reference wave from the object wave impinging the LoC. A portion of the beam reaches the samples flowing along the channel path, carrying their information content to the recording device, while one of the diffraction orders from the grating acts as an off-axis reference wave. Polymeric micro-lenses are delivered forward the chip by Pyro-ElectroHydroDynamic (Pyro-EHD) inkjet printing techniques. Thus, all the required optical components are embedded onboard a pocket device, and fast, non-iterative, reconstruction algorithms can be used. We use our device in combination with a novel high-throughput technique, named Space-Time Digital Holography (STDH). STDH exploits the samples motion inside microfluidic channels to obtain a synthetic hologram, mapped in a hybrid space-time domain, and with intrinsic useful features. Indeed, a single Linear Sensor Array (LSA) is sufficient to build up a synthetic representation of the entire experiment (i.e. the STDH) with unlimited Field of View (FoV) along the scanning direction, independently from the magnification factor. The throughput of the imaging system is dramatically increased as STDH provides unlimited FoV, refocusable imaging of samples inside the liquid volume with no need for hologram stitching. To test our embedded STDH microscopy module, we counted, imaged and tracked in 3D with high-throughput red blood cells moving inside the channel volume under non ideal flow conditions.

GOSSIPO-4: an array of high resolution TDCs with a PLL control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zappon, F; Beuzekom, M van; Gromov, V; Kluit, R; Fang, X; Kruth, A

2012-01-01

GOSSIPO-4 is a prototype chip featuring an array of high resolution Time to Digital Converters with a PLL control that has been taped out the 9th of August 2011. This prototype is the successor of GOSSIPO-3 test chip and the precursor of the 65k pixel chip TimePix3. The prototype is being developed to test a set of new features that will be used in TimePix3, including a 8 pixel structure sharing one fast oscillator with a new topology, a PLL to provide the control voltage to the oscillators, a custom fast counter and a new small-area cell library.

Photonic network-on-chip design

CERN Document Server

Bergman, Keren; Biberman, Aleksandr; Chan, Johnnie; Hendry, Gilbert

2013-01-01

This book provides a comprehensive synthesis of the theory and practice of photonic devices for networks-on-chip. It outlines the issues in designing photonic network-on-chip architectures for future many-core high performance chip multiprocessors. The discussion is built from the bottom up: starting with the design and implementation of key photonic devices and building blocks, reviewing networking and network-on-chip theory and existing research, and finishing with describing various architectures, their characteristics, and the impact they will have on a computing system. After acquainting

Low-Power Amplifier-Discriminators for High Time Resolution Detection

CERN Document Server

Despeisse, M; Anghinolfi, F; Tiuraniemi, S; Osmic, F; Riedler, P; Kluge, A; Ceccucci, A

2009-01-01

Low-power amplifier-discriminators based on a so-called NINO architecture have been developed with high time resolution for the readout of radiation detectors. Two different circuits were integrated in the NINO13 chip, processed in IBM 130 nm CMOS technology. The LCO version (Low Capacitance and consumption Optimization) was designed for potential use as front-end electronics in the Gigatracker of the NA62 experiment at CERN. It was developed as pixel readout for solid-state pixel detectors to permit minimum ionizing particle detection with less than 180 ps rms resolution per pixel on the output pulse, for power consumption below 300 mu W per pixel. The HCO version (High Capacitance Optimization) was designed with 4 mW power consumption per channel to provide timing resolution below 20 ps rms on the output pulse, for charges above 10 fC. Results presented show the potential of the LCO and HCO circuits for the precise timing readout of solid-state detectors, vacuum tubes or gas detectors, for applications in h...

Rapid fabrication of microfluidic chips based on the simplest LED lithography

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yue; Wu, Ping; Luo, Zhaofeng; Ren, Yuxuan; Liao, Meixiang; Feng, Lili; Li, Yuting; He, Liqun

2015-05-01

Microfluidic chips are generally fabricated by a soft lithography method employing commercial lithography equipment. These heavy machines require a critical room environment and high lamp power, and the cost remains too high for most normal laboratories. Here we present a novel microfluidics fabrication method utilizing a portable ultraviolet (UV) LED as an alternative UV source for photolithography. With this approach, we can repeat several common microchannels as do these conventional commercial exposure machines, and both the verticality of the channel sidewall and lithography resolution are proved to be acceptable. Further microfluidics applications such as mixing, blood typing and microdroplet generation are implemented to validate the practicability of the chips. This simple but innovative method decreases the cost and requirement of chip fabrication dramatically and may be more popular with ordinary laboratories.

Rapid fabrication of microfluidic chips based on the simplest LED lithography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, Yue; Wu, Ping; Liao, Meixiang; Feng, Lili; Li, Yuting; He, Liqun; Luo, Zhaofeng; Ren, Yuxuan

2015-01-01

Microfluidic chips are generally fabricated by a soft lithography method employing commercial lithography equipment. These heavy machines require a critical room environment and high lamp power, and the cost remains too high for most normal laboratories. Here we present a novel microfluidics fabrication method utilizing a portable ultraviolet (UV) LED as an alternative UV source for photolithography. With this approach, we can repeat several common microchannels as do these conventional commercial exposure machines, and both the verticality of the channel sidewall and lithography resolution are proved to be acceptable. Further microfluidics applications such as mixing, blood typing and microdroplet generation are implemented to validate the practicability of the chips. This simple but innovative method decreases the cost and requirement of chip fabrication dramatically and may be more popular with ordinary laboratories. (paper)

Second-Generation Design of Micro-Spec: A Medium-Resolution, Submillimeter-Wavelength Spectrometer-on-a-Chip

Science.gov (United States)

Cataldo, G.; Barrentine, E. M.; Bulcha, B. T.; Ehsan, N.; Hess, L. A.; Noroozian, O.; Stevenson, T. R.; U-Yen, K.; Wollack, E. J.; Moseley, S. H.

2018-04-01

Micro-Spec (µ-Spec) is a direct-detection spectrometer which integrates all the components of a diffraction-grating spectrometer onto a ˜ 10-cm^2 chip through the use of superconducting microstrip transmission lines on a single-crystal silicon substrate. A second-generation µ-Spec is being designed to operate with a spectral resolution of 512 in the submillimeter (500-1000 µm, 300-600 GHz) wavelength range, a band of interest for several spectroscopic applications in astrophysics. High-altitude balloon missions would provide the first test bed to demonstrate the µ-Spec technology in a space-like environment and would be an economically viable venue for multiple observation campaigns. This work reports on the current status of the instrument design and will provide a brief overview of each instrument subsystem. Particular emphasis will be given to the design of the spectrometer's two-dimensional diffractive region, through which the light of different wavelengths is focused on the detectors along the focal plane. An optimization process is employed to generate geometrical configurations of the diffractive region that satisfy specific requirements on spectrometer size, operating spectral range, and performance. An optical design optimized for balloon missions will be presented in terms of geometric layout, spectral purity, and efficiency.

EROIC: a BiCMOS pseudo-gaussian shaping amplifier for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Buzzetti, Siro; Guazzoni, Chiara; Longoni, Antonio

2003-10-01

We present the design and complete characterization of a fifth-order pseudo-gaussian shaping amplifier with 1 μs shaping time. The circuit is optimized for the read-out of signals coming from Silicon Drift Detectors for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy. The novelty of the designed chip stands in the use of a current feedback loop to place the poles in the desired position on the s-plane. The amplifier has been designed in 0.8 μm BiCMOS technology and fully tested. The EROIC chip comprises also the peak stretcher, the peak detector, the output buffer to drive the external ADC and the pile-up rejection system. The circuit needs a single +5 V power supply and the dissipated power is 5 mW per channel. The digital outputs can be directly coupled to standard digital CMOS ICs. The measured integral-non-linearity of the whole chip is below 0.05% and the achieved energy resolution at the Mn Kα line detected by a 5 mm 2 Peltier-cooled Silicon Drift Detector is 167 eV FWHM.

EROIC: a BiCMOS pseudo-gaussian shaping amplifier for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buzzetti, Siro; Guazzoni, Chiara; Longoni, Antonio

2003-01-01

We present the design and complete characterization of a fifth-order pseudo-gaussian shaping amplifier with 1 μs shaping time. The circuit is optimized for the read-out of signals coming from Silicon Drift Detectors for high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy. The novelty of the designed chip stands in the use of a current feedback loop to place the poles in the desired position on the s-plane. The amplifier has been designed in 0.8 μm BiCMOS technology and fully tested. The EROIC chip comprises also the peak stretcher, the peak detector, the output buffer to drive the external ADC and the pile-up rejection system. The circuit needs a single +5 V power supply and the dissipated power is 5 mW per channel. The digital outputs can be directly coupled to standard digital CMOS ICs. The measured integral-non-linearity of the whole chip is below 0.05% and the achieved energy resolution at the Mn Kα line detected by a 5 mm 2 Peltier-cooled Silicon Drift Detector is 167 eV FWHM

Optimization of a PCRAM Chip for high-speed read and highly reliable reset operations

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiaoyun; Chen, Houpeng; Li, Xi; Wang, Qian; Fan, Xi; Hu, Jiajun; Lei, Yu; Zhang, Qi; Tian, Zhen; Song, Zhitang

2016-10-01

The widely used traditional Flash memory suffers from its performance limits such as its serious crosstalk problems, and increasing complexity of floating gate scaling. Phase change random access memory (PCRAM) becomes one of the most potential nonvolatile memories among the new memory techniques. In this paper, a 1M-bit PCRAM chip is designed based on the SMIC 40nm CMOS technology. Focusing on the read and write performance, two new circuits with high-speed read operation and highly reliable reset operation are proposed. The high-speed read circuit effectively reduces the reading time from 74ns to 40ns. The double-mode reset circuit improves the chip yield. This 1M-bit PCRAM chip has been simulated on cadence. After layout design is completed, the chip will be taped out for post-test.

On-chip high-voltage generator design design methodology for charge pumps

CERN Document Server

Tanzawa, Toru

2016-01-01

This book provides various design techniques for switched-capacitor on-chip high-voltage generators, including charge pump circuits, regulators, level shifters, references, and oscillators.  Readers will see these techniques applied to system design in order to address the challenge of how the on-chip high-voltage generator is designed for Flash memories, LCD drivers, and other semiconductor devices to optimize the entire circuit area and power efficiency with a low voltage supply, while minimizing the cost.  This new edition includes a variety of useful updates, including coverage of power efficiency and comprehensive optimization methodologies for DC-DC voltage multipliers, modeling of extremely low voltage Dickson charge pumps, and modeling and optimum design of AC-DC switched-capacitor multipliers for energy harvesting and power transfer for RFID.

A novel conductive-polymer-based integration process for high-performance flip-chip packages

Science.gov (United States)

Lohokare, Saurabh

Conductive polymers have recently attracted considerable attention for low-temperature fabrication of lead-free, reworkable, and flexible flip-chip interconnects. Using these materials, I demonstrate in this thesis a process that enables low-cost and high-resolution flip-chip interconnects using conventional micro-fabrication techniques. This fabrication process offers improved performance as compared to conventional flip-chip techniques, such as screen-printing, and allows for definition of interconnects with excellent surface uniformity and control over the bump profile. In order to demonstrate the utility and wide applicability of this process, several test implementations that serve as case studies were investigated. Specifically, novel InGaAsSb avalanche photodiodes (APDs), operating around lambda = 2m and targeted for free-space communication and biomedical spectroscopy applications, were fabricated and flip-chip-integrated to test the static electrical characteristics of the polymer bumps. Additionally, the dynamic electrical performance characteristics of the polymer bumps were studied by using AlGaAsSb/AlGaSb p-i-n photodetectors as a case study. The fabrication of these photodetectors, operating around lambda = 1.55mum and targeted for optical communication applications, was accomplished using a customized inductively coupled plasma (ICP) etch process that resulted in a low dark current and excellent speed (3dB bandwidth of 10GHz) and, responsivity (60% external quantum efficiency) characteristics. Furthermore, flip-chip integration was used to demonstrate a three-dimensional, point-to-point micro-optical interconnect, which was 2.33mm-long in a system 15.27mm3 in volume. Lastly, high-speed parallel optical interconnects were demonstrated using polymer-flip-chip-integrated 10GHz vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) and DOEs. Such interconnects offer the ability to alleviate the communication bottleneck that is projected to occur in future, high

Design considerations of a hollow microneedle-optofluidic biosensing platform incorporating enzyme-linked assays

Science.gov (United States)

Ranamukhaarachchi, Sahan A.; Padeste, Celestino; Häfeli, Urs O.; Stoeber, Boris; Cadarso, Victor J.

2018-02-01

A hollow metallic microneedle is integrated with microfluidics and photonic components to form a microneedle-optofluidic biosensor suitable for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in biological fluids, like interstitial fluid, that can be collected in a painless and minimally-invasive manner. The microneedle inner lumen surface is bio-functionalized to trap and bind target analytes on-site in a sample volume as small as 0.6 nl, and houses an enzyme-linked assay on its 0.06 mm2 wall. The optofluidic components are designed to rapidly quantify target analytes present in the sample and collected in the microneedle using a simple and sensitive absorbance scheme. This contribution describes how the biosensor components were optimized to detect in vitro streptavidin-horseradish peroxidase (Sav-HRP) as a model analyte over a large detection range (0-7.21 µM) and a very low limit of detection (60.2 nM). This biosensor utilizes the lowest analyte volume reported for TDM with microneedle technology, and presents significant avenues to improve current TDM methods for patients, by potentially eliminating blood draws for several drug candidates.

High speed video recording system on a chip for detonation jet engine testing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samsonov Alexander N.

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This article describes system on a chip development for high speed video recording purposes. Current research was started due to difficulties in selection of FPGAs and CPUs which include wide bandwidth, high speed and high number of multipliers for real time signal analysis implementation. Current trend of high density silicon device integration will result soon in a hybrid sensor-controller-memory circuit packed in a single chip. This research was the first step in a series of experiments in manufacturing of hybrid devices. The current task is high level syntheses of high speed logic and CPU core in an FPGA. The work resulted in FPGA-based prototype implementation and examination.

Ultra-high resolution AMOLED

Science.gov (United States)

Wacyk, Ihor; Prache, Olivier; Ghosh, Amal

2011-06-01

AMOLED microdisplays continue to show improvement in resolution and optical performance, enhancing their appeal for a broad range of near-eye applications such as night vision, simulation and training, situational awareness, augmented reality, medical imaging, and mobile video entertainment and gaming. eMagin's latest development of an HDTV+ resolution technology integrates an OLED pixel of 3.2 × 9.6 microns in size on a 0.18 micron CMOS backplane to deliver significant new functionality as well as the capability to implement a 1920×1200 microdisplay in a 0.86" diagonal area. In addition to the conventional matrix addressing circuitry, the HDTV+ display includes a very lowpower, low-voltage-differential-signaling (LVDS) serialized interface to minimize cable and connector size as well as electromagnetic emissions (EMI), an on-chip set of look-up-tables for digital gamma correction, and a novel pulsewidth- modulation (PWM) scheme that together with the standard analog control provides a total dimming range of 0.05cd/m2 to 2000cd/m2 in the monochrome version. The PWM function also enables an impulse drive mode of operation that significantly reduces motion artifacts in high speed scene changes. An internal 10-bit DAC ensures that a full 256 gamma-corrected gray levels are available across the entire dimming range, resulting in a measured dynamic range exceeding 20-bits. This device has been successfully tested for operation at frame rates ranging from 30Hz up to 85Hz. This paper describes the operational features and detailed optical and electrical test results for the new AMOLED WUXGA resolution microdisplay.

Sparsity-Based Super Resolution for SEM Images.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsiper, Shahar; Dicker, Or; Kaizerman, Idan; Zohar, Zeev; Segev, Mordechai; Eldar, Yonina C

2017-09-13

The scanning electron microscope (SEM) is an electron microscope that produces an image of a sample by scanning it with a focused beam of electrons. The electrons interact with the atoms in the sample, which emit secondary electrons that contain information about the surface topography and composition. The sample is scanned by the electron beam point by point, until an image of the surface is formed. Since its invention in 1942, the capabilities of SEMs have become paramount in the discovery and understanding of the nanometer world, and today it is extensively used for both research and in industry. In principle, SEMs can achieve resolution better than one nanometer. However, for many applications, working at subnanometer resolution implies an exceedingly large number of scanning points. For exactly this reason, the SEM diagnostics of microelectronic chips is performed either at high resolution (HR) over a small area or at low resolution (LR) while capturing a larger portion of the chip. Here, we employ sparse coding and dictionary learning to algorithmically enhance low-resolution SEM images of microelectronic chips-up to the level of the HR images acquired by slow SEM scans, while considerably reducing the noise. Our methodology consists of two steps: an offline stage of learning a joint dictionary from a sequence of LR and HR images of the same region in the chip, followed by a fast-online super-resolution step where the resolution of a new LR image is enhanced. We provide several examples with typical chips used in the microelectronics industry, as well as a statistical study on arbitrary images with characteristic structural features. Conceptually, our method works well when the images have similar characteristics, as microelectronics chips do. This work demonstrates that employing sparsity concepts can greatly improve the performance of SEM, thereby considerably increasing the scanning throughput without compromising on analysis quality and resolution.

Variation Tolerant On-Chip Interconnects

CERN Document Server

Nigussie, Ethiopia Enideg

2012-01-01

This book presents design techniques, analysis and implementation of high performance and power efficient, variation tolerant on-chip interconnects.  Given the design paradigm shift to multi-core, interconnect-centric designs and the increase in sources of variability and their impact in sub-100nm technologies, this book will be an invaluable reference for anyone concerned with the design of next generation, high-performance electronics systems. Provides comprehensive, circuit-level explanation of high-performance, energy-efficient, variation-tolerant on-chip interconnect; Describes design techniques to mitigate problems caused by variation; Includes techniques for design and implementation of self-timed on-chip interconnect, delay variation insensitive communication protocols, high speed signaling techniques and circuits, bit-width independent completion detection and process, voltage and temperature variation tolerance.                          

FERMI: a digital Front End and Readout MIcrosystem for high resolution calorimetry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alexanian, H.; Appelquist, G.; Bailly, P.

1995-01-01

We present a digital solution for the front-end electronics of high resolution calorimeters at future colliders. It is based on analogue signal compression, high speed A/D converters, a fully programmable pipeline and a digital signal processing (DSP) chain with local intelligence and system supervision. This digital solution is aimed at providing maximal front-end processing power by performing waveform analysis using DSP methods. For the system integration of the multichannel device a multi-chip, silicon-on-silicon multi-chip module (MCM) has been adopted. This solution allows a high level of integration of complex analogue and digital functions, with excellent flexibility in mixing technologies for the different functional blocks. This type of multichip integration provides a high degree of reliability and programmability at both the function and the system level, with the additional possibility of customising the microsystem to detector-specific requirements. For enhanced reliability in high radiation environments, fault tolerance strategies, i.e. redundancy, reconfigurability, majority voting and coding for error detection and correction, are integrated into the design. ((orig.))

Design of an on-chip reflectance map

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Terwisscha van Scheltinga, Jeroen; Smit, Jaap; Bosma, Marco

1995-01-01

A reflectance map design is described which uses a minimal amount of memory for the table, in order to be applicable as an on-chip shader. The shader is designed for use with the volumetric super resolution hardware, which performs shading at supersampled locations. However, the design may be used

Optical lattice on an atom chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gallego, D.; Hofferberth, S.; Schumm, Thorsten

2009-01-01

Optical dipole traps and atom chips are two very powerful tools for the quantum manipulation of neutral atoms. We demonstrate that both methods can be combined by creating an optical lattice potential on an atom chip. A red-detuned laser beam is retroreflected using the atom chip surface as a high......-quality mirror, generating a vertical array of purely optical oblate traps. We transfer thermal atoms from the chip into the lattice and observe cooling into the two-dimensional regime. Using a chip-generated Bose-Einstein condensate, we demonstrate coherent Bloch oscillations in the lattice....

Interfacing Lab-on-a-Chip Embryo Technology with High-Definition Imaging Cytometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Feng; Hall, Christopher J; Crosier, Philip S; Wlodkowic, Donald

2015-08-01

To spearhead deployment of zebrafish embryo biotests in large-scale drug discovery studies, automated platforms are needed to integrate embryo in-test positioning and immobilization (suitable for high-content imaging) with fluidic modules for continuous drug and medium delivery under microperfusion to developing embryos. In this work, we present an innovative design of a high-throughput three-dimensional (3D) microfluidic chip-based device for automated immobilization and culture and time-lapse imaging of developing zebrafish embryos under continuous microperfusion. The 3D Lab-on-a-Chip array was fabricated in poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) transparent thermoplastic using infrared laser micromachining, while the off-chip interfaces were fabricated using additive manufacturing processes (fused deposition modelling and stereolithography). The system's design facilitated rapid loading and immobilization of a large number of embryos in predefined clusters of traps during continuous microperfusion of drugs/toxins. It was conceptually designed to seamlessly interface with both upright and inverted fluorescent imaging systems and also to directly interface with conventional microtiter plate readers that accept 96-well plates. Compared with the conventional Petri dish assays, the chip-based bioassay was much more convenient and efficient as only small amounts of drug solutions were required for the whole perfusion system running continuously over 72 h. Embryos were spatially separated in the traps that assisted tracing single embryos, preventing interembryo contamination and improving imaging accessibility.

Evaluation of 3D printed optofluidic smart glass prototypes.

Science.gov (United States)

Wolfe, Daniel; Goossen, K W

2018-01-22

Smart glass or smart windows are an innovative technology used for thermal management, energy efficiency, and privacy applications. Notable commercially available smart glass relies on an electric stimuli to modulate the glass from a transparent to a translucent mode of operation. However, the current market technologies, such as electrochromic, polymer dispersed liquid crystal, and suspended particle devices are expensive and suffer from solar absorption, poor transmittance modulation, and in some cases, continuous power consumption. The authors of this paper present a novel optofluidic smart glass prototype capable of modulating visible light transmittance from 8% to 85%.

Bayesian Modeling of ChIP-chip Data Through a High-Order Ising Model

KAUST Repository

Mo, Qianxing

2010-01-29

ChIP-chip experiments are procedures that combine chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and DNA microarray (chip) technology to study a variety of biological problems, including protein-DNA interaction, histone modification, and DNA methylation. The most important feature of ChIP-chip data is that the intensity measurements of probes are spatially correlated because the DNA fragments are hybridized to neighboring probes in the experiments. We propose a simple, but powerful Bayesian hierarchical approach to ChIP-chip data through an Ising model with high-order interactions. The proposed method naturally takes into account the intrinsic spatial structure of the data and can be used to analyze data from multiple platforms with different genomic resolutions. The model parameters are estimated using the Gibbs sampler. The proposed method is illustrated using two publicly available data sets from Affymetrix and Agilent platforms, and compared with three alternative Bayesian methods, namely, Bayesian hierarchical model, hierarchical gamma mixture model, and Tilemap hidden Markov model. The numerical results indicate that the proposed method performs as well as the other three methods for the data from Affymetrix tiling arrays, but significantly outperforms the other three methods for the data from Agilent promoter arrays. In addition, we find that the proposed method has better operating characteristics in terms of sensitivities and false discovery rates under various scenarios. © 2010, The International Biometric Society.

On-chip nanofluidic integration of acoustic sensors towards high Q in liquid

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Ji; Liu, Zifeng; Zhang, Hongxiang; Liu, Bohua; Zhang, Menglun; Zhang, Hao; Pang, Wei

2017-11-01

This paper reports an on-chip acoustic sensor comprising a piston-mode film bulk acoustic resonator and a monolithically integrated nanochannel. The resonator with the channel exhibits a resonance frequency (f) of 2.5 GHz and a quality (Q) factor of 436 in deionized water. The f × Q product is as high as 1.1 × 1012, which is the highest among all the acoustic wave sensors in the liquid phase. The sensor consumes 2 pl liquid volume and thus greatly saves the precious assays in biomedical testing. The Q factor is investigated, and real-time viscosity tests of glucose solution are demonstrated. The highly miniaturized and integrated sensor is capable to be arrayed with readout-circuitry, which opens an avenue for portable applications and lab-on-chip systems.

A high-resolution mini-microscope system for wireless real-time monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zongjie; Boddeda, Akash; Parker, Benjamin; Samanipour, Roya; Ghosh, Sanjoy; Menard, Frederic; Kim, Keekyoung

2017-09-04

Compact, cost-effective and high-performance microscope that enables the real-time imaging of cells and lab-on-a-chip devices is highly demanded for cell biology and biomedical engineering. This paper aims to present the design and application of an inexpensive wireless mini-microscope with resolution up to 2592 × 1944 pixels and speed up to 90 fps. The mini-microscope system was built on a commercial embedded system (Raspberry Pi). We modified a camera module and adopted an inverse dual lens system to obtain the clear field of view and appropriate magnification for tens of micrometer objects. The system was capable of capturing time-lapse images and transferring image data wirelessly. The entire system can be operated wirelessly and cordlessly in a conventional cell culturing incubator. The developed mini-microscope was used to monitor the attachment and proliferation of NIH-3T3 and HEK 293 cells inside an incubator for 50 hours. In addition, the mini-microscope was used to monitor a droplet generation process in a microfluidic device. The high-quality images captured by the mini-microscope enabled us an automated analysis of experimental parameters. The successful applications prove the great potential of the developed mini-microscope for monitoring various biological samples and microfluidic devices. This paper presents the design of a high resolution mini-microscope system that enables the wireless real-time imaging of cells inside the incubator. This system has been verified to be a useful tool to obtain high-quality images and videos for the automated quantitative analysis of biological samples and lab-on-a-chip devices in the long term.

On-chip power delivery and management

CERN Document Server

Vaisband, Inna P; Popovich, Mikhail; Mezhiba, Andrey V; Köse, Selçuk; Friedman, Eby G

2016-01-01

This book describes methods for distributing power in high speed, high complexity integrated circuits with power levels exceeding many tens of watts and power supplies below a volt. It provides a broad and cohesive treatment of power delivery and management systems and related design problems, including both circuit network models and design techniques for on-chip decoupling capacitors, providing insight and intuition into the behavior and design of on-chip power distribution systems. Organized into subareas to provide a more intuitive flow to the reader, this fourth edition adds more than a hundred pages of new content, including inductance models for interdigitated structures, design strategies for multi-layer power grids, advanced methods for efficient power grid design and analysis, and methodologies for simultaneously placing on-chip multiple power supplies and decoupling capacitors. The emphasis of this additional material is on managing the complexity of on-chip power distribution networks.

Experimental investigation on the high chip rate of 2D incoherent optical CDMA system

Science.gov (United States)

Su, Guorui; Wang, Rong; Pu, Tao; Fang, Tao; Zheng, Jilin; Zhu, Huatao; Wu, Weijiang

2015-08-01

An innovative approach to realise high chip rate in OCDMA transmission system is proposed and experimentally investigation, the high chip rate is achieved through a 2-D wavelength-hopping time-spreading en/decoder based on the supercontinuum light source. The source used in the experiment is generated by high nonlinear optical fiber (HNLF), Erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) which output power is 26 dBm, and distributed feed-back laser diode which works in the gain switch state. The span and the flatness of the light source are 20 nm and 3 dB, respectively, after equalization of wavelength selective switch (WSS). The wavelength-hopping time-spreading coder can be changed 20 nm in the wavelength and 400 ps in the time, is consist of WSS and delay lines. Therefore, the experimental results show that the chip rate can achieve 500 Gchip/s, in the case of 2.5 Gbit/s, while keeping a bit error rate below forward error correction limit after 40 km transmission.

Silicon drift detectors with on-chip electronics for x-ray spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Fiorini, C; Longoni, A; Hartmann, R; Lechner, P; Strüder, L

1997-01-01

The silicon drift detector (SDD) is a semiconductor device based on high resistivity silicon fully depleted through junctions implanted on both sides of the semiconductor wafer. The electrons generated by the ionizing radiation are driven by means of a suitable electric field from the point of interaction toward a collecting anode of small capacitance, independent of the active area of the detector. A suitably designed front-end JFET has been directly integrated on the detector chip close to the anode region, in order to obtain a nearly ideal capacitive matching between detector and transistor and to minimize the stray capacitances of the connections. This feature allows it to reach high energy resolution also at high count rates and near room temperature. The present work describes the structure and the performance of SDDs specially designed for high resolution spectroscopy with soft x rays at high detection rate. Experimental results of SDDs used in spectroscopy applications are also reported.

A high-transparency, micro-patternable chip for X-ray diffraction analysis of microcrystals under native growth conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murray, Thomas D. [University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205 (United States); Lyubimov, Artem Y. [Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Ogata, Craig M. [Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL 60439 (United States); Vo, Huy [Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205 (United States); Uervirojnangkoorn, Monarin; Brunger, Axel T., E-mail: brunger@stanford.edu [Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States); Berger, James M., E-mail: brunger@stanford.edu [Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205 (United States); University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

2015-09-26

A highly X-ray-transparent, silicon nitride-based device has been designed and fabricated to harvest protein microcrystals for high-resolution X-ray diffraction data collection using microfocus beamlines and XFELs. Microcrystals present a significant impediment to the determination of macromolecular structures by X-ray diffraction methods. Although microfocus synchrotron beamlines and X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) can enable the collection of interpretable diffraction data from microcrystals, there is a need for efficient methods of harvesting small volumes (<2 µl) of microcrystals grown under common laboratory formats and delivering them to an X-ray beam source under native growth conditions. One approach that shows promise in overcoming the challenges intrinsic to microcrystal analysis is to pair so-called ‘fixed-target’ sample-delivery devices with microbeam-based X-ray diffraction methods. However, to record weak diffraction patterns it is necessary to fabricate devices from X-ray-transparent materials that minimize background scattering. Presented here is the design of a new micro-diffraction device consisting of three layers fabricated from silicon nitride, photoresist and polyimide film. The chip features low X-ray scattering and X-ray absorption properties, and uses a customizable blend of hydrophobic and hydrophilic surface patterns to help localize microcrystals to defined regions. Microcrystals in their native growth conditions can be loaded into the chips with a standard pipette, allowing data collection at room temperature. Diffraction data collected from hen egg-white lysozyme microcrystals (10–15 µm) loaded into the chips yielded a complete, high-resolution (<1.6 Å) data set sufficient to determine a high-quality structure by molecular replacement. The features of the chip allow the rapid and user-friendly analysis of microcrystals grown under virtually any laboratory format at microfocus synchrotron beamlines and XFELs.

A high-transparency, micro-patternable chip for X-ray diffraction analysis of microcrystals under native growth conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murray, Thomas D.; Lyubimov, Artem Y.; Ogata, Craig M.; Vo, Huy; Uervirojnangkoorn, Monarin; Brunger, Axel T.; Berger, James M.

2015-01-01

A highly X-ray-transparent, silicon nitride-based device has been designed and fabricated to harvest protein microcrystals for high-resolution X-ray diffraction data collection using microfocus beamlines and XFELs. Microcrystals present a significant impediment to the determination of macromolecular structures by X-ray diffraction methods. Although microfocus synchrotron beamlines and X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) can enable the collection of interpretable diffraction data from microcrystals, there is a need for efficient methods of harvesting small volumes (<2 µl) of microcrystals grown under common laboratory formats and delivering them to an X-ray beam source under native growth conditions. One approach that shows promise in overcoming the challenges intrinsic to microcrystal analysis is to pair so-called ‘fixed-target’ sample-delivery devices with microbeam-based X-ray diffraction methods. However, to record weak diffraction patterns it is necessary to fabricate devices from X-ray-transparent materials that minimize background scattering. Presented here is the design of a new micro-diffraction device consisting of three layers fabricated from silicon nitride, photoresist and polyimide film. The chip features low X-ray scattering and X-ray absorption properties, and uses a customizable blend of hydrophobic and hydrophilic surface patterns to help localize microcrystals to defined regions. Microcrystals in their native growth conditions can be loaded into the chips with a standard pipette, allowing data collection at room temperature. Diffraction data collected from hen egg-white lysozyme microcrystals (10–15 µm) loaded into the chips yielded a complete, high-resolution (<1.6 Å) data set sufficient to determine a high-quality structure by molecular replacement. The features of the chip allow the rapid and user-friendly analysis of microcrystals grown under virtually any laboratory format at microfocus synchrotron beamlines and XFELs

Cheetah: A high frame rate, high resolution SWIR image camera

Science.gov (United States)

Neys, Joel; Bentell, Jonas; O'Grady, Matt; Vermeiren, Jan; Colin, Thierry; Hooylaerts, Peter; Grietens, Bob

2008-10-01

A high resolution, high frame rate InGaAs based image sensor and associated camera has been developed. The sensor and the camera are capable of recording and delivering more than 1700 full 640x512pixel frames per second. The FPA utilizes a low lag CTIA current integrator in each pixel, enabling integration times shorter than one microsecond. On-chip logics allows for four different sub windows to be read out simultaneously at even higher rates. The spectral sensitivity of the FPA is situated in the SWIR range [0.9-1.7 μm] and can be further extended into the Visible and NIR range. The Cheetah camera has max 16 GB of on-board memory to store the acquired images and transfer the data over a Gigabit Ethernet connection to the PC. The camera is also equipped with a full CameralinkTM interface to directly stream the data to a frame grabber or dedicated image processing unit. The Cheetah camera is completely under software control.

On-chip antenna: Practical design and characterization considerations

KAUST Repository

Shamim, Atif; Salama, Khaled N.; Sedky, S.; Soliman, E. A.

2012-01-01

This paper highlights the challenges of an emergent field, namely, on-chip antenna design. Consistent with the RF System-on-Chip (SoC) concept, co-design strategy for circuits and on-chip antennas is described. A number of design and layout issues, arising from the highly integrated nature of this kind of systems, are discussed. The characterization difficulties related to on-chip antennas radiation properties are also highlighted. Finally, a novel on-wafer test fixture is proposed to measure the gain and radiation pattern of the on-chip antennas in the anechoic chamber.

On-chip antenna: Practical design and characterization considerations

KAUST Repository

Shamim, Atif

2012-07-28

This paper highlights the challenges of an emergent field, namely, on-chip antenna design. Consistent with the RF System-on-Chip (SoC) concept, co-design strategy for circuits and on-chip antennas is described. A number of design and layout issues, arising from the highly integrated nature of this kind of systems, are discussed. The characterization difficulties related to on-chip antennas radiation properties are also highlighted. Finally, a novel on-wafer test fixture is proposed to measure the gain and radiation pattern of the on-chip antennas in the anechoic chamber.

ASIC-enabled High Resolution Optical Time Domain Reflectometer

Science.gov (United States)

Skendzic, Sandra

Fiber optics has become the preferred technology in communication systems because of what it has to offer: high data transmission rates, immunity to electromagnetic interference, and lightweight, flexible cables. An optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) provides a convenient method of locating and diagnosing faults (e.g. break in a fiber) along a fiber that can obstruct crucial optical pathways. Both the ability to resolve the precise location of the fault and distinguish between two discrete, closely spaced faults are figures of merit. This thesis presents an implementation of a high resolution OTDR through the use of a compact and programmable ASIC (application specific integrated circuit). The integration of many essential OTDR functions on a single chip is advantageous over existing commercial instruments because it enables small, lightweight packaging, and offers low power and cost efficiency. Furthermore, its compactness presents the option of placing multiple ASICs in parallel, which can conceivably ease the characterization of densely populated fiber optic networks. The OTDR ASIC consists of a tunable clock, pattern generator, precise timer, electrical receiver, and signal sampling circuit. During OTDR operation, the chip generates narrow electrical pulse, which can then be converted to optical format when coupled with an external laser diode driver. The ASIC also works with an external photodetector to measure the timing and amplitude of optical reflections in a fiber. It has a 1 cm sampling resolution, which allows for a 2 cm spatial resolution. While this OTDR ASIC has been previously demonstrated for multimode fiber fault diagnostics, this thesis focuses on extending its functionality to single mode fiber. To validate this novel approach to OTDR, this thesis is divided into five chapters: (1) introduction, (2) implementation, (3), performance of ASIC-based OTDR, (4) exploration in optical pre-amplification with a semiconductor optical amplifier, and

Influences of Cutting Speed and Material Mechanical Properties on Chip Deformation and Fracture during High-Speed Cutting of Inconel 718

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bing Wang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The paper aims to investigate the influences of material constitutive and fracture parameters in addition to cutting speed on chip formation during high-speed cutting of Inconel 718. Finite element analyses for chip formation are conducted with Johnson–Cook constitutive and fracture models. Meanwhile, experiments of high-speed orthogonal cutting are performed to verify the simulation results with cutting speeds ranging from 50 m/min to 7000 m/min. The research indicates that the chip morphology transforms from serrated to fragmented at the cutting speed of 7000 m/min due to embrittlement of the workpiece material under ultra-high cutting speeds. The parameter of shear localization sensitivity is put forward to describe the influences of material mechanical properties on serrated chip formation. The results demonstrate that the effects of initial yield stress and thermal softening coefficient on chip shear localization are much more remarkable than the other constitutive parameters. For the material fracture parameters, the effects of initial fracture strain and exponential factor of stress state on chip shear localization are more much prominent. This paper provides guidance for controlling chip formation through the adjustment of material mechanical properties and the selection of appropriate cutting parameters.

Influences of Cutting Speed and Material Mechanical Properties on Chip Deformation and Fracture during High-Speed Cutting of Inconel 718.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Bing; Liu, Zhanqiang; Hou, Xin; Zhao, Jinfu

2018-03-21

The paper aims to investigate the influences of material constitutive and fracture parameters in addition to cutting speed on chip formation during high-speed cutting of Inconel 718. Finite element analyses for chip formation are conducted with Johnson-Cook constitutive and fracture models. Meanwhile, experiments of high-speed orthogonal cutting are performed to verify the simulation results with cutting speeds ranging from 50 m/min to 7000 m/min. The research indicates that the chip morphology transforms from serrated to fragmented at the cutting speed of 7000 m/min due to embrittlement of the workpiece material under ultra-high cutting speeds. The parameter of shear localization sensitivity is put forward to describe the influences of material mechanical properties on serrated chip formation. The results demonstrate that the effects of initial yield stress and thermal softening coefficient on chip shear localization are much more remarkable than the other constitutive parameters. For the material fracture parameters, the effects of initial fracture strain and exponential factor of stress state on chip shear localization are more much prominent. This paper provides guidance for controlling chip formation through the adjustment of material mechanical properties and the selection of appropriate cutting parameters.

Fabrication of Polymerase Chain Reaction Plastic Lab-on-a-Chip Device for Rapid Molecular Diagnoses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kieu The Loan Trinh

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Purpose: We aim to fabricate a thermoplastic poly(methylmethacrylate (PMMA Lab-on-a-Chip device to perform continuous- flow polymerase chain reactions (PCRs for rapid molecular detection of foodborne pathogen bacteria. Methods: A miniaturized plastic device was fabricated by utilizing PMMA substrates mediated by poly(dimethylsiloxane interfacial coating, enabling bonding under mild conditions, and thus avoiding the deformation or collapse of microchannels. Surface characterizations were carried out and bond strength was measured. The feasibility of the Lab-on-a-Chip device for performing on-chip PCR utilizing a lab-made, portable dual heater was evaluated. The results were compared with those obtained using a commercially available thermal cycler. Results: A PMMA Lab-on-a-Chip device was designed and fabricated for conducting PCR using foodborne pathogens as sample targets. A robust bond was established between the PMMA substrates, which is essential for performing miniaturized PCR on plastic. The feasibility of on-chip PCR was evaluated using Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Cronobacter condimenti, two worldwide foodborne pathogens, and the target amplicons were successfully amplified within 25 minutes. Conclusions: In this study, we present a novel design of a low-cost and high-throughput thermoplastic PMMA Lab-on-a-Chip device for conducting microscale PCR, and we enable rapid molecular diagnoses of two important foodborne pathogens in minute resolution using this device. In this regard, the introduced highly portable system design has the potential to enable PCR investigations of many diseases quickly and accurately.

Flow-cytometric identification of vinegars using a multi-parameter analysis optical detection module

Science.gov (United States)

Verschooten, T.; Ottevaere, H.; Vervaeke, M.; Van Erps, J.; Callewaert, M.; De Malsche, W.; Thienpont, H.

2015-09-01

We show a proof-of-concept demonstration of a multi-parameter analysis low-cost optical detection system for the flowcytometric identification of vinegars. This multi-parameter analysis system can simultaneously measure laser induced fluorescence, absorption and scattering excited by two time-multiplexed lasers of different wavelengths. To our knowledge no other polymer optofluidic chip based system offers more simultaneous measurements. The design of the optofluidic channels is aimed at countering the effects that viscous fingering, air bubbles, and emulsion samples can have on the correct operation of such a detection system. Unpredictable variations in viscosity and refractive index of the channel content can be turned into a source of information. The sample is excited by two laser diodes that are driven by custom made low-cost laser drivers. The optofluidic chip is built to be robust and easy to handle and is reproducible using hot embossing. We show a custom optomechanical holder for the optofluidic chip that ensures correct alignment and automatic connection to the external fluidic system. We show an experiment in which 92 samples of vinegar are measured. We are able to identify 9 different kinds of vinegar with an accuracy of 94%. Thus we show an alternative approach to the classic optical spectroscopy solution at a lowered. Furthermore, we have shown the possibility of predicting the viscosity and turbidity of vinegars with a goodness-of-fit R2 over 0.947.

On-Chip Method to Measure Mechanical Characteristics of a Single Cell by Using Moiré Fringe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hirotaka Sugiura

2015-06-01

Full Text Available We propose a method to characterize the mechanical properties of cells using a robot-integrated microfluidic chip (robochip and microscopy. The microfluidic chip is designed to apply the specified deformations to a single detached cell using an on-chip actuator probe. The reaction force is simultaneously measured using an on-chip force sensor composed of a hollow folded beam and probe structure. In order to measure the cellular characteristics in further detail, a sub-pixel level of resolution of probe position is required. Therefore, we utilize the phase detection of moiré fringe. Using this method, the experimental resolution of the probe position reaches 42 nm. This is approximately ten times smaller than the optical wavelength, which is the limit of sharp imaging with a microscope. Calibration of the force sensor is also important in accurately measuring cellular reaction forces. We calibrated the spring constant from the frequency response, by the proposed sensing method of the probe position. As a representative of mechanical characteristics, we measured the elastic modulus of Madin-Darby Cannie Kidney (MDCK cells. In spite of the rigid spring constant, the resolution and sensitivity were twice that achieved in our previous study. Unique cellular characteristics can be elucidated by the improvements in sensing resolution and accuracy.

Section on High Resolution Optical Imaging (HROI)

Data.gov (United States)

Federal Laboratory Consortium — The Section on High Resolution Optical Imaging (HROI) develops novel technologies for studying biological processes at unprecedented speed and resolution. Research...

CMOS Image Sensors: Electronic Camera On A Chip

Science.gov (United States)

Fossum, E. R.

1995-01-01

Recent advancements in CMOS image sensor technology are reviewed, including both passive pixel sensors and active pixel sensors. On- chip analog to digital converters and on-chip timing and control circuits permit realization of an electronic camera-on-a-chip. Highly miniaturized imaging systems based on CMOS image sensor technology are emerging as a competitor to charge-coupled devices for low cost uses.

On-chip Mach-Zehnder interferometer for OCT systems

Science.gov (United States)

van Leeuwen, Ton G.; Akca, Imran B.; Angelou, Nikolaos; Weiss, Nicolas; Hoekman, Marcel; Leinse, Arne; Heideman, Rene G.

2018-04-01

By using integrated optics, it is possible to reduce the size and cost of a bulky optical coherence tomography (OCT) system. One of the OCT components that can be implemented on-chip is the interferometer. In this work, we present the design and characterization of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer consisting of the wavelength-independent splitters and an on-chip reference arm. The Si3N4 was chosen as the material platform as it can provide low losses while keeping the device size small. The device was characterized by using a home-built swept source OCT system. A sensitivity value of 83 dB, an axial resolution of 15.2 μm (in air) and a depth range of 2.5 mm (in air) were all obtained.

Tunability of optofluidic distributed feedback dye lasers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gersborg-Hansen, Morten; Kristensen, Anders

2007-01-01

We investigate the tunability of optofluidic distributed feedback (DFB) dye lasers. The lasers rely on light-confinement in a nano-structured polymer film where an array of nanofluidic channels constitutes a third order Bragg grating DFB laser resonator with a central phase-shift. The lasers...... are operated by filling the DFB laser resonator with a dye solution by capillary action and optical pumping with a frequency doubled Nd: YAG laser. The low reflection order of the DFB laser resonator yields low out-of-plane scattering losses as well as a large free spectral range (FSR), and low threshold...... fluences down to similar to 7 mu J/mm2 are observed. The large FSR facilitates wavelength tuning over the full gain spectrum of the chosen laser dye and we demonstrate 45 nm tunability using a single laser dye by changing the grating period and dye solution refractive index. The lasers are straight...

Deterministic Integration of Quantum Dots into on-Chip Multimode Interference Beamsplitters Using in Situ Electron Beam Lithography.

Science.gov (United States)

Schnauber, Peter; Schall, Johannes; Bounouar, Samir; Höhne, Theresa; Park, Suk-In; Ryu, Geun-Hwan; Heindel, Tobias; Burger, Sven; Song, Jin-Dong; Rodt, Sven; Reitzenstein, Stephan

2018-04-11

The development of multinode quantum optical circuits has attracted great attention in recent years. In particular, interfacing quantum-light sources, gates, and detectors on a single chip is highly desirable for the realization of large networks. In this context, fabrication techniques that enable the deterministic integration of preselected quantum-light emitters into nanophotonic elements play a key role when moving forward to circuits containing multiple emitters. Here, we present the deterministic integration of an InAs quantum dot into a 50/50 multimode interference beamsplitter via in situ electron beam lithography. We demonstrate the combined emitter-gate interface functionality by measuring triggered single-photon emission on-chip with g (2) (0) = 0.13 ± 0.02. Due to its high patterning resolution as well as spectral and spatial control, in situ electron beam lithography allows for integration of preselected quantum emitters into complex photonic systems. Being a scalable single-step approach, it paves the way toward multinode, fully integrated quantum photonic chips.

Functionalization of embedded thiol-ene waveguides for evanescent wave induced fluorescence detection in a microfluidic device

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Feidenhans'l, Nikolaj Agentoft; Jensen, Thomas Glasdam; Lafleur, Josiane P.

2013-01-01

We demonstrate the use of functional surface groups inherently present on off-stoichiometric thiol−ene polymers, for site-specific immobilization of biomolecules and detection by evanescent wave-induced fluorescence. An optofluidic chip featuring an embedded thiol−ene waveguide was selectively...... functionalized with biotin using photografting. The biotin was used for immobilization of fluorescently labelled streptavidin, and experiments revealed a linear correlation between streptavidin concentration and fluorescent intensity. To further demonstrate the attractiveness of using thiol−ene for optofluidic...

Silicon drift detectors for high resolution room temperature X-ray spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lechner, P.; Eckbauer, S.; Hauff, D.; Strueder, L.; Gatti, E.; Longoni, A.; Sampietro, M.

1996-01-01

New cylindrical silicon drift detectors have been designed, fabricated and tested. They comprise an integrated on-chip amplifier system with continuous reset, on-chip voltage divider, electron accumulation layer stabilizer, large area, homogeneous radiation entrance window and a drain for surface generated leakage current. The test of the 3.5 mm 2 large individual devices, which have also been grouped together to form a sensitive area up to 21 mm 2 have shown the following spectroscopic results: at room temperature (300 K) the devices have shown a full width at half maximum at the Mn Kα line of a radioactive 55 Fe source of 225 eV with shaping times of 250 to 500 ns. At -20 C the resolution improves to 152 eV at 2 μs Gaussian shaping. At temperatures below 200 K the energy resolution is below 140 eV. With the implementation of a digital filtering system the resolution approaches 130 eV. The system was operated with count rates up to 800 000 counts per second and per readout node, still conserving the spectroscopic qualities of the detector system. (orig.)

A Transcriptome—Targeting EcoChip for Assessing Functional Mycodiversity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Derek Peršoh

2011-10-01

Full Text Available A functional biodiversity microarray (EcoChip prototype has been developed to facilitate the analysis of fungal communities in environmental samples with broad functional and phylogenetic coverage and to enable the incorporation of nucleic acid sequence data as they become available from large-scale (next generation sequencing projects. A dual probe set (DPS was designed to detect a functional enzyme transcripts at conserved protein sites and b phylogenetic barcoding transcripts at ITS regions present in precursor rRNA. Deviating from the concept of GeoChip-type microarrays, the presented EcoChip microarray phylogenetic information was obtained using a dedicated set of barcoding microarray probes, whereas functional gene expression was analyzed by conserved domain-specific probes. By unlinking these two target groups, the shortage of broad sequence information of functional enzyme-coding genes in environmental communities became less important. The novel EcoChip microarray could be successfully applied to identify specific degradation activities in environmental samples at considerably high phylogenetic resolution. Reproducible and unbiased microarray signals could be obtained with chemically labeled total RNA preparations, thus avoiding the use of enzymatic labeling steps. ITS precursor rRNA was detected for the first time in a microarray experiment, which confirms the applicability of the EcoChip concept to selectively quantify the transcriptionally active part of fungal communities at high phylogenetic resolution. In addition, the chosen microarray platform facilitates the conducting of experiments with high sample throughput in almost any molecular biology laboratory.

60 GHz system-on-chip (SoC) with built-in memory and an on-chip antenna

KAUST Repository

Ghaffar, Farhan A.

2014-04-01

A novel 60 GHz transmitter SoC with an on-chip antenna and integrated memory in CMOS 65 nm technology is presented in this paper. This highly integrated transmitter design can support a data rate of 2 GBPS with a transmission range of 1 m. The transmitter consists of a fundamental frequency 60 GHz PLL which covers the complete ISM band. The modulator following the PLL can support both BPSK and OOK modulation schemes. Both stored data on the integrated memory or directly from an external source can be transmitted. A tapered slot on chip antenna is integrated with the power amplifier to complete the front end of the transmitter design. Size of the complete transmitter with on-chip antenna is only 1.96 mm × 1.96 mm. The core circuits consume less than 100 mW of power. The high data rate capability of the design makes it extremely suitable for bandwidth hungry applications such as unencrypted HD video streaming and transmission.

60 GHz system-on-chip (SoC) with built-in memory and an on-chip antenna

KAUST Repository

Ghaffar, Farhan A.; Arsalan, Muhammad; Cheema, Hammad; Salama, Khaled N.; Shamim, Atif

2014-01-01

A novel 60 GHz transmitter SoC with an on-chip antenna and integrated memory in CMOS 65 nm technology is presented in this paper. This highly integrated transmitter design can support a data rate of 2 GBPS with a transmission range of 1 m. The transmitter consists of a fundamental frequency 60 GHz PLL which covers the complete ISM band. The modulator following the PLL can support both BPSK and OOK modulation schemes. Both stored data on the integrated memory or directly from an external source can be transmitted. A tapered slot on chip antenna is integrated with the power amplifier to complete the front end of the transmitter design. Size of the complete transmitter with on-chip antenna is only 1.96 mm × 1.96 mm. The core circuits consume less than 100 mW of power. The high data rate capability of the design makes it extremely suitable for bandwidth hungry applications such as unencrypted HD video streaming and transmission.

A Low-Power All-Digital on-Chip CMOS Oscillator for a Wireless Sensor Node.

Science.gov (United States)

Sheng, Duo; Hong, Min-Rong

2016-10-14

This paper presents an all-digital low-power oscillator for reference clocks in wireless body area network (WBAN) applications. The proposed on-chip complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) oscillator provides low-frequency clock signals with low power consumption, high delay resolution, and low circuit complexity. The cascade-stage structure of the proposed design simultaneously achieves high resolution and a wide frequency range. The proposed hysteresis delay cell further reduces the power consumption and hardware costs by 92.4% and 70.4%, respectively, relative to conventional designs. The proposed design is implemented in a standard performance 0.18 μm CMOS process. The measured operational frequency ranged from 7 to 155 MHz, and the power consumption was improved to 79.6 μW (@7 MHz) with a 4.6 ps resolution. The proposed design can be implemented in an all-digital manner, which is highly desirable for system-level integration.

On-Chip High-Finesse Fabry-Perot Microcavities for Optical Sensing and Quantum Information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad H. Bitarafan

2017-07-01

Full Text Available For applications in sensing and cavity-based quantum computing and metrology, open-access Fabry-Perot cavities—with an air or vacuum gap between a pair of high reflectance mirrors—offer important advantages compared to other types of microcavities. For example, they are inherently tunable using MEMS-based actuation strategies, and they enable atomic emitters or target analytes to be located at high field regions of the optical mode. Integration of curved-mirror Fabry-Perot cavities on chips containing electronic, optoelectronic, and optomechanical elements is a topic of emerging importance. Micro-fabrication techniques can be used to create mirrors with small radius-of-curvature, which is a prerequisite for cavities to support stable, small-volume modes. We review recent progress towards chip-based implementation of such cavities, and highlight their potential to address applications in sensing and cavity quantum electrodynamics.

On-Chip High-Finesse Fabry-Perot Microcavities for Optical Sensing and Quantum Information.

Science.gov (United States)

Bitarafan, Mohammad H; DeCorby, Ray G

2017-07-31

For applications in sensing and cavity-based quantum computing and metrology, open-access Fabry-Perot cavities-with an air or vacuum gap between a pair of high reflectance mirrors-offer important advantages compared to other types of microcavities. For example, they are inherently tunable using MEMS-based actuation strategies, and they enable atomic emitters or target analytes to be located at high field regions of the optical mode. Integration of curved-mirror Fabry-Perot cavities on chips containing electronic, optoelectronic, and optomechanical elements is a topic of emerging importance. Micro-fabrication techniques can be used to create mirrors with small radius-of-curvature, which is a prerequisite for cavities to support stable, small-volume modes. We review recent progress towards chip-based implementation of such cavities, and highlight their potential to address applications in sensing and cavity quantum electrodynamics.

A high-speed on-chip pseudo-random binary sequence generator for multi-tone phase calibration

Science.gov (United States)

Gommé, Liesbeth; Vandersteen, Gerd; Rolain, Yves

2011-07-01

An on-chip reference generator is conceived by adopting the technique of decimating a pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS) signal in parallel sequences. This is of great benefit when high-speed generation of PRBS and PRBS-derived signals is the objective. The design implemented standard CMOS logic is available in commercial libraries to provide the logic functions for the generator. The design allows the user to select the periodicity of the PRBS and the PRBS-derived signals. The characterization of the on-chip generator marks its performance and reveals promising specifications.

A high-speed on-chip pseudo-random binary sequence generator for multi-tone phase calibration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gommé, Liesbeth; Vandersteen, Gerd; Rolain, Yves

2011-01-01

An on-chip reference generator is conceived by adopting the technique of decimating a pseudo-random binary sequence (PRBS) signal in parallel sequences. This is of great benefit when high-speed generation of PRBS and PRBS-derived signals is the objective. The design implemented standard CMOS logic is available in commercial libraries to provide the logic functions for the generator. The design allows the user to select the periodicity of the PRBS and the PRBS-derived signals. The characterization of the on-chip generator marks its performance and reveals promising specifications

Gain-Enhanced On-Chip Antenna Utilizing Artificial Magnetic Conductor Reflecting Surface at 94 GHz

KAUST Repository

Nafe, Mahmoud

2015-08-04

Nowadays, there is a growing demand for high frequency-bandwidth mm-wave (30-300 GHz) electronic wireless transceiver systems to support applications such as high data-rate wireless communication and high resolution imaging. Such mm-wave systems are becoming more feasible due to the extreme transistor downscaling in silicon-based integrated circuits, which enabled densely-integrated high-speed elec- tronics operating up to more than 100 GHz with low fabrication cost. To further enhance system integrability, it is required to implement all wireless system compo- nents on the chip. Presently, the last major barrier to true System-on-Chip (SoC) realization is the antenna implementation on the silicon chip. Although at mm-wave frequencies the antenna size becomes small enough to fit on chip, the antenna performance is greatly deteriorated due the high conductivity and high relative permittivity of the silicon substrate. The negative e↵ects of the silicon substrate could be avoided by using a metallic reflecting surface on top of silicon, which e↵ectively isolates the antenna from the silicon. However, this approach has the shortcoming of having to implement the antenna on the usually very thin silicon oxide layer of a typical CMOS fabrication process (10’s of μm). This forces the antenna to be in a very close proximity (less than one hundredth of a wavelength) to the reflecting surface. In this regime, the use of conventional metallic reflecting surface for silicon shielding has severe e↵ects on the antenna performance as it tends to reduce the antenna radiation resistance resulting in most of the energy being absorbed rather than radiated. In this work, the use of specially patterned reflecting surfaces for improving on- chip antenna performance is investigated. By using a periodic metallic surface on top of a grounded substrate, the structure can mimic the behavior of a perfect mag- netic conductor, hence called Artificial Magnetic Conductor (AMC) surface

Requirements on high resolution detectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Koch, A. [European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble (France)

1997-02-01

For a number of microtomography applications X-ray detectors with a spatial resolution of 1 {mu}m are required. This high spatial resolution will influence and degrade other parameters of secondary importance like detective quantum efficiency (DQE), dynamic range, linearity and frame rate. This note summarizes the most important arguments, for and against those detector systems which could be considered. This article discusses the mutual dependencies between the various figures which characterize a detector, and tries to give some ideas on how to proceed in order to improve present technology.

New generation of single-chip microcomputers focused on cost performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akao, Y.; Iwashita, H. (Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo (Japan))

1993-06-01

A single-chip microcomputer which incorporates a CPU (central processing unit), memory, and peripheral functions in one chip has been increasingly applied to various fields as the heart of electronic equipment in terms of its economy, compactness, lightness, and suitability for mass production. In response to a wide variety of needs, a lineup must have substantial breadth with regard to performance, on-chip memory capacity, on-chip peripheral functions, operating voltage, and packaging. In particular, low-voltage high-speed operation, high integration, expanded address space, and improved software productivity, which are required for mobile communication terminals, are the common needs for single-chip microcomputers. In accordance with these needs, Hitachi has been actively developing new products. The present paper introduces Hitachi's lineup of single-chip microcomputers. 10 figs., 1 tab.

Deterministic Aperiodic Structures for on-chip Nanophotonics and Nanoplasmonics Device Applications

Science.gov (United States)

2013-04-01

has been previously validated against semi-analytical multiple scattering methods. In our work, all nanoparticles were modeled by oblate spheroids ...transferred microchannel patterns and the PDMS mold was oxygen- plasma treated along with the colorimetric DANS sensor on SiO2 substrate to form an...optofluidic DANS device. The oxygen plasma process permanently bonded the device together and resulted in hydrophilic surfaces, which easily prime the

Studies for an upgrade of ALICE Inner Tracking System: Pixel chip characterization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Park Jonghan

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Inner Tracking System (ITS of ALICE is used for vertex determination and tracking. Future heavy-ion program at the LHC aims to run with high luminosity. To address this challenge, upgrade program of ITS is underway, which aims at better position resolution (factor of 3, high detection efficiency (>99%, high-rate readout capabilities (100 kHz for Pb-Pb and moderate radiation hardness (> 700 krad. The new ITS will be composed with 7 layers of silicon pixel chip based on Monolithic Active Pixel Sensor (MAPS technology. The characterization test of various version of prototype chips at different phases of development has been performed. This contribution will provide the main characterization results obtained from the measurements performed at laboratories and using test beam for finalizing the pixel chip specification.

Self-corrected chip-based dual-comb spectrometer.

Science.gov (United States)

Hébert, Nicolas Bourbeau; Genest, Jérôme; Deschênes, Jean-Daniel; Bergeron, Hugo; Chen, George Y; Khurmi, Champak; Lancaster, David G

2017-04-03

We present a dual-comb spectrometer based on two passively mode-locked waveguide lasers integrated in a single Er-doped ZBLAN chip. This original design yields two free-running frequency combs having a high level of mutual stability. We developed in parallel a self-correction algorithm that compensates residual relative fluctuations and yields mode-resolved spectra without the help of any reference laser or control system. Fluctuations are extracted directly from the interferograms using the concept of ambiguity function, which leads to a significant simplification of the instrument that will greatly ease its widespread adoption and commercial deployment. Comparison with a correction algorithm relying on a single-frequency laser indicates discrepancies of only 50 attoseconds on optical timings. The capacities of this instrument are finally demonstrated with the acquisition of a high-resolution molecular spectrum covering 20 nm. This new chip-based multi-laser platform is ideal for the development of high-repetition-rate, compact and fieldable comb spectrometers in the near- and mid-infrared.

Multilayer on-chip stacked Fresnel zone plates: Hard x-ray fabrication and soft x-ray simulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Kenan; Wojcik, Michael J.; Ocola, Leonidas E.; Divan, Ralu; Jacobsen, Chris

2015-11-01

Fresnel zone plates are widely used as x-ray nanofocusing optics. To achieve high spatial resolution combined with good focusing efficiency, high aspect ratio nanolithography is required, and one way to achieve that is through multiple e-beam lithography writing steps to achieve on-chip stacking. A two-step writing process producing 50 nm finest zone width at a zone thickness of 1.14 µm for possible hard x-ray applications is shown here. The authors also consider in simulations the case of soft x-ray focusing where the zone thickness might exceed the depth of focus. In this case, the authors compare on-chip stacking with, and without, adjustment of zone positions and show that the offset zones lead to improved focusing efficiency. The simulations were carried out using a multislice propagation method employing Hankel transforms.

Application of high voltage electric field (HVEF) drying technology in potato chips

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bai, Yaxiang; Shi, Hua; Yang, Yaxin

2013-01-01

In order to improve the drying efficiency and qualities of vegetable by high voltage electric field (HVEF), potato chips as a representative of vegetable was dried using a high voltage electric drying systems at 20°C. The shrinkage rate, water absorption and rehydration ratio of dried potato chips were measured. The results indicated that the drying rate of potato chips was significantly improved in the high voltage electric drying systems. The shrinkage rate of potato chips dried by high voltage electric field was 1.1% lower than that by oven drying method. And the rehydration rate of high voltage electric field was 24.6% higher than that by oven drying method. High voltage electric field drying is very advantageous and can be used as a substitute for traditional drying method.

A proposed holistic approach to on-chip, off-chip, test, and package interconnections

Science.gov (United States)

Bartelink, Dirk J.

1998-11-01

The term interconnection has traditionally implied a `robust' connection from a transistor or a group of transistors in an IC to the outside world, usually a PC board. Optimum system utilization is done from outside the IC. As an alternative, this paper addresses `unimpeded' transistor-to-transistor interconnection aimed at reaching the high circuit densities and computational capabilities of neighboring IC's. In this view, interconnections are not made to some human-centric place outside the IC world requiring robustness—except for system input and output connections. This unimpeded interconnect style is currently available only through intra-chip signal traces in `system-on-a-chip' implementations, as exemplified by embedded DRAMs. Because the traditional off-chip penalty in performance and wiring density is so large, a merging of complex process technologies is the only option today. It is suggested that, for system integration to move forward, the traditional robustness requirement inherited from conventional packaging interconnect and IC manufacturing test must be discarded. Traditional system assembly from vendor parts requires robustness under shipping, inspection and assembly. The trend toward systems on a chip signifies willingness by semiconductor companies to design and fabricate whole systems in house, so that `in-house' chip-to-chip assembly is not beyond reach. In this scenario, bare chips never leave the controlled environment of the IC fabricator while the two major contributors to off-chip signal penalty, ESD protection and the need to source a 50-ohm test head, are avoided. With in-house assembly, ESD protection can be eliminated with the precautions already familiar in plasma etching. Test interconnection impacts the fundamentals of IC manufacturing, particularly with clock speeds approaching 1GHz, and cannot be an afterthought. It should be an integral part of the chip-to-chip interconnection bandwidth optimization, because—as we must

On-Chip Bondwire Magnetics with Ferrite-Epoxy Glob Coating for Power Systems on Chip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Lu

2008-01-01

Full Text Available A novel concept of on-chip bondwire inductors and transformers with ferrite epoxy glob coating is proposed to offer a cost effective approach realizing power systems on chip (SOC. We have investigated the concept both experimentally and with finite element modeling. A Q factor of 30–40 is experimentally demonstrated for the bondwire inductors which represents an improvement by a factor of 3–30 over the state-of-the-art MEMS micromachined inductors. Transformer parameters including self- and mutual inductance and coupling factors are extracted from both modeled and measured S-parameters. More importantly, the bondwire magnetic components can be easily integrated into SOC manufacturing processes with minimal changes and open enormous possibilities for realizing cost-effective, high-current, high-efficiency power SOCs.

Diffusion dynamics in micro-fluidic dye lasers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gersborg-Hansen, Morten; Balslev, Søren; Mortensen, Niels Asger

2007-01-01

We have investigated the bleaching dynamics that occur in opto-fluidic dye lasers, where the liquid laser dye in a channel is locally bleached due to optical pumping. Our studies suggest that for micro-fluidic devices, the dye bleaching may be compensated through diffusion of dye molecules alone....... By relying on diffusion rather than convection to generate the necessary dye replenishment, our observation potentially allows for a significant simplification of opto-fluidic dye laser device layouts, omitting the need for cumbersome and costly external fluidic handling or on-chip micro-fluidic pumping...

A primary battery-on-a-chip using monolayer graphene

Science.gov (United States)

Iost, Rodrigo M.; Crespilho, Frank N.; Kern, Klaus; Balasubramanian, Kannan

2016-07-01

We present here a bottom-up approach for realizing on-chip on-demand batteries starting out with chemical vapor deposition-grown graphene. Single graphene monolayers contacted by electrode lines on a silicon chip serve as electrodes. The anode and cathode are realized by electrodeposition of zinc and copper respectively onto graphene, leading to the realization of a miniature graphene-based Daniell cell on a chip. The electrolyte is housed partly in a gel and partly in liquid form in an on-chip enclosure molded using a 3d printer or made out of poly(dimethylsiloxane). The realized batteries provide a stable voltage (∼1.1 V) for many hours and exhibit capacities as high as 15 μAh, providing enough power to operate a pocket calculator. The realized batteries show promise for deployment as on-chip power sources for autonomous systems in lab-on-a-chip or biomedical applications.

Utility of lab-on-a-chip technology for high-throughput nucleic acid and protein analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hawtin, Paul; Hardern, Ian; Wittig, Rainer

2005-01-01

On-chip electrophoresis can provide size separations of nucleic acids and proteins similar to more traditional slab gel electrophoresis. Lab-on-a-chip (LoaC) systems utilize on-chip electrophoresis in conjunction with sizing calibration, sensitive detection schemes, and sophisticated data analysi...

Digital Power Consumption Estimations for CHIPIX65 Pixel Readout Chip

CERN Document Server

Marcotulli, Andrea

2016-01-01

New hybrid pixel detectors with improved resolution capable of dealing with hit rates up to 3 GHz/cm2 will be required for future High Energy Physics experiments in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Given this, the RD53 collaboration works on the design of the next generation pixel readout chip needed for both the ATLAS and CMS detector phase 2 pixel upgrades. For the RD53 demonstrator chip in 65nm CMOS technology, different architectures are considered. In particular the purpose of this work is estimating the power consumption of the digital architecture of the readout ASIC developed by CHIPIX65 project of the INFN National Scientific Committee. This has been done with modern chip design tools integrated with the VEPIX53 simulation framework that has been developed within the RD53 collaboration in order to assess the performance of the system in very high rate, high energy physics experiments.

Benefits and Limitations of Lab-on-a-Chip Method over Reversed-Phase High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Method in Gluten Proteins Evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dragan Živančev

2015-01-01

Full Text Available RP-HPLC (reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography is widely used to determine the amounts of the different gluten protein types. However, this method is time-consuming, especially at early stages of wheat breeding, when large number of samples needs to be analyzed. On the other hand, LoaC (Lab-on-a-Chip technique has the potential for a fast, reliable, and automatable analysis of proteins. In the present study, benefits and limitations of Lab-on-a-Chip method over RP-HPLC method in gluten proteins evaluation were explored in order to determine in which way LoaC method should be improved in order to make its results more compliant with the results of RP-HPLC method. Strong correlation (P≤0.001 was found between numbers of HMW glutenin peaks determined by LoaC and RP-HPLC methods. Significant correlations (P≤0.05 were obtained between percentages of HMW and LMW glutenin subunits calculated with regard to total HMW + LMW area. Even more significant correlation (P≤0.001 was found when percentages of individual HMW areas were calculated with regard to total HMW. RP-HPLC method showed superiority in determination of gliadins since larger number and better resolution of gliadin peaks were obtained by this method.

New Generation GridPix: Development and characterisation of pixelated gaseous detectors based on the Timepix3 chip

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(CDS)2082958; Hessey, Nigel

Due to the increasing demands of high energy physics experiments there is a need for particle detectors which enable high precision measurements. In this regard, the GridPix detector is a novel detector concept which combines the benefits of a pixel chip with an integrated gas amplification structure. The resulting unit is a detector sensitive to single electrons with a great potential for particle tracking and energy loss measurements. This thesis is focusing on the development of a new generation of GridPix detectors based on the Timepix3 chip, which implements a high resolution Time to Digital Converter (TDC) in each pixel. After an introductory chapter describing the motivation behind GridPix, the manuscript presents the physics of gaseous detectors in chapter 2 along with the gaseous detectors used for particle tracking in chapter 3. Chapters 4 and 5 are focusing on the tracking performance of GridPix detectors. Chapter 4 presents results obtained with a GridPix detector based on a small scale prototy...

High-resolution X-ray television and high-resolution video recorders

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haendle, J.; Horbaschek, H.; Alexandrescu, M.

1977-01-01

The improved transmission properties of the high-resolution X-ray television chain described here make it possible to transmit more information per television image. The resolution in the fluoroscopic image, which is visually determined, depends on the dose rate and the inertia of the television pick-up tube. This connection is discussed. In the last few years, video recorders have been increasingly used in X-ray diagnostics. The video recorder is a further quality-limiting element in X-ray television. The development of function patterns of high-resolution magnetic video recorders shows that this quality drop may be largely overcome. The influence of electrical band width and number of lines on the resolution in the X-ray television image stored is explained in more detail. (orig.) [de

Addressing On-Chip Power Converstion and Dissipation Issues in Many-Core System-on-a-Chip Based on Conventional Silicon and Emerging Nanotechnologies

Science.gov (United States)

Ashenafi, Emeshaw

Integrated circuits (ICs) are moving towards system-on-a-chip (SOC) designs. SOC allows various small and large electronic systems to be implemented in a single chip. This approach enables the miniaturization of design blocks that leads to high density transistor integration, faster response time, and lower fabrication costs. To reap the benefits of SOC and uphold the miniaturization of transistors, innovative power delivery and power dissipation management schemes are paramount. This dissertation focuses on on-chip integration of power delivery systems and managing power dissipation to increase the lifetime of energy storage elements. We explore this problem from two different angels: On-chip voltage regulators and power gating techniques. On-chip voltage regulators reduce parasitic effects, and allow faster and efficient power delivery for microprocessors. Power gating techniques, on the other hand, reduce the power loss incurred by circuit blocks during standby mode. Power dissipation (Ptotal = Pstatic and Pdynamic) in a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuit comes from two sources: static and dynamic. A quadratic dependency on the dynamic switching power and a more than linear dependency on static power as a form of gate leakage (subthreshold current) exist. To reduce dynamic power loss, the supply power should be reduced. A significant reduction in power dissipation occurs when portions of a microprocessor operate at a lower voltage level. This reduction in supply voltage is achieved via voltage regulators or converters. Voltage regulators are used to provide a stable power supply to the microprocessor. The conventional off-chip switching voltage regulator contains a passive floating inductor, which is difficult to be implemented inside the chip due to excessive power dissipation and parasitic effects. Additionally, the inductor takes a very large chip area while hampering the scaling process. These limitations make passive inductor based on-chip

Fabrication of dielectrophoretic microfluidic chips using a facile screen-printing technique for microparticle trapping

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wee, Wei Hong; Kadri, Nahrizul Adib; Pingguan-Murphy, Belinda; Li, Zedong; Hu, Jie; Xu, Feng; Li, Fei

2015-01-01

Trapping of microparticles finds wide applications in numerous fields. Microfluidic chips based on a dielectrophoresis (DEP) technique hold several advantages for trapping microparticles, such as fast result processing, a small amount of sample required, high spatial resolution, and high accuracy of target selection. There is an unmet need to develop DEP microfluidic chips on different substrates for different applications in a low cost, facile, and rapid way. This study develops a new facile method based on a screen-printing technique for fabrication of electrodes of DEP chips on three types of substrates (i.e. polymethyl-methacrylate (PMMA), poly(ethylene terephthalate) and A4 paper). The fabricated PMMA-based DEP microfluidic chip was selected as an example and successfully used to trap and align polystyrene microparticles in a suspension and cardiac fibroblasts in a cell culture solution. The developed electrode fabrication method is compatible with different kinds of DEP substrates, which could expand the future application field of DEP microfluidic chips, including new forms of point-of care diagnostics and trapping circulating tumor cells. (paper)

Runtime adaptive multi-processor system-on-chip: RAMPSoC

OpenAIRE

Göhringer, D.; Hübner, M.; Schatz, V.; Becker, J.

2008-01-01

Current trends in high performance computing show, that the usage of multiprocessor systems on chip are one approach for the requirements of computing intensive applications. The multiprocessor system on chip (MPSoC) approaches often provide a static and homogeneous infrastructure of networked microprocessor on the chip die. A novel idea in this research area is to introduce the dynamic adaptivity of reconfigurable hardware in order to provide a flexible heterogeneous set of processing elemen...

Nanoliter Centrifugal Liquid Dispenser Coupled with Superhydrophobic Microwell Array Chips for High-Throughput Cell Assays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yuyi Wang

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Microfluidic systems have been regarded as a potential platform for high-throughput screening technology in drug discovery due to their low sample consumption, high integration, and easy operation. The handling of small-volume liquid is an essential operation in microfluidic systems, especially in investigating large-scale combination conditions. Here, we develop a nanoliter centrifugal liquid dispenser (NanoCLD coupled with superhydrophobic microwell array chips for high-throughput cell-based assays in the nanoliter scale. The NanoCLD consists of a plastic stock block with an array of drilled through holes, a reagent microwell array chip (reagent chip, and an alignment bottom assembled together in a fixture. A simple centrifugation at 800 rpm can dispense ~160 nL reagents into microwells in 5 min. The dispensed reagents are then delivered to cells by sandwiching the reagent chip upside down with another microwell array chip (cell chip on which cells are cultured. A gradient of doxorubicin is then dispensed to the cell chip using the NanoCLD for validating the feasibility of performing drug tests on our microchip platform. This novel nanoliter-volume liquid dispensing method is simple, easy to operate, and especially suitable for repeatedly dispensing many different reagents simultaneously to microwells.

Lab-on-fiber optofluidic platform for in-situ study of therapeutic peptides and bacterial response (Rising Researcher Presentation) (Conference Presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Fei; Yang, Fan; Liang, Junfeng

2017-05-01

Hospital acquired infections in indwelling device have become a life-threatening issue accompanied by the wide use of medical devices and implants. The infection process typically involves the attachment, growth and eventual assemblage of microbial cells into biofilms, with the latter exhibiting extremely higher antibiotic tolerance than planktonic bacteria. Surface constructed antimicrobial coatings offer a viable solution for bacteria responsive antibiotic strategy in medical devices such as catheter and stents. Therapeutic peptide has pioneered the field for their attractive pharmacological profile with broad antibacterial spectrum, great efficacy and long life-span. It has been a common practice to separately assess bacteria responses through commercially available activity assay kits after their exposure to antibiotic coatings, limiting the assessment of their activity in vitro with a discontinuous fashion. We developed and demonstrated an innovative all-optical lab-on-fiber optofluidic platform (LOFOP) to fill in this technical gap by allowing in situ measurement of the bacteria attachment in a continuous manner. This LOFOP allows for evaluation of drug release and resultant bacterial response by integrating glass capillary with lytic peptide-containing LbL-coated long period graing (LPG) as its core. S. aureus suspension is introduced through the assembled optofluidic platform with the capillary and the peptide-coated LPG. The efficacy of the peptide-containing coating is evaluated in situ by monitoring the attachment of bacteria and the ensuing development of biofilms using the LPG. LPG without antimicrobial coatings will be explored and compared as control.

A hidden Ising model for ChIP-chip data analysis

KAUST Repository

Mo, Q.

2010-01-28

Motivation: Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) coupled with tiling microarray (chip) experiments have been used in a wide range of biological studies such as identification of transcription factor binding sites and investigation of DNA methylation and histone modification. Hidden Markov models are widely used to model the spatial dependency of ChIP-chip data. However, parameter estimation for these models is typically either heuristic or suboptimal, leading to inconsistencies in their applications. To overcome this limitation and to develop an efficient software, we propose a hidden ferromagnetic Ising model for ChIP-chip data analysis. Results: We have developed a simple, but powerful Bayesian hierarchical model for ChIP-chip data via a hidden Ising model. Metropolis within Gibbs sampling algorithm is used to simulate from the posterior distribution of the model parameters. The proposed model naturally incorporates the spatial dependency of the data, and can be used to analyze data with various genomic resolutions and sample sizes. We illustrate the method using three publicly available datasets and various simulated datasets, and compare it with three closely related methods, namely TileMap HMM, tileHMM and BAC. We find that our method performs as well as TileMap HMM and BAC for the high-resolution data from Affymetrix platform, but significantly outperforms the other three methods for the low-resolution data from Agilent platform. Compared with the BAC method which also involves MCMC simulations, our method is computationally much more efficient. Availability: A software called iChip is freely available at http://www.bioconductor.org/. Contact: moq@mskcc.org. © The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

3D Printing of Organs-On-Chips.

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Hee-Gyeong; Lee, Hyungseok; Cho, Dong-Woo

2017-01-25

Organ-on-a-chip engineering aims to create artificial living organs that mimic the complex and physiological responses of real organs, in order to test drugs by precisely manipulating the cells and their microenvironments. To achieve this, the artificial organs should to be microfabricated with an extracellular matrix (ECM) and various types of cells, and should recapitulate morphogenesis, cell differentiation, and functions according to the native organ. A promising strategy is 3D printing, which precisely controls the spatial distribution and layer-by-layer assembly of cells, ECMs, and other biomaterials. Owing to this unique advantage, integration of 3D printing into organ-on-a-chip engineering can facilitate the creation of micro-organs with heterogeneity, a desired 3D cellular arrangement, tissue-specific functions, or even cyclic movement within a microfluidic device. Moreover, fully 3D-printed organs-on-chips more easily incorporate other mechanical and electrical components with the chips, and can be commercialized via automated massive production. Herein, we discuss the recent advances and the potential of 3D cell-printing technology in engineering organs-on-chips, and provides the future perspectives of this technology to establish the highly reliable and useful drug-screening platforms.

On-chip digital power supply control for system-on-chip applications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijer, M.; Pineda de Gyvez, J.; Otten, R.H.J.M.

2005-01-01

The authors presented an on-chip, fully-digital, power-supply control system. The scheme consists of two independent control loops that regulate power supply variations due to semiconductor process spread, temperature, and chip's workload. Smart power-switches working as linear voltage regulators

High-Performance Microsupercapacitors Based on Bioinspired Graphene Microfibers.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Hui; Wang, Dawei; Peng, Qingfa; Ma, Jun; Meng, Xin; Zhang, Yaopeng; Ma, Yuning; Zhu, Shenmin; Zhang, Di

2018-03-28

The miniaturization of portable electronic devices has fueled the development of microsupercapacitors that hold great potential to complement or even replace microbatteries and electrolytic capacitors. In spite of recent developments taking advantage of printing and lithography, it remains a great challenge to attain a high energy density without sacrificing the power density. Herein, a new protocol mimicking the spider's spinning process is developed to create highly oriented microfibers from graphene-based composites via a purpose-designed microfluidic chip. The orientation provides the microfibers with an electrical conductivity of ∼3 × 10 4 S m -1 , which leads to a high power density; the energy density is sustained by nanocarbons and high-purity metallic molybdenum disulfide. The microfibers are patterned in-plane to fabricate asymmetric microsupercapacitors for flexible and on-chip energy storage. The on-chip microsupercapacitor with a high pattern resolution of 100 μm delivers energy density up to the order of 10 -2 W h cm -3 and retains an ultrahigh power density exceeding 100 W cm -3 in an aqueous electrolyte. This work provides new design of flexible and on-chip asymmetric microsupercapacitors based on microfibers. The unique biomimetic microfluidic fabrication of graphene microfibers for energy storage may also stimulate thinking of the bionic design in many other fields.

Integrated microfluidic device for single-cell trapping and spectroscopy

KAUST Repository

Liberale, Carlo

2013-02-13

Optofluidic microsystems are key components towards lab-on-a-chip devices for manipulation and analysis of biological specimens. In particular, the integration of optical tweezers (OT) in these devices allows stable sample trapping, while making available mechanical, chemical and spectroscopic analyses.

Integrated microfluidic device for single-cell trapping and spectroscopy

KAUST Repository

Liberale, Carlo; Cojoc, G.; Bragheri, F.; Minzioni, P.; Perozziello, G.; La Rocca, R.; Ferrara, L.; Rajamanickam, V.; Di Fabrizio, Enzo M.; Cristiani, I.

2013-01-01

Optofluidic microsystems are key components towards lab-on-a-chip devices for manipulation and analysis of biological specimens. In particular, the integration of optical tweezers (OT) in these devices allows stable sample trapping, while making available mechanical, chemical and spectroscopic analyses.

Chip formation and surface integrity in high-speed machining of hardened steel

Science.gov (United States)

Kishawy, Hossam Eldeen A.

Increasing demands for high production rates as well as cost reduction have emphasized the potential for the industrial application of hard turning technology during the past few years. Machining instead of grinding hardened steel components reduces the machining sequence, the machining time, and the specific cutting energy. Hard turning Is characterized by the generation of high temperatures, the formation of saw toothed chips, and the high ratio of thrust to tangential cutting force components. Although a large volume of literature exists on hard turning, the change in machined surface physical properties represents a major challenge. Thus, a better understanding of the cutting mechanism in hard turning is still required. In particular, the chip formation process and the surface integrity of the machined surface are important issues which require further research. In this thesis, a mechanistic model for saw toothed chip formation is presented. This model is based on the concept of crack initiation on the free surface of the workpiece. The model presented explains the mechanism of chip formation. In addition, experimental investigation is conducted in order to study the chip morphology. The effect of process parameters, including edge preparation and tool wear on the chip morphology, is studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The dynamics of chip formation are also investigated. The surface integrity of the machined parts is also investigated. This investigation focusses on residual stresses as well as surface and sub-surface deformation. A three dimensional thermo-elasto-plastic finite element model is developed to predict the machining residual stresses. The effect of flank wear is introduced during the analysis. Although residual stresses have complicated origins and are introduced by many factors, in this model only the thermal and mechanical factors are considered. The finite element analysis demonstrates the significant effect of the heat generated

Automated Microfluidic Platform for Serial Polymerase Chain Reaction and High-Resolution Melting Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Weidong; Bean, Brian; Corey, Scott; Coursey, Johnathan S; Hasson, Kenton C; Inoue, Hiroshi; Isano, Taisuke; Kanderian, Sami; Lane, Ben; Liang, Hongye; Murphy, Brian; Owen, Greg; Shinoda, Nobuhiko; Zeng, Shulin; Knight, Ivor T

2016-06-01

We report the development of an automated genetic analyzer for human sample testing based on microfluidic rapid polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with high-resolution melting analysis (HRMA). The integrated DNA microfluidic cartridge was used on a platform designed with a robotic pipettor system that works by sequentially picking up different test solutions from a 384-well plate, mixing them in the tips, and delivering mixed fluids to the DNA cartridge. A novel image feedback flow control system based on a Canon 5D Mark II digital camera was developed for controlling fluid movement through a complex microfluidic branching network without the use of valves. The same camera was used for measuring the high-resolution melt curve of DNA amplicons that were generated in the microfluidic chip. Owing to fast heating and cooling as well as sensitive temperature measurement in the microfluidic channels, the time frame for PCR and HRMA was dramatically reduced from hours to minutes. Preliminary testing results demonstrated that rapid serial PCR and HRMA are possible while still achieving high data quality that is suitable for human sample testing. © 2015 Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening.

Fully Automated On-Chip Imaging Flow Cytometry System with Disposable Contamination-Free Plastic Re-Cultivation Chip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomoyuki Kaneko

2011-06-01

Full Text Available We have developed a novel imaging cytometry system using a poly(methyl methacrylate (PMMA based microfluidic chip. The system was contamination-free, because sample suspensions contacted only with a flammable PMMA chip and no other component of the system. The transparency and low-fluorescence of PMMA was suitable for microscopic imaging of cells flowing through microchannels on the chip. Sample particles flowing through microchannels on the chip were discriminated by an image-recognition unit with a high-speed camera in real time at the rate of 200 event/s, e.g., microparticles 2.5 μm and 3.0 μm in diameter were differentiated with an error rate of less than 2%. Desired cells were separated automatically from other cells by electrophoretic or dielectrophoretic force one by one with a separation efficiency of 90%. Cells in suspension with fluorescent dye were separated using the same kind of microfluidic chip. Sample of 5 μL with 1 × 106 particle/mL was processed within 40 min. Separated cells could be cultured on the microfluidic chip without contamination. The whole operation of sample handling was automated using 3D micropipetting system. These results showed that the novel imaging flow cytometry system is practically applicable for biological research and clinical diagnostics.

On-chip electrochromic micro display for a disposable bio-sensor chip

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yanjun; Tsukamoto, Takashiro; Tanaka, Shuji

2017-12-01

This paper reports an on-chip electrochromic micro display made of polyaniline (PANi) which can be easily made on a CMOS chip. Micro-patterned PANi thin films were selectively deposited on pre-patterned microelectrodes by using electrodeposition. The optimum conditions for deposition and electrochromism were investigated. An 8-pixel on-chip micro display was made on a Si chip. The color of each PANi film could be independently but simultaneously controlled, which means any 1-byte digital data could be displayed on the display. The PANi display had a response time as fast as about 100 ms, which means the transfer data rate was as fast as 80 bits per second.

On-chip photonic microsystem for optical signal processing based on silicon and silicon nitride platforms

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yu; Li, Jiachen; Yu, Hongchen; Yu, Hai; Chen, Hongwei; Yang, Sigang; Chen, Minghua

2018-04-01

The explosive growth of data centers, cloud computing and various smart devices is limited by the current state of microelectronics, both in terms of speed and heat generation. Benefiting from the large bandwidth, promising low power consumption and passive calculation capability, experts believe that the integrated photonics-based signal processing and transmission technologies can break the bottleneck of microelectronics technology. In recent years, integrated photonics has become increasingly reliable and access to the advanced fabrication process has been offered by various foundries. In this paper, we review our recent works on the integrated optical signal processing system. We study three different kinds of on-chip signal processors and use these devices to build microsystems for the fields of microwave photonics, optical communications and spectrum sensing. The microwave photonics front receiver was demonstrated with a signal processing range of a full-band (L-band to W-band). A fully integrated microwave photonics transceiver without the on-chip laser was realized on silicon photonics covering the signal frequency of up 10 GHz. An all-optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) de-multiplier was also demonstrated and used for an OFDM communication system with the rate of 64 Gbps. Finally, we show our work on the monolithic integrated spectrometer with a high resolution of about 20 pm at the central wavelength of 1550 nm. These proposed on-chip signal processing systems potential applications in the fields of radar, 5G wireless communication, wearable devices and optical access networks.

3D Printing of Organs-On-Chips

Science.gov (United States)

Yi, Hee-Gyeong; Lee, Hyungseok; Cho, Dong-Woo

2017-01-01

Organ-on-a-chip engineering aims to create artificial living organs that mimic the complex and physiological responses of real organs, in order to test drugs by precisely manipulating the cells and their microenvironments. To achieve this, the artificial organs should to be microfabricated with an extracellular matrix (ECM) and various types of cells, and should recapitulate morphogenesis, cell differentiation, and functions according to the native organ. A promising strategy is 3D printing, which precisely controls the spatial distribution and layer-by-layer assembly of cells, ECMs, and other biomaterials. Owing to this unique advantage, integration of 3D printing into organ-on-a-chip engineering can facilitate the creation of micro-organs with heterogeneity, a desired 3D cellular arrangement, tissue-specific functions, or even cyclic movement within a microfluidic device. Moreover, fully 3D-printed organs-on-chips more easily incorporate other mechanical and electrical components with the chips, and can be commercialized via automated massive production. Herein, we discuss the recent advances and the potential of 3D cell-printing technology in engineering organs-on-chips, and provides the future perspectives of this technology to establish the highly reliable and useful drug-screening platforms. PMID:28952489

3D Printing of Organs-On-Chips

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hee-Gyeong Yi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Organ-on-a-chip engineering aims to create artificial living organs that mimic the complex and physiological responses of real organs, in order to test drugs by precisely manipulating the cells and their microenvironments. To achieve this, the artificial organs should to be microfabricated with an extracellular matrix (ECM and various types of cells, and should recapitulate morphogenesis, cell differentiation, and functions according to the native organ. A promising strategy is 3D printing, which precisely controls the spatial distribution and layer-by-layer assembly of cells, ECMs, and other biomaterials. Owing to this unique advantage, integration of 3D printing into organ-on-a-chip engineering can facilitate the creation of micro-organs with heterogeneity, a desired 3D cellular arrangement, tissue-specific functions, or even cyclic movement within a microfluidic device. Moreover, fully 3D-printed organs-on-chips more easily incorporate other mechanical and electrical components with the chips, and can be commercialized via automated massive production. Herein, we discuss the recent advances and the potential of 3D cell-printing technology in engineering organs-on-chips, and provides the future perspectives of this technology to establish the highly reliable and useful drug-screening platforms.

Development of a high-throughput Candida albicans biofilm chip.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anand Srinivasan

2011-04-01

Full Text Available We have developed a high-density microarray platform consisting of nano-biofilms of Candida albicans. A robotic microarrayer was used to print yeast cells of C. albicans encapsulated in a collagen matrix at a volume as low as 50 nL onto surface-modified microscope slides. Upon incubation, the cells grow into fully formed "nano-biofilms". The morphological and architectural complexity of these biofilms were evaluated by scanning electron and confocal scanning laser microscopy. The extent of biofilm formation was determined using a microarray scanner from changes in fluorescence intensities due to FUN 1 metabolic processing. This staining technique was also adapted for antifungal susceptibility testing, which demonstrated that, similar to regular biofilms, cells within the on-chip biofilms displayed elevated levels of resistance against antifungal agents (fluconazole and amphotericin B. Thus, results from structural analyses and antifungal susceptibility testing indicated that despite miniaturization, these biofilms display the typical phenotypic properties associated with the biofilm mode of growth. In its final format, the C. albicans biofilm chip (CaBChip is composed of 768 equivalent and spatially distinct nano-biofilms on a single slide; multiple chips can be printed and processed simultaneously. Compared to current methods for the formation of microbial biofilms, namely the 96-well microtiter plate model, this fungal biofilm chip has advantages in terms of miniaturization and automation, which combine to cut reagent use and analysis time, minimize labor intensive steps, and dramatically reduce assay costs. Such a chip should accelerate the antifungal drug discovery process by enabling rapid, convenient and inexpensive screening of hundreds-to-thousands of compounds simultaneously.

Characterization of porous silicon integrated in liquid chromatography chips

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tiggelaar, Roald M.; Verdoold, Vincent; Eghbali, H.; Desmet, G.; Gardeniers, Johannes G.E.

2009-01-01

Properties of porous silicon which are relevant for use of the material as a stationary phase in liquid chromatography chips, like porosity, pore size and specific surface area, were determined with high-resolution SEM and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms. For the anodization conditions

On-chip dual-comb source for spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Dutt, Avik; Joshi, Chaitanya; Ji, Xingchen; Cardenas, Jaime; Okawachi, Yoshitomo; Luke, Kevin; Gaeta, Alexander L; Lipson, Michal

2018-03-01

Dual-comb spectroscopy is a powerful technique for real-time, broadband optical sampling of molecular spectra, which requires no moving components. Recent developments with microresonator-based platforms have enabled frequency combs at the chip scale. However, the need to precisely match the resonance wavelengths of distinct high quality-factor microcavities has hindered the development of on-chip dual combs. We report the simultaneous generation of two microresonator combs on the same chip from a single laser, drastically reducing experimental complexity. We demonstrate broadband optical spectra spanning 51 THz and low-noise operation of both combs by deterministically tuning into soliton mode-locked states using integrated microheaters, resulting in narrow (lasers or microwave oscillators. We demonstrate high signal-to-noise ratio absorption spectroscopy spanning 170 nm using the dual-comb source over a 20-μs acquisition time. Our device paves the way for compact and robust spectrometers at nanosecond time scales enabled by large beat-note spacings (>1 GHz).

Spectroscopy study of imaging devices based on silicon Pixel Array Detector coupled to VATAGP7 read-out chips

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Linhart, V; Lacasta, C; Llosa, G; Stankova, V; Burdette, D; Chessi, E; Cochran, E; Honscheid, K; Kagan, H; Weilhammer, P; Cindro, V; Grosicar, B; Mikuz, M; Studen, A; Zontar, D; Clinthorne, N H

2011-01-01

Spectroscopic and timing response studies have been conducted on a detector module consisting of a silicon Pixel Array Detector bonded on two VATAGP7 read-out chips manufactured by Gamma-Medica Ideas using laboratory gamma sources and the internal calibration facilities (the calibration system of the read-out chips). The performed tests have proven that the chips have (i) non-linear calibration curves which can be approximated by power functions, (ii) capability to measure the energy of photons with energy resolution better than 2 keV (exact range and resolution depend on experimental setup), (iii) the internal calibration facility which provides 6 out of 16 available internal calibration charges within our region of interest (spanning the Compton edge of 511 keV photons). The peaks induced by the internal calibration facility are suitable for a fit of the calibration curves. However, they are not suitable for measurements of equivalent noise charge because their full width at half maximum varies with their amplitude. These facts indicate that the VATAGP7 chips are useful and precise tools for a wide variety of spectroscopic devices. We have also explored time walk of the module and peaking time of the spectroscopy signals provided by the chips. We have observed that (iv) the time walk is caused partly by the peaking time of the signals provided by the fast shaper of the chips and partly by the timing uncertainty related to the varying position of the photon interaction, (v) the peaking time of the spectroscopy signals provided by the chips increases with increasing pulse height.

A scalable single-chip multi-processor architecture with on-chip RTOS kernel

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Theelen, B.D.; Verschueren, A.C.; Reyes Suarez, V.V.; Stevens, M.P.J.; Nunez, A.

2003-01-01

Now that system-on-chip technology is emerging, single-chip multi-processors are becoming feasible. A key problem of designing such systems is the complexity of their on-chip interconnects and memory architecture. It is furthermore unclear at what level software should be integrated. An example of a

Universal quantum dot-based sandwich-like immunoassay strategy for rapid and ultrasensitive detection of small molecules using portable and reusable optofluidic nano-biosensing platform

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou, Liping; Zhu, Anna; Lou, Xuening; Song, Dan; Yang, Rong; Shi, Hanchang; Long, Feng

2016-01-01

A universal sandwich-like immunoassay strategy based on quantum-dots immunoprobe (QD-labeled anti-mouse IgG antibody) was developed for rapid and ultrasensitive detection of small molecules. A portable and reusable optofluidic nano-biosensing platform was applied to investigate the sandwich-like immunoassay mechanism and format of small molecules, as well as the binding kinetics between QD immunoprobe and anti-small molecule antibody. A two-step immunoassay method that involves pre-incubation mixture of different concentration of small molecule and anti-small molecule antibody, and subsequent introduction of QD immunoprobe into the optofluidic cell was conducted for small molecule determination. Compared with the one-step immunoassay method, the two-step immunoassay method can obtain higher fluorescence signal and higher sensitivity index, thus improving the nano-biosensing performance. Based on the proposed strategy, two mode targets, namely, microcystin-LR (MC-LR) and Bisphenol A (BPA) were tested with high sensitivity, rapidity, and ease of use. A higher concentration of small molecules in the sample led to less anti-small molecule antibody bound with antigen-carrier protein conjugate immobilized onto the sensor surface, and less QD immunoprobes bound with anti-small molecule antibody. This phenomenon lowered the fluorescence signal detected by nano-biosensing platform. Under optimal operating conditions, MC-LR and BPA exhibited a limit of detection of 0.003 and 0.04 μg/L, respectively. The LODs were better than those of the indirect competitive immunoassay method for small molecules via Cy5.5-labeled anti-small molecule antibody. The proposed QD-based sandwich-like immunoassay strategy was evaluated in spiked water samples, and showed good recovery, precision and accuracy without complicated sample pretreatments. All these results demonstrate that the new detection strategy could be readily applied to the other trace small molecules in real water samples

Universal quantum dot-based sandwich-like immunoassay strategy for rapid and ultrasensitive detection of small molecules using portable and reusable optofluidic nano-biosensing platform

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhou, Liping; Zhu, Anna; Lou, Xuening; Song, Dan; Yang, Rong [School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing (China); Shi, Hanchang [School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing (China); Long, Feng, E-mail: longf04@ruc.edu.cn [School of Environment and Natural Resources, Renmin University of China, Beijing (China)

2016-01-28

A universal sandwich-like immunoassay strategy based on quantum-dots immunoprobe (QD-labeled anti-mouse IgG antibody) was developed for rapid and ultrasensitive detection of small molecules. A portable and reusable optofluidic nano-biosensing platform was applied to investigate the sandwich-like immunoassay mechanism and format of small molecules, as well as the binding kinetics between QD immunoprobe and anti-small molecule antibody. A two-step immunoassay method that involves pre-incubation mixture of different concentration of small molecule and anti-small molecule antibody, and subsequent introduction of QD immunoprobe into the optofluidic cell was conducted for small molecule determination. Compared with the one-step immunoassay method, the two-step immunoassay method can obtain higher fluorescence signal and higher sensitivity index, thus improving the nano-biosensing performance. Based on the proposed strategy, two mode targets, namely, microcystin-LR (MC-LR) and Bisphenol A (BPA) were tested with high sensitivity, rapidity, and ease of use. A higher concentration of small molecules in the sample led to less anti-small molecule antibody bound with antigen-carrier protein conjugate immobilized onto the sensor surface, and less QD immunoprobes bound with anti-small molecule antibody. This phenomenon lowered the fluorescence signal detected by nano-biosensing platform. Under optimal operating conditions, MC-LR and BPA exhibited a limit of detection of 0.003 and 0.04 μg/L, respectively. The LODs were better than those of the indirect competitive immunoassay method for small molecules via Cy5.5-labeled anti-small molecule antibody. The proposed QD-based sandwich-like immunoassay strategy was evaluated in spiked water samples, and showed good recovery, precision and accuracy without complicated sample pretreatments. All these results demonstrate that the new detection strategy could be readily applied to the other trace small molecules in real water samples

Light Manipulation in Inhomogeneous Liquid Flow and Its Application in Biochemical Sensing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yunfeng Zuo

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Light manipulation has always been the fundamental subject in the field of optics since centuries ago. Traditional optical devices are usually designed using glasses and other materials, such as semiconductors and metals. Optofluidics is the combination of microfluidics and optics, which brings a host of new advantages to conventional solid systems. The capabilities of light manipulation and biochemical sensing are inherent alongside the emergence of optofluidics. This new research area promotes advancements in optics, biology, and chemistry. The development of fast, accurate, low-cost, and small-sized biochemical micro-sensors is an urgent demand for real-time monitoring. However, the fluid flow in the on-chip sensor is usually non-uniformed, which is a new and emerging challenge for the accuracy of optical detection. It is significant to reveal the principle of light propagation in an inhomogeneous liquid flow and the interaction between biochemical samples and light in flowing liquids. In this review, we summarize the current state of optofluidic lab-on-a-chip techniques from the perspective of light modulation by the unique dynamic properties of fluid in heterogeneous media, such as diffusion, heat transfer, and centrifugation etc. Furthermore, this review introduces several novel photonic phenomena in an inhomogeneous liquid flow and demonstrates their application in biochemical sensing.

On-chip plasmon-induced transparency based on plasmonic coupled nanocavities.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Yu; Hu, Xiaoyong; Yang, Hong; Gong, Qihuang

2014-01-17

On-chip plasmon-induced transparency offers the possibility of realization of ultrahigh-speed information processing chips. Unfortunately, little experimental progress has been made to date because it is difficult to obtain on-chip plasmon-induced transparency using only a single meta-molecule in plasmonic circuits. Here, we report a simple and efficient strategy to realize on-chip plasmon-induced transparency in a nanoscale U-shaped plasmonic waveguide side-coupled nanocavity pair. High tunability in the transparency window is achieved by covering the pair with different organic polymer layers. It is possible to realize ultrafast all-optical tunability based on pump light-induced refractive index change of a graphene cover layer. Compared with previous reports, the overall feature size of the plasmonic nanostructure is reduced by more than three orders of magnitude, while ultrahigh tunability of the transparency window is maintained. This work also provides a superior platform for the study of the various physical effects and phenomena of nonlinear optics and quantum optics.

On-chip dual comb source for spectroscopy

OpenAIRE

Dutt, Avik; Joshi, Chaitanya; Ji, Xingchen; Cardenas, Jaime; Okawachi, Yoshitomo; Luke, Kevin; Gaeta, Alexander L.; Lipson, Michal

2016-01-01

Dual-comb spectroscopy is a powerful technique for real-time, broadband optical sampling of molecular spectra which requires no moving components. Recent developments with microresonator-based platforms have enabled frequency combs at the chip scale. However, the need to precisely match the resonance wavelengths of distinct high-quality-factor microcavities has hindered the development of an on-chip dual comb source. Here, we report the first simultaneous generation of two microresonator comb...

On-chip concentration of bacteria using a 3D dielectrophoretic chip and subsequent laser-based DNA extraction in the same chip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Yoon-Kyoung; Kim, Tae-hyeong; Lee, Jeong-Gun

2010-01-01

We report the on-chip concentration of bacteria using a dielectrophoretic (DEP) chip with 3D electrodes and subsequent laser-based DNA extraction in the same chip. The DEP chip has a set of interdigitated Au post electrodes with 50 µm height to generate a network of non-uniform electric fields for the efficient trapping by DEP. The metal post array was fabricated by photolithography and subsequent Ni and Au electroplating. Three model bacteria samples (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus mutans) were tested and over 80-fold concentrations were achieved within 2 min. Subsequently, on-chip DNA extraction from the concentrated bacteria in the 3D DEP chip was performed by laser irradiation using the laser-irradiated magnetic bead system (LIMBS) in the same chip. The extracted DNA was analyzed with silicon chip-based real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The total process of on-chip bacteria concentration and the subsequent DNA extraction can be completed within 10 min including the manual operation time.

A high-resolution, multi-stop, time-to-digital converter for nuclear time-of-flight measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spencer, D.F.; Cole, J.; Drigert, M.; Aryaeinejad, R.

2006-01-01

A high-resolution, multi-stop, time-to-digital converter (TDC) was designed and developed to precisely measure the times-of-flight (TOF) of incident neutrons responsible for induced fission and capture reactions on actinide targets. The minimum time resolution is ±1 ns. The TDC design was implemented into a single, dual-wide CAMAC module. The CAMAC bus is used for command and control as well as an alternative data output. A high-speed ECL interface, compatible with LeCroy FERA modules, was also provided for the principle data output path. An Actel high-speed field programmable gate array (FPGA) chip was incorporated with an external oscillator and an internal multiple clock phasing system. This device implemented the majority of the high-speed register functions, the state machine for the FERA interface, and the high-speed counting circuit used for the TDC conversion. An external microcontroller was used to monitor and control system-level changes. In this work we discuss the performance of this TDC module as well as its application

High-resolution CCD imaging alternatives

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, D. L.; Acker, D. E.

1992-08-01

High resolution CCD color cameras have recently stimulated the interest of a large number of potential end-users for a wide range of practical applications. Real-time High Definition Television (HDTV) systems are now being used or considered for use in applications ranging from entertainment program origination through digital image storage to medical and scientific research. HDTV generation of electronic images offers significant cost and time-saving advantages over the use of film in such applications. Further in still image systems electronic image capture is faster and more efficient than conventional image scanners. The CCD still camera can capture 3-dimensional objects into the computing environment directly without having to shoot a picture on film develop it and then scan the image into a computer. 2. EXTENDING CCD TECHNOLOGY BEYOND BROADCAST Most standard production CCD sensor chips are made for broadcast-compatible systems. One popular CCD and the basis for this discussion offers arrays of roughly 750 x 580 picture elements (pixels) or a total array of approximately 435 pixels (see Fig. 1). FOR. A has developed a technique to increase the number of available pixels for a given image compared to that produced by the standard CCD itself. Using an inter-lined CCD with an overall spatial structure several times larger than the photo-sensitive sensor areas each of the CCD sensors is shifted in two dimensions in order to fill in spatial gaps between adjacent sensors.

Lab-on a-Chip

Science.gov (United States)

1999-01-01

Labs on chips are manufactured in many shapes and sizes and can be used for numerous applications, from medical tests to water quality monitoring to detecting the signatures of life on other planets. The eight holes on this chip are actually ports that can be filled with fluids or chemicals. Tiny valves control the chemical processes by mixing fluids that move in the tiny channels that look like lines, connecting the ports. Scientists at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama designed this chip to grow biological crystals on the International Space Station (ISS). Through this research, they discovered that this technology is ideally suited for solving the challenges of the Vision for Space Exploration. For example, thousands of chips the size of dimes could be loaded on a Martian rover looking for biosignatures of past or present life. Other types of chips could be placed in handheld devices used to monitor microbes in water or to quickly conduct medical tests on astronauts. The portable, handheld Lab-on-a Chip Application Development Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS) made its debut flight aboard Discovery during the STS-116 mission launched December 9, 2006. The system allowed crew members to monitor their environment for problematic contaminants such as yeast, mold, and even E.coli, and salmonella. Once LOCAD-PTS reached the ISS, the Marshall team continued to manage the experiment, monitoring the study from a console in the Payload Operations Center at MSFC. The results of these studies will help NASA researchers refine the technology for future Moon and Mars missions. (NASA/MSFC/D.Stoffer)

Ultra-high-speed wavelength conversion in a silicon photonic chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hu, Hao; Ji, Hua; Galili, Michael

2011-01-01

We have successfully demonstrated all-optical wavelength conversion of a 640-Gbit/s line-rate return-to-zero differential phase-shift keying (RZ-DPSK) signal based on low-power four wave mixing (FWM) in a silicon photonic chip with a switching energy of only ~110 fJ/bit. The waveguide dispersion...... of the silicon nanowire is nano-engineered to optimize phase matching for FWM and the switching power used for the signal processing is low enough to reduce nonlinear absorption from twophoton- absorption (TPA). These results demonstrate that high-speed wavelength conversion is achievable in silicon chips...

Digital pulse processing techniques for high resolution amplitude measurement of radiation detector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Singhai, P.; Roy, A.; Dhara, P.; Chatterjee, S.

2012-01-01

The digital pulse processing techniques for high resolution amplitude measurement of radiation detector pulse is an effective replacement of expensive and bulky analog processing as the digital domain offers higher channel density and at the same time it is cheaper. We have demonstrated a prototype digital setup with highspeed sampling ADC with sampling frequency of 80-125 MHz followed by series of IIR filters for pulse shaping in a trigger-less acquisition mode. The IIR filters, peak detection algorithm and the data write-out logic was written on VHDL and implemented on FPGA. We used CAMAC as the read out platform. In conjunction with the full hardware implementation we also used a mixed platform with VME digitizer card with raw-sample read out using C code. The rationale behind this mixed platform is to test out various filter algorithms quickly on C and also to benchmark the performance of the chip level ADCs against the standard commercial digitizer in terms of noise or resolution. The paper describes implementation of both the methods with performance obtained in both the methods. (author)

Integrated microelectronic capacitive readout subsystem for lab-on-a-chip applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spathis, Christos; Georgakopoulou, Konstantina; Petrellis, Nikos; Efstathiou, Konstantinos; Birbas, Alexios

2014-01-01

A mixed-signal capacitive biosensor readout system is presented with its main readout functionality embedded in an integrated circuit, compatible with complementary metal oxide semiconductor-type biosensors. The system modularity allows its usage as a consumable since it eventually leads to a system-on-chip where sensor and readout circuitry are hosted on the same die. In this work, a constant current source is used for measuring the input capacitance. Compared to most capacitive biosensor readout circuits, this method offers the convenience of adjusting both the range and the resolution, depending on the requirements dictated by the application. The chip consumes less than 5 mW of power and the die area is 0.06 mm 2 . It shows a broad input capacitance range (capable of measuring bio-capacitances from 6 pF to 9.8 nF), configurable resolution (down to 1 fF), robustness to various biological experiments and good linearity. The integrated nature of the readout system is proven to be sufficient both for one-time in situ (consumable-type) bio-measurements and its incorporation into a point-of-care system. (paper)

Atom chips: mesoscopic physics with cold atoms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krueger, P.; Wildermuth, S.; Hofferberth, S.; Haller, E.; GAllego Garcia, D.; Schmiedmayer, J.

2005-01-01

Full text: Cold neutral atoms can be controlled and manipulated in microscopic potentials near surfaces of atom chips. These integrated micro-devices combine the known techniques of atom optics with the capabilities of well established micro- and nanofabrication technology. In analogy to electronic microchips and integrated fiber optics, the concept of atom chips is suitable to explore the domain of mesoscopic physics with matter waves. We use current and charge carrying structures to form complex potentials with high spatial resolution only microns from the surface. In particular, atoms can be confined to an essentially one-dimensional motion. In this talk, we will give an overview of our experiments studying the manipulation of both thermal atoms and BECs on atom chips. First experiments in the quasi one-dimensional regime will be presented. These experiments profit from strongly reduced residual disorder potentials caused by imperfections of the chip fabrication with respect to previously published experiments. This is due to our purely lithographic fabrication technique that proves to be advantageous over electroplating. We have used one dimensionally confined BECs as an ultra-sensitive probe to characterize these potentials. These smooth potentials allow us to explore various aspects of the physics of degenerate quantum gases in low dimensions. (author)

Computational On-Chip Imaging of Nanoparticles and Biomolecules using Ultraviolet Light.

Science.gov (United States)

Daloglu, Mustafa Ugur; Ray, Aniruddha; Gorocs, Zoltan; Xiong, Matthew; Malik, Ravinder; Bitan, Gal; McLeod, Euan; Ozcan, Aydogan

2017-03-09

Significant progress in characterization of nanoparticles and biomolecules was enabled by the development of advanced imaging equipment with extreme spatial-resolution and sensitivity. To perform some of these analyses outside of well-resourced laboratories, it is necessary to create robust and cost-effective alternatives to existing high-end laboratory-bound imaging and sensing equipment. Towards this aim, we have designed a holographic on-chip microscope operating at an ultraviolet illumination wavelength (UV) of 266 nm. The increased forward scattering from nanoscale objects at this short wavelength has enabled us to detect individual sub-30 nm nanoparticles over a large field-of-view of >16 mm 2 using an on-chip imaging platform, where the sample is placed at ≤0.5 mm away from the active area of an opto-electronic sensor-array, without any lenses in between. The strong absorption of this UV wavelength by biomolecules including nucleic acids and proteins has further enabled high-contrast imaging of nanoscopic aggregates of biomolecules, e.g., of enzyme Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase, abnormal aggregation of which is linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - a fatal neurodegenerative disease. This UV-based wide-field computational imaging platform could be valuable for numerous applications in biomedical sciences and environmental monitoring, including disease diagnostics, viral load measurements as well as air- and water-quality assessment.

Computational On-Chip Imaging of Nanoparticles and Biomolecules using Ultraviolet Light

KAUST Repository

Daloglu, Mustafa Ugur

2017-03-09

Significant progress in characterization of nanoparticles and biomolecules was enabled by the development of advanced imaging equipment with extreme spatial-resolution and sensitivity. To perform some of these analyses outside of well-resourced laboratories, it is necessary to create robust and cost-effective alternatives to existing high-end laboratory-bound imaging and sensing equipment. Towards this aim, we have designed a holographic on-chip microscope operating at an ultraviolet illumination wavelength (UV) of 266 nm. The increased forward scattering from nanoscale objects at this short wavelength has enabled us to detect individual sub-30 nm nanoparticles over a large field-of-view of >16 mm2 using an on-chip imaging platform, where the sample is placed at ≤0.5 mm away from the active area of an opto-electronic sensor-array, without any lenses in between. The strong absorption of this UV wavelength by biomolecules including nucleic acids and proteins has further enabled high-contrast imaging of nanoscopic aggregates of biomolecules, e.g., of enzyme Cu/Zn-superoxide dismutase, abnormal aggregation of which is linked to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) - a fatal neurodegenerative disease. This UV-based wide-field computational imaging platform could be valuable for numerous applications in biomedical sciences and environmental monitoring, including disease diagnostics, viral load measurements as well as air- and water-quality assessment.

Analysis of the impact of spatial resolution on land/water classifications using high-resolution aerial imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Enwright, Nicholas M.; Jones, William R.; Garber, Adrienne L.; Keller, Matthew J.

2014-01-01

Long-term monitoring efforts often use remote sensing to track trends in habitat or landscape conditions over time. To most appropriately compare observations over time, long-term monitoring efforts strive for consistency in methods. Thus, advances and changes in technology over time can present a challenge. For instance, modern camera technology has led to an increasing availability of very high-resolution imagery (i.e. submetre and metre) and a shift from analogue to digital photography. While numerous studies have shown that image resolution can impact the accuracy of classifications, most of these studies have focused on the impacts of comparing spatial resolution changes greater than 2 m. Thus, a knowledge gap exists on the impacts of minor changes in spatial resolution (i.e. submetre to about 1.5 m) in very high-resolution aerial imagery (i.e. 2 m resolution or less). This study compared the impact of spatial resolution on land/water classifications of an area dominated by coastal marsh vegetation in Louisiana, USA, using 1:12,000 scale colour-infrared analogue aerial photography (AAP) scanned at four different dot-per-inch resolutions simulating ground sample distances (GSDs) of 0.33, 0.54, 1, and 2 m. Analysis of the impact of spatial resolution on land/water classifications was conducted by exploring various spatial aspects of the classifications including density of waterbodies and frequency distributions in waterbody sizes. This study found that a small-magnitude change (1–1.5 m) in spatial resolution had little to no impact on the amount of water classified (i.e. percentage mapped was less than 1.5%), but had a significant impact on the mapping of very small waterbodies (i.e. waterbodies ≤ 250 m2). These findings should interest those using temporal image classifications derived from very high-resolution aerial photography as a component of long-term monitoring programs.

A High-Throughput, High-Accuracy System-Level Simulation Framework for System on Chips

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guanyi Sun

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Today's System-on-Chips (SoCs design is extremely challenging because it involves complicated design tradeoffs and heterogeneous design expertise. To explore the large solution space, system architects have to rely on system-level simulators to identify an optimized SoC architecture. In this paper, we propose a system-level simulation framework, System Performance Simulation Implementation Mechanism, or SPSIM. Based on SystemC TLM2.0, the framework consists of an executable SoC model, a simulation tool chain, and a modeling methodology. Compared with the large body of existing research in this area, this work is aimed at delivering a high simulation throughput and, at the same time, guaranteeing a high accuracy on real industrial applications. Integrating the leading TLM techniques, our simulator can attain a simulation speed that is not slower than that of the hardware execution by a factor of 35 on a set of real-world applications. SPSIM incorporates effective timing models, which can achieve a high accuracy after hardware-based calibration. Experimental results on a set of mobile applications proved that the difference between the simulated and measured results of timing performance is within 10%, which in the past can only be attained by cycle-accurate models.

A new PET detector concept for compact preclinical high-resolution hybrid MR-PET

Science.gov (United States)

Berneking, Arne; Gola, Alberto; Ferri, Alessandro; Finster, Felix; Rucatti, Daniele; Paternoster, Giovanni; Jon Shah, N.; Piemonte, Claudio; Lerche, Christoph

2018-04-01

This work presents a new PET detector concept for compact preclinical hybrid MR-PET. The detector concept is based on Linearly-Graded SiPM produced with current FBK RGB-HD technology. One 7.75 mm x 7.75 mm large sensor chip is coupled with optical grease to a black coated 8 mm x 8 mm large and 3 mm thick monolithic LYSO crystal. The readout is obtained from four readout channels with the linear encoding based on integrated resistors and the Center of Gravity approach. To characterize the new detector concept, the spatial and energy resolutions were measured. Therefore, the measurement setup was prepared to radiate a collimated beam to 25 different points perpendicular to the monolithic scintillator crystal. Starting in the center point of the crystal at 0 mm / 0 mm and sampling a grid with a pitch of 1.75 mm, all significant points of the detector were covered by the collimator beam. The measured intrinsic spatial resolution (FWHM) was 0.74 +/- 0.01 mm in x- and 0.69 +/- 0.01 mm in the y-direction at the center of the detector. At the same point, the measured energy resolution (FWHM) was 13.01 +/- 0.05 %. The mean intrinsic spatial resolution (FWHM) over the whole detector was 0.80 +/- 0.28 mm in x- and 0.72 +/- 0.19 mm in y-direction. The energy resolution (FWHM) of the detector was between 13 and 17.3 % with an average energy resolution of 15.7 +/- 1.0 %. Due to the reduced thickness, the sensitivity of this gamma detector is low but still higher than pixelated designs with the same thickness due to the monolithic crystals. Combining compact design, high spatial resolution, and high sensitivity, the detector concept is particularly suitable for applications where the scanner bore size is limited and high resolution is required - as is the case in small animal hybrid MR-PET.

On-chip Magnetic Separation and Cell Encapsulation in Droplets

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, A.; Byvank, T.; Bharde, A.; Miller, B. L.; Chalmers, J. J.; Sooryakumar, R.; Chang, W.-J.; Bashir, R.

2012-02-01

The demand for high-throughput single cell assays is gaining importance because of the heterogeneity of many cell suspensions, even after significant initial sorting. These suspensions may display cell-to-cell variability at the gene expression level that could impact single cell functional genomics, cancer, stem-cell research and drug screening. The on-chip monitoring of individual cells in an isolated environment could prevent cross-contamination, provide high recovery yield and ability to study biological traits at a single cell level These advantages of on-chip biological experiments contrast to conventional methods, which require bulk samples that provide only averaged information on cell metabolism. We report on a device that integrates microfluidic technology with a magnetic tweezers array to combine the functionality of separation and encapsulation of objects such as immunomagnetically labeled cells or magnetic beads into pico-liter droplets on the same chip. The ability to control the separation throughput that is independent of the hydrodynamic droplet generation rate allows the encapsulation efficiency to be optimized. The device can potentially be integrated with on-chip labeling and/or bio-detection to become a powerful single-cell analysis device.

Cache-aware network-on-chip for chip multiprocessors

Science.gov (United States)

Tatas, Konstantinos; Kyriacou, Costas; Dekoulis, George; Demetriou, Demetris; Avraam, Costas; Christou, Anastasia

2009-05-01

This paper presents the hardware prototype of a Network-on-Chip (NoC) for a chip multiprocessor that provides support for cache coherence, cache prefetching and cache-aware thread scheduling. A NoC with support to these cache related mechanisms can assist in improving systems performance by reducing the cache miss ratio. The presented multi-core system employs the Data-Driven Multithreading (DDM) model of execution. In DDM thread scheduling is done according to data availability, thus the system is aware of the threads to be executed in the near future. This characteristic of the DDM model allows for cache aware thread scheduling and cache prefetching. The NoC prototype is a crossbar switch with output buffering that can support a cache-aware 4-node chip multiprocessor. The prototype is built on the Xilinx ML506 board equipped with a Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA.

CMOS foveal image sensor chip

Science.gov (United States)

Bandera, Cesar (Inventor); Scott, Peter (Inventor); Sridhar, Ramalingam (Inventor); Xia, Shu (Inventor)

2002-01-01

A foveal image sensor integrated circuit comprising a plurality of CMOS active pixel sensors arranged both within and about a central fovea region of the chip. The pixels in the central fovea region have a smaller size than the pixels arranged in peripheral rings about the central region. A new photocharge normalization scheme and associated circuitry normalizes the output signals from the different size pixels in the array. The pixels are assembled into a multi-resolution rectilinear foveal image sensor chip using a novel access scheme to reduce the number of analog RAM cells needed. Localized spatial resolution declines monotonically with offset from the imager's optical axis, analogous to biological foveal vision.

High-throughput on-chip in vivo neural regeneration studies using femtosecond laser nano-surgery and microfluidics

Science.gov (United States)

Rohde, Christopher B.; Zeng, Fei; Gilleland, Cody; Samara, Chrysanthi; Yanik, Mehmet F.

2009-02-01

In recent years, the advantages of using small invertebrate animals as model systems for human disease have become increasingly apparent and have resulted in three Nobel Prizes in medicine or chemistry during the last six years for studies conducted on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). The availability of a wide array of species-specific genetic techniques, along with the transparency of the worm and its ability to grow in minute volumes make C. elegans an extremely powerful model organism. We present a suite of technologies for complex high-throughput whole-animal genetic and drug screens. We demonstrate a high-speed microfluidic sorter that can isolate and immobilize C. elegans in a well-defined geometry, an integrated chip containing individually addressable screening chambers for incubation and exposure of individual animals to biochemical compounds, and a device for delivery of compound libraries in standard multiwell plates to microfluidic devices. The immobilization stability obtained by these devices is comparable to that of chemical anesthesia and the immobilization process does not affect lifespan, progeny production, or other aspects of animal health. The high-stability enables the use of a variety of key optical techniques. We use this to demonstrate femtosecond-laser nanosurgery and three-dimensional multiphoton microscopy. Used alone or in various combinations these devices facilitate a variety of high-throughput assays using whole animals, including mutagenesis and RNAi and drug screens at subcellular resolution, as well as high-throughput high-precision manipulations such as femtosecond-laser nanosurgery for large-scale in vivo neural degeneration and regeneration studies.

Multi-Pixel Photon Counters for Optofluidic Characterization of Particles and Microalgae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pouya Asrar

2015-06-01

Full Text Available We have developed an optofluidic biosensor to study microscale particles and different species of microalgae. The system is comprised of a microchannel with a set of chevron-shaped grooves. The chevrons allows for hydrodynamic focusing of the core stream in the center using a sheath fluid. The device is equipped with a new generation of highly sensitive photodetectors, multi-pixel photon counter (MPPC, with high gain values and an extremely small footprint. Two different sizes of high intensity fluorescent microspheres and three different species of algae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii strain 21 gr, Chlamydomonas suppressor, and Chlorella sorokiniana were studied. The forward scattering emissions generated by samples passing through the interrogation region were carried through a multimode fiber, located in 135 degree with respect to the excitation fiber, and detected by a MPPC. The signal outputs obtained from each sample were collected using a data acquisition system and utilized for further statistical analysis. Larger particles or cells demonstrated larger peak height and width, and consequently larger peak area. The average signal output (integral of the peak for Chlamydomonas reinhardtii strain 21 gr, Chlamydomonas suppressor, and Chlorella sorokiniana falls between the values found for the 3.2 and 10.2 μm beads. Different types of algae were also successfully characterized.

Analytical thermal modelling of multilayered active embedded chips into high density electronic board

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monier-Vinard Eric

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The recent Printed Wiring Board embedding technology is an attractive packaging alternative that allows a very high degree of miniaturization by stacking multiple layers of embedded chips. This disruptive technology will further increase the thermal management challenges by concentrating heat dissipation at the heart of the organic substrate structure. In order to allow the electronic designer to early analyze the limits of the power dissipation, depending on the embedded chip location inside the board, as well as the thermal interactions with other buried chips or surface mounted electronic components, an analytical thermal modelling approach was established. The presented work describes the comparison of the analytical model results with the numerical models of various embedded chips configurations. The thermal behaviour predictions of the analytical model, found to be within ±10% of relative error, demonstrate its relevance for modelling high density electronic board. Besides the approach promotes a practical solution to study the potential gain to conduct a part of heat flow from the components towards a set of localized cooled board pads.

Fusion of lens-free microscopy and mobile-phone microscopy images for high-color-accuracy and high-resolution pathology imaging

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yibo; Wu, Yichen; Zhang, Yun; Ozcan, Aydogan

2017-03-01

Digital pathology and telepathology require imaging tools with high-throughput, high-resolution and accurate color reproduction. Lens-free on-chip microscopy based on digital in-line holography is a promising technique towards these needs, as it offers a wide field of view (FOV >20 mm2) and high resolution with a compact, low-cost and portable setup. Color imaging has been previously demonstrated by combining reconstructed images at three discrete wavelengths in the red, green and blue parts of the visible spectrum, i.e., the RGB combination method. However, this RGB combination method is subject to color distortions. To improve the color performance of lens-free microscopy for pathology imaging, here we present a wavelet-based color fusion imaging framework, termed "digital color fusion microscopy" (DCFM), which digitally fuses together a grayscale lens-free microscope image taken at a single wavelength and a low-resolution and low-magnification color-calibrated image taken by a lens-based microscope, which can simply be a mobile phone based cost-effective microscope. We show that the imaging results of an H&E stained breast cancer tissue slide with the DCFM technique come very close to a color-calibrated microscope using a 40x objective lens with 0.75 NA. Quantitative comparison showed 2-fold reduction in the mean color distance using the DCFM method compared to the RGB combination method, while also preserving the high-resolution features of the lens-free microscope. Due to the cost-effective and field-portable nature of both lens-free and mobile-phone microscopy techniques, their combination through the DCFM framework could be useful for digital pathology and telepathology applications, in low-resource and point-of-care settings.

High Voltage Dielectrophoretic and Magnetophoretic Hybrid Integrated Circuit / Microfluidic Chip

Science.gov (United States)

Issadore, David; Franke, Thomas; Brown, Keith A.; Hunt, Thomas P.; Westervelt, Robert M.

2010-01-01

A hybrid integrated circuit (IC) / microfluidic chip is presented that independently and simultaneously traps and moves microscopic objects suspended in fluid using both electric and magnetic fields. This hybrid chip controls the location of dielectric objects, such as living cells and drops of fluid, on a 60 × 61 array of pixels that are 30 × 38 μm2 in size, each of which can be individually addressed with a 50 V peak-to-peak, DC to 10 MHz radio frequency voltage. These high voltage pixels produce electric fields above the chip’s surface with a magnitude , resulting in strong dielectrophoresis (DEP) forces . Underneath the array of DEP pixels there is a magnetic matrix that consists of two perpendicular sets of 60 metal wires running across the chip. Each wire can be sourced with 120 mA to trap and move magnetically susceptible objects using magnetophoresis (MP). The DEP pixel array and magnetic matrix can be used simultaneously to apply forces to microscopic objects, such as living cells or lipid vesicles, that are tagged with magnetic nanoparticles. The capabilities of the hybrid IC / microfluidic chip demonstrated in this paper provide important building blocks for a platform for biological and chemical applications. PMID:20625468

Nanophotonic lab-on-a-chip platforms including novel bimodal interferometers, microfluidics and grating couplers.

Science.gov (United States)

Duval, Daphné; González-Guerrero, Ana Belén; Dante, Stefania; Osmond, Johann; Monge, Rosa; Fernández, Luis J; Zinoviev, Kirill E; Domínguez, Carlos; Lechuga, Laura M

2012-05-08

One of the main limitations for achieving truly lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices for point-of-care diagnosis is the incorporation of the "on-chip" detection. Indeed, most of the state-of-the-art LOC devices usually require complex read-out instrumentation, losing the main advantages of portability and simplicity. In this context, we present our last advances towards the achievement of a portable and label-free LOC platform with highly sensitive "on-chip" detection by using nanophotonic biosensors. Bimodal waveguide interferometers fabricated by standard silicon processes have been integrated with sub-micronic grating couplers for efficient light in-coupling, showing a phase resolution of 6.6 × 10(-4)× 2π rad and a limit of detection of 3.3 × 10(-7) refractive index unit (RIU) in bulk. A 3D network of SU-8 polymer microfluidics monolithically assembled at the wafer-level was included, ensuring perfect sealing and compact packaging. To overcome some of the drawbacks inherent to interferometric read-outs, a novel all-optical wavelength modulation system has been implemented, providing a linear response and a direct read-out of the phase variation. Sensitivity, specificity and reproducibility of the wavelength modulated BiMW sensor has been demonstrated through the label-free immunodetection of the human hormone hTSH at picomolar level using a reliable biofunctionalization process.

Mapping three-dimensional temperature in microfluidic chip.

KAUST Repository

Wu, Jinbo

2013-11-25

Three-dimensional (3D) temperature mapping method with high spatial resolution and acquisition rate is of vital importance in evaluating thermal processes in micro-environment. We have synthesized a new temperature-sensitive functional material (Rhodamine B functionalized Polydimethylsiloxane). By performing optical sectioning of this material, we established an advanced method for visualizing the micro-scale 3D thermal distribution inside microfluidic chip with down to 10 ms temporal resolution and 2 ~ 6 °C temperature resolution depending the capture parameters. This method is successfully applied to monitor the local temperature variation throughout micro-droplet heat transfer process and further reveal exothermic nanoliter droplet reactions to be unique and milder than bench-top experiment.

Study on irradiation effects of nucleus electromagnetic pulse on single chip computer system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hou Minsheng; Liu Shanghe; Wang Shuping

2001-01-01

Intense electromagnetic pulse, namely nucleus electromagnetic pulse (NEMP), lightning electromagnetic pulse (LEMP) and high power microwave (HPM), can disturb and destroy the single chip computer system. To study this issue, the authors made irradiation experiments by NEMPs generated by gigahertz transversal electromagnetic (GTEM) Cell. The experiments show that shutdown, restarting, communication errors of the single chip microcomputer system would occur when it was irradiated by the NEMPs. Based on the experiments, the cause on the effects on the single chip microcomputer system is discussed

Electro-optical phenomena based on ionic liquids in an optofluidic waveguide.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Xiaodong; Shao, Qunfeng; Cao, Pengfei; Kong, Weijie; Sun, Jiqian; Zhang, Xiaoping; Deng, Youquan

2015-03-07

An optofluidic waveguide with a simple two-terminal electrode geometry, when filled with an ionic liquid (IL), forms a lateral electric double-layer capacitor under a direct current (DC) electric field, which allows the realization of an extremely high carrier density in the vicinity of the electrode surface and terminals to modulate optical transmission at room temperature under low voltage operation (0 to 4 V). The unique electro-optical phenomenon of ILs was investigated at three wavelengths (663, 1330 and 1530 nm) using two waveguide geometries. Strong electro-optical modulations with different efficiencies were observed at the two near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths, while no detectable modulation was observed at 663 nm. The first waveguide geometry was used to investigate the position-dependent modulation along the waveguide; the strongest modulation was observed in the vicinity of the electrode terminal. The modulation phase is associated with the applied voltage polarity, which increases in the vicinity of the negative electrode and decreases at the positive electrode. The second waveguide geometry was used to improve the modulation efficiency. Meanwhile, the electro-optical modulations of seven ILs were compared at an applied voltage ranging from ±2 V to ±3.5 V. The results reveal that the modulation amplitude and response speed increase with increasing applied voltage, as well as the electrical conductivity of ILs. Despite the fact that the response speed isn't fast due to the high ionic density of ILs, the modulation amplitude can reach up to 6.0 dB when a higher voltage (U = ±3.5 V) is applied for the IL [Emim][BF4]. Finally, the physical explanation of the phenomenon was discussed. The effect of the change in IL structure on the electro-optical phenomena was investigated in another new experiment. The results reveal that the electro-optical phenomenon is probably caused mainly by the change in carrier concentration (ion redistribution near charged

On-chip highly sensitive saliva glucose sensing using multilayer films composed of single-walled carbon nanotubes, gold nanoparticles, and glucose oxidase

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenjun Zhang

2015-06-01

Full Text Available It is very important for human health to rapidly and accurately detect glucose levels in biological environments, especially for diabetes mellitus. We proposed a simple, highly sensitive, accurate, convenient, low-cost, and disposable glucose biosensor on a single chip. A working (sensor electrode, a counter electrode, and a reference electrode are integrated on a single chip through micro-fabrication. The working electrode is functionalized through a layer-by-layer (LBL assembly of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs and multilayer films composed of chitosan (CS, gold nanoparticles (GNp, and glucose oxidase (GOx to obtain high sensitivity and accuracy. The glucose sensor has following features: (1 direct electron transfer between GOx and the electrode surface; (2 on-a-chip; (3 glucose detection down to 0.1 mg/dL (5.6 μM; (4 good sensing linearity over 0.017–0.81 mM; (5 high sensitivity (61.4 μA/mM-cm2 with a small reactive area (8 mm2; (6 fast response; (7 high reproducibility and repeatability; (8 reliable and accurate saliva glucose detection. Thus, this disposable biosensor will be an alternative for real time tracking of glucose levels from body fluids, e.g. saliva, in a noninvasive, pain-free, accurate, and continuous way. In addition to being used as a disposable glucose biosensor, it also provides a suitable platform for on-chip electrochemical sensing for other chemical agents and biomolecules.

Lab-on-a-Chip Based Protein Crystallization

Science.gov (United States)

vanderWoerd, Mark J.; Brasseur, Michael M.; Spearing, Scott F.; Whitaker, Ann F. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

We are developing a novel technique with which we will grow protein crystals in very small volumes, utilizing chip-based, microfluidic ("LabChip") technology. This development, which is a collaborative effort between NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and Caliper Technologies Corporation, promises a breakthrough in the field of protein crystal growth. Our initial results obtained from two model proteins, Lysozyme and Thaumatin, show that it is feasible to dispense and adequately mix protein and precipitant solutions on a nano-liter scale. The mixtures have shown crystal growth in volumes in the range of 10 nanoliters to 5 microliters. In addition, large diffraction quality crystals were obtained by this method. X-ray data from these crystals were shown to be of excellent quality. Our future efforts will include the further development of protein crystal growth with LabChip(trademark) technology for more complex systems. We will initially address the batch growth method, followed by the vapor diffusion method and the liquid-liquid diffusion method. The culmination of these chip developments is to lead to an on orbit protein crystallization facility on the International Space Station. Structural biologists will be invited to utilize the on orbit Iterative Biological Crystallization facility to grow high quality macromolecular crystals in microgravity.

Manually operatable on-chip bistable pneumatic microstructures for microfluidic manipulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Arnold; Pan, Tingrui

2014-09-07

Bistable microvalves are of particular interest because of their distinct nature of requiring energy consumption only during the transition between the open and closed states. This characteristic can be highly advantageous in reducing the number of external inputs and the complexity of control circuitries since microfluidic devices as contemporary lab-on-a-chip platforms are transferring from research settings to low-resource environments with high integrability and a small form factor. In this paper, we first present manually operatable, on-chip bistable pneumatic microstructures (BPMs) for microfluidic manipulation. The structural design and operation of the BPM devices can be readily integrated into any pneumatically powered microfluidic network consisting of pneumatic and fluidic channels. It is mainly composed of a vacuum activation chamber (VAC) and a pressure release chamber (PRC), of which users have direct control through finger pressing to switch either to the bistable vacuum state (VS) or the atmospheric state (AS). We have integrated multiple BPM devices into a 4-to-1 microfluidic multiplexor to demonstrate on-chip digital flow switching from different sources. Furthermore, we have shown its clinical relevance in a point-of-care diagnostic chip that processes blood samples to identify the distinct blood types (A/B/O) on-chip.

Wireless Interconnect in Multilayer Chip-Area-Networks for Future Multimaterial High-Speed Systems Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oluwole John Famoriji

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Wireless chip area network which enables wireless communication among chips fosters development in wireless communication and it is envisioned that future hardware system and developmental functionality will require multimaterial. However, the traditional system architecture is limited by channel bandwidth-limited interfaces, throughput, delay, and power consumption and as a result limits the efficiency and system performance. Wireless interconnect has been proposed to overcome scalability and performance limitations of multihop wired architectures. Characterization and modeling of channel become more important for specification of choice of modulation or demodulation techniques, channel bandwidths, and other mitigation techniques for channel distortion and interference such as equalization. This paper presents an analytical channel model for characterization, modeling, and analysis of wireless chip-to-chip or interchip interconnects in wireless chip area network with a particular focus on large-scale analysis. The proposed model accounts for both static and dynamic channel losses/attenuation in high-speed systems. Simulation and evaluation of the model with experimental data conducted in a computer desktop casing depict that proposed model matched measurement data very closely. The transmission of EM waves via a medium introduces molecular absorption due to various molecules within the material substance. This model is a representative of channel loss profile in wireless chip-area-network communication and good for future electronic circuits and high-speed systems design.

Application of the DRS chip for fast waveform digitizing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ritt, Stefan, E-mail: stefan.ritt@psi.c [PSI, CH-5232 Villigen (Switzerland); Dinapoli, Roberto; Hartmann, Ueli [PSI, CH-5232 Villigen (Switzerland)

2010-11-01

The high demands of modern experiments in fast waveform digitizing led to the development of a whole family of switched capacitor arrays (SCA), called the Domino Ring Sampler (DRS). The most recent version, DRS4, is produced in a radiation hard 0.25 {mu}m CMOS process, and is capable of digitizing 9 differential input channels at sampling rates of up to 6 Giga-samples per second (GSPS) with an analogue bandwidth of 950 MHz (-3 dB). The channel depth can be configured between 1024 and 8192 cells, and the signal-to-noise ratio allows a resolution equivalent to more than 11 bits. Using an interleaved sampling technique, sampling rates up to 48 GSPS are possible. Compared with the previous versions, the DRS4 chip contains several improvements such as an on-chip PLL for sampling-frequency stabilization and various mechanisms to reduce the read out dead-time. The high bandwidth, low power consumption and short readout time make this chip attractive for many experiments, replacing traditional ADCs and TDCs. This includes time-of-flight detectors, cosmic gamma ray observatories, PET scanners and industrial applications.

A novel on-chip high to low voltage power conversion circuit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Hui; Wang Songlin; Mou Zaixin; Guo Baolong; Lai Xinquan; Ye Qiang; Li Xianrui

2009-01-01

A novel power supply transform technique for high voltage IC based on the TSMC 0.6 μm BCD process is achieved. An adjustable bandgap voltage reference is presented which is different from the traditional power supply transform technique. It can be used as an internal power supply for high voltage IC by using the push-pull output stage to enhance its load capability. High-order temperature compensated circuit is designed to ensure the precision of the reference. Only 0.01 mm 2 area is occupied using this novel power supply technique. Compared with traditional technique, 50% of the area is saved, 40% quiescent power loss is decreased, and the temperature coefficient of the reference is only 4.48 ppm/deg. C. Compared with the traditional LDO (low dropout) regulator, this power conversion architecture does not need external output capacitance and decreases the chip-pin and external components, so the PCB area and design cost are also decreased. The testing results show that this circuit works well.

A novel on-chip high to low voltage power conversion circuit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang Hui; Wang Songlin; Mou Zaixin; Guo Baolong [Institute of Mechano-electronic Engineering, Xidian University, Xi' an 71007 (China); Lai Xinquan; Ye Qiang; Li Xianrui, E-mail: whui94@126.co [Institute of Electronic CAD, Xidian University, Xi' an 710071 (China)

2009-03-15

A novel power supply transform technique for high voltage IC based on the TSMC 0.6 mum BCD process is achieved. An adjustable bandgap voltage reference is presented which is different from the traditional power supply transform technique. It can be used as an internal power supply for high voltage IC by using the push-pull output stage to enhance its load capability. High-order temperature compensated circuit is designed to ensure the precision of the reference. Only 0.01 mm{sup 2} area is occupied using this novel power supply technique. Compared with traditional technique, 50% of the area is saved, 40% quiescent power loss is decreased, and the temperature coefficient of the reference is only 4.48 ppm/deg. C. Compared with the traditional LDO (low dropout) regulator, this power conversion architecture does not need external output capacitance and decreases the chip-pin and external components, so the PCB area and design cost are also decreased. The testing results show that this circuit works well.

Workshop on high-resolution, large-acceptance spectrometers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zeidman, B. (ed.)

1981-01-01

The purpose of the Workshop on High-Resolution, Large-Acceptance Spectrometers was to provide a means for exchange of information among those actively engaged in the design and construction of these new spectrometers. Thirty-seven papers were prepared for the data base.

Microfluidics and photonics for Bio-System-on-a-Chip: a review of advancements in technology towards a microfluidic flow cytometry chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Godin, Jessica; Chen, Chun-Hao; Cho, Sung Hwan; Qiao, Wen; Tsai, Frank; Lo, Yu-Hwa

2008-10-01

Microfluidics and photonics come together to form a field commonly referred to as 'optofluidics'. Flow cytometry provides the field with a technology base from which both microfluidic and photonic components be developed and integrated into a useful device. This article reviews some of the more recent developments to familiarize a reader with the current state of the technologies and also highlights the requirements of the device and how researchers are working to meet these needs.

Characterization of AGIPD1.0: The full scale chip

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mezza, D., E-mail: davide.mezza@psi.ch [Paul-Scherrer-Institute (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland); Allahgholi, A.; Arino-Estrada, G.; Bianco, L.; Delfs, A. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Dinapoli, R. [Paul-Scherrer-Institute (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland); Goettlicher, P. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Graafsma, H. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall (Sweden); Greiffenberg, D. [Paul-Scherrer-Institute (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland); Hirsemann, H.; Jack, S. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Klanner, R. [University of Hamburg, Hamburg (Germany); Klyuev, A. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Krueger, H. [University of Bonn, Bonn (Germany); Marras, A. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Mozzanica, A. [Paul-Scherrer-Institute (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland); Poehlsen, J. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Schmitt, B. [Paul-Scherrer-Institute (PSI), Villigen (Switzerland); Schwandt, J. [University of Hamburg, Hamburg (Germany); Sheviakov, I. [Deutsches Elektronensynchrotron DESY, Hamburg (Germany); and others

2016-12-01

The AGIPD (adaptive gain integrating pixel detector) detector is a high frame rate (4.5 MHz) and high dynamic range (up to 10{sup 4} ·12.4 keV photons) detector with single photon resolution (down to 4 keV taking 5σ as limit and lowest noise settings) developed for the European XFEL (XFEL.EU). This work is focused on the characterization of AGIPD1.0, which is the first full scale version of the chip. The chip is 64×64 pixels and each pixel has a size of 200×200 μm{sup 2}. Each pixel can store up to 352 images at a rate of 4.5 MHz (corresponding to 220 ns). A detailed characterization of the AGIPD1.0 chip has been performed in order to assess the main performance of the ASIC in terms of gain, noise, speed and dynamic range. From the measurements presented in this paper a good uniformity of the gain, a noise around 320 e{sup −} (rms) in standard mode and around 240 e{sup −} (rms) in high gain mode has been measured. Furthermore a detailed discussion about the non-linear behavior after the gain switching is presented with both experimental results and simulations.

Highly Sensitive and Selective Sensor Chips with Graphene-Oxide Linking Layer

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stebunov, Yury V.; Aftenieva, Olga A.; Arsenin, Aleksey V.

2015-01-01

sensor chip for SPR biosensors based on graphene-oxide linking layers. The biosensing assay model was based on a graphene oxide film containing streptavidin. The proposed sensor chip has three times higher sensitivity than the carboxymethylated dextran surface of a commercial sensor chip. Moreover...

The Design of High Performance, Low Power Triple-Track Magnetic Sensor Chip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junning Chen

2013-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a design of a high performance and low power consumption triple-track magnetic sensor chip which was fabricated in TSMC 0.35 μm CMOS process. This chip is able to simultaneously sense, decode and read out the information stored in triple-track magnetic cards. A reference voltage generating circuit, a low-cost filter circuit, a power-on reset circuit, an RC oscillator, and a pre-decoding circuit are utilized as the basic modules. The triple-track magnetic sensor chip has four states, i.e., reset, sleep, swiping card and data read-out. In sleep state, the internal RC oscillator is closed, which means that the digital part does not operate to optimize energy consumption. In order to improve decoding accuracy and expand the sensing range of the signal, two kinds of circuit are put forward, naming offset correction circuit, and tracking circuit. With these two circuits, the sensing function of this chip can be more efficiently and accurately. We simulated these circuit modules with TSMC technology library. The results showed that these modules worked well within wide range input signal. Based on these results, the layout and tape-out were carried out. The measurement results showed that the chip do function well within a wide swipe speed range, which achieved the design target.

On-chip spin-controlled orbital angular momentum directional coupling

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Zhenwei; Lei, Ting; Si, Guangyuan; Du, Luping; Lin, Jiao; Min, Changjun; Yuan, Xiaocong

2018-01-01

Optical vortex beams have many potential applications in the particle trapping, quantum encoding, optical orbital angular momentum (OAM) communications and interconnects. However, the on-chip compact OAM detection is still a big challenge. Based on a holographic configuration and a spin-dependent structure design, we propose and demonstrate an on-chip spin-controlled OAM-mode directional coupler, which can couple the OAM signal to different directions due to its topological charge. While the directional coupling function can be switched on/off by altering the spin of incident beam. Both simulation and experimental measurements verify the validity of the proposed approach. This work would benefit the on-chip OAM devices for optical communications and high dimensional quantum coding/decoding in the future.

Revisiting lab-on-a-chip technology for drug discovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Neuži, Pavel; Giselbrecht, Stefan; Länge, Kerstin; Huang, Tony Jun; Manz, Andreas

2012-08-01

The field of microfluidics or lab-on-a-chip technology aims to improve and extend the possibilities of bioassays, cell biology and biomedical research based on the idea of miniaturization. Microfluidic systems allow more accurate modelling of physiological situations for both fundamental research and drug development, and enable systematic high-volume testing for various aspects of drug discovery. Microfluidic systems are in development that not only model biological environments but also physically mimic biological tissues and organs; such 'organs on a chip' could have an important role in expediting early stages of drug discovery and help reduce reliance on animal testing. This Review highlights the latest lab-on-a-chip technologies for drug discovery and discusses the potential for future developments in this field.

Ion Chromatography-on-a-chip for Water Quality Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Kidd, R. D.; Noell, A.; Kazarians, G.; Aubrey, A. D.; Scianmarello, N.; Tai, Y.-C.

2015-01-01

We report progress towards developing a Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS)- based ion chromatograph (IC) for crewed spacecraft water analysis. This IC-chip is an offshoot of a NASA-funded effort to produce a high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC)-chip. This HPLC-chip system would require a desalting (i.e. ion chromatography) step. The complete HPLC instrument consists of the Jet Propulsion Labortory's (JPL's) quadrupole ion trap mass spectrometer integrated with a state-of-the-art MEMS liquid chromatograph (LC) system developed by the California Institute of Technology's (Caltech's) Micromachining Laboratory. The IC version of the chip consist of an electrolysis-based injector, a separation column, two electrolysis pumps for gradient generation, mixer, and a built-in conductivity detector. The HPLC version of the chip also includes a nanospray tip. The low instrument mass, coupled with its high analytical capabilities, makes the LC chip ideally suitable for wide range of applications such as trace contaminant, inorganic analytical science and, when coupled to a mass spectrometer, a macromolecular detection system for either crewed space exploration vehicles or robotic planetary missions.

Flip-chip bonded optoelectronic integration based on ultrathin silicon (UTSi) CMOS

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Sunkwang; Ho, Tawei; Zhang, Liping; Sawchuk, Alexander A.

2003-06-01

We describe the design and test of flip-chip bonded optoelectronic CMOS devices based on Peregrine Semiconductor's 0.5 micron Ultra-Thin Silicon on sapphire (UTSi) technology. The UTSi process eliminates the substrate leakage that typically results in crosstalk and reduces parasitic capacitance to the substrate, providing many benefits compared to bulk silicon CMOS. The low-loss synthetic sapphire substrate is optically transparent and has a coefficient of thermal expansion suitable for flip-chip bonding of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and detectors. We have designed two different UTSi CMOS chips. One contains a flip-chip bonded 1 x 4 photodiode array, a receiver array, a double edge triggered D-flip flop-based 2047-pattern pseudo random bit stream (PRBS) generator and a quadrature-phase LC-voltage controlled oscillator (VCO). The other chip contains a flip-chip bonded 1 x 4 VCSEL array, a driver array based on high-speed low-voltage differential signals (LVDS) and a full-balanced differential LC-VCO. Each VCSEL driver and receiver has individual input and bias voltage adjustments. Each UTSi chip is mounted on different printed circuit boards (PCBs) which have holes with about 1 mm radius for optical output and input paths through the sapphire substrate. We discuss preliminary testing of these chips.

Pixel detector readout chip

CERN Multimedia

1991-01-01

Close-up of a pixel detector readout chip. The photograph shows an aera of 1 mm x 2 mm containing 12 separate readout channels. The entire chip contains 1000 readout channels (around 80 000 transistors) covering a sensitive area of 8 mm x 5 mm. The chip has been mounted on a silicon detector to detect high energy particles.

Qubit entanglement between ring-resonator photon-pair sources on a silicon chip

Science.gov (United States)

Silverstone, J. W.; Santagati, R.; Bonneau, D.; Strain, M. J.; Sorel, M.; O'Brien, J. L.; Thompson, M. G.

2015-01-01

Entanglement—one of the most delicate phenomena in nature—is an essential resource for quantum information applications. Scalable photonic quantum devices must generate and control qubit entanglement on-chip, where quantum information is naturally encoded in photon path. Here we report a silicon photonic chip that uses resonant-enhanced photon-pair sources, spectral demultiplexers and reconfigurable optics to generate a path-entangled two-qubit state and analyse its entanglement. We show that ring-resonator-based spontaneous four-wave mixing photon-pair sources can be made highly indistinguishable and that their spectral correlations are small. We use on-chip frequency demultiplexers and reconfigurable optics to perform both quantum state tomography and the strict Bell-CHSH test, both of which confirm a high level of on-chip entanglement. This work demonstrates the integration of high-performance components that will be essential for building quantum devices and systems to harness photonic entanglement on the large scale. PMID:26245267

Method of mechanical holding of cantilever chip for tip-scan high-speed atomic force microscope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fukuda, Shingo [Department of Physics, College of Science and Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192 (Japan); Uchihashi, Takayuki; Ando, Toshio [Department of Physics, College of Science and Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192 (Japan); Bio-AFM Frontier Research Center, College of Science and Engineering, Kanazawa University, Kakuma-machi, Kanazawa 920-1192 (Japan); Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology of the Japan Science and Technology Agency, 7 Goban-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-0076 (Japan)

2015-06-15

In tip-scan atomic force microscopy (AFM) that scans a cantilever chip in the three dimensions, the chip body is held on the Z-scanner with a holder. However, this holding is not easy for high-speed (HS) AFM because the holder that should have a small mass has to be able to clamp the cantilever chip firmly without deteriorating the Z-scanner’s fast performance, and because repeated exchange of cantilever chips should not damage the Z-scanner. This is one of the reasons that tip-scan HS-AFM has not been established, despite its advantages over sample stage-scan HS-AFM. Here, we present a novel method of cantilever chip holding which meets all conditions required for tip-scan HS-AFM. The superior performance of this novel chip holding mechanism is demonstrated by imaging of the α{sub 3}β{sub 3} subcomplex of F{sub 1}-ATPase in dynamic action at ∼7 frames/s.

Scalable Motion Estimation Processor Core for Multimedia System-on-Chip Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, Yeong-Kang; Hsieh, Tian-En; Chen, Lien-Fei

2007-04-01

In this paper, we describe a high-throughput and scalable motion estimation processor architecture for multimedia system-on-chip applications. The number of processing elements (PEs) is scalable according to the variable algorithm parameters and the performance required for different applications. Using the PE rings efficiently and an intelligent memory-interleaving organization, the efficiency of the architecture can be increased. Moreover, using efficient on-chip memories and a data management technique can effectively decrease the power consumption and memory bandwidth. Techniques for reducing the number of interconnections and external memory accesses are also presented. Our results demonstrate that the proposed scalable PE-ringed architecture is a flexible and high-performance processor core in multimedia system-on-chip applications.

High speed, High resolution terahertz spectrometers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Youngchan; Yee, Dae Su; Yi, Miwoo; Ahn, Jaewook

2008-01-01

A variety of sources and methods have been developed for terahertz spectroscopy during almost two decades. Terahertz time domain spectroscopy (THz TDS)has attracted particular attention as a basic measurement method in the fields of THz science and technology. Recently, asynchronous optical sampling (AOS)THz TDS has been demonstrated, featuring rapid data acquisition and a high spectral resolution. Also, terahertz frequency comb spectroscopy (TFCS)possesses attractive features for high precision terahertz spectroscopy. In this presentation, we report on these two types of terahertz spectrometer. Our high speed, high resolution terahertz spectrometer is demonstrated using two mode locked femtosecond lasers with slightly different repetition frequencies without a mechanical delay stage. The repetition frequencies of the two femtosecond lasers are stabilized by use of two phase locked loops sharing the same reference oscillator. The time resolution of our terahertz spectrometer is measured using the cross correlation method to be 270 fs. AOS THz TDS is presented in Fig. 1, which shows a time domain waveform rapidly acquired on a 10ns time window. The inset shows a zoom into the signal with 100ps time window. The spectrum obtained by the fast Fourier Transformation (FFT)of the time domain waveform has a frequency resolution of 100MHz. The dependence of the signal to noise ratio (SNR)on the measurement time is also investigated

A Miniaturized On-Chip Colorimeter for Detecting NPK Elements.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Rui-Tao; Tao, Lu-Qi; Liu, Bo; Tian, Xiang-Guang; Mohammad, Mohammad Ali; Yang, Yi; Ren, Tian-Ling

2016-08-04

Recently, precision agriculture has become a globally attractive topic. As one of the most important factors, the soil nutrients play an important role in estimating the development of precision agriculture. Detecting the content of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) elements more efficiently is one of the key issues. In this paper, a novel chip-level colorimeter was fabricated to detect the NPK elements for the first time. A light source-microchannel photodetector in a sandwich structure was designed to realize on-chip detection. Compared with a commercial colorimeter, all key parts are based on MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System) technology so that the volume of this on-chip colorimeter can be minimized. Besides, less error and high precision are achieved. The cost of this colorimeter is two orders of magnitude less than that of a commercial one. All these advantages enable a low-cost and high-precision sensing operation in a monitoring network. The colorimeter developed herein has bright prospects for environmental and biological applications.

Solutions on high-resolution multiple configuration system sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hua; Ding, Quanxin; Guo, Chunjie; Zhou, Liwei

2014-11-01

For aim to achieve an improved resolution in modern image domain, a method of continuous zoom multiple configuration, with a core optics is attempt to establish model by novel principle on energy transfer and high accuracy localization, by which the system resolution can be improved with a level in nano meters. A comparative study on traditional vs modern methods can demonstrate that the dialectical relationship and their balance is important, among Merit function, Optimization algorithms and Model parameterization. The effect of system evaluated criterion that MTF, REA, RMS etc. can support our arguments qualitatively.

Integrated High Resolution Digital Color Light Sensor in 130 nm CMOS Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Drago Strle

2015-07-01

Full Text Available This article presents a color light detection system integrated in 130 nm CMOS technology. The sensors and corresponding electronics detect light in a CIE XYZ color luminosity space using on-chip integrated sensors without any additional process steps, high-resolution analog-to-digital converter, and dedicated DSP algorithm. The sensor consists of a set of laterally arranged integrated photodiodes that are partly covered by metal, where color separation between the photodiodes is achieved by lateral carrier diffusion together with wavelength-dependent absorption. A high resolution, hybrid, ∑∆ ADC converts each photo diode’s current into a 22-bit digital result, canceling the dark current of the photo diodes. The digital results are further processed by the DSP, which calculates normalized XYZ or RGB color and intensity parameters using linear transformations of the three photo diode responses by multiplication of the data with a transformation matrix, where the coefficients are extracted by training in combination with a pseudo-inverse operation and the least-mean square approximation. The sensor system detects the color light parameters with 22-bit accuracy, consumes less than 60 μA on average at 10 readings per second, and occupies approx. 0.8 mm2 of silicon area (including three photodiodes and the analog part of the ADC. The DSP is currently implemented on FPGA.

Integrated High Resolution Digital Color Light Sensor in 130 nm CMOS Technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Strle, Drago; Nahtigal, Uroš; Batistell, Graciele; Zhang, Vincent Chi; Ofner, Erwin; Fant, Andrea; Sturm, Johannes

2015-07-22

This article presents a color light detection system integrated in 130 nm CMOS technology. The sensors and corresponding electronics detect light in a CIE XYZ color luminosity space using on-chip integrated sensors without any additional process steps, high-resolution analog-to-digital converter, and dedicated DSP algorithm. The sensor consists of a set of laterally arranged integrated photodiodes that are partly covered by metal, where color separation between the photodiodes is achieved by lateral carrier diffusion together with wavelength-dependent absorption. A high resolution, hybrid, ∑∆ ADC converts each photo diode's current into a 22-bit digital result, canceling the dark current of the photo diodes. The digital results are further processed by the DSP, which calculates normalized XYZ or RGB color and intensity parameters using linear transformations of the three photo diode responses by multiplication of the data with a transformation matrix, where the coefficients are extracted by training in combination with a pseudo-inverse operation and the least-mean square approximation. The sensor system detects the color light parameters with 22-bit accuracy, consumes less than 60 μA on average at 10 readings per second, and occupies approx. 0.8 mm(2) of silicon area (including three photodiodes and the analog part of the ADC). The DSP is currently implemented on FPGA.

Detection and classification of ebola on microfluidic chips

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Xue; Jin, Xiangyu; Fan, Yunqian; Huang, Qin; Kou, Yue; Zu, Guo; Huang, Shiguang; Liu, Xiaosheng; Huang, Guoliang

2016-10-01

Point-of-care testing (POCT) for an infectious diseases is the prerequisite to control of the disease and limitation of its spread. A microfluidic chip for detection and classification of four strains of Ebola virus was developed and evaluated. This assay was based on reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) and specific primers for Ebola Zaire virus, Ebola Sudan virus, Ebola Tai Forest virus and Ebola Bundibugyo virus were designed. The sensitivity of the microfluidic chip was under 103 copies per milliliter, as determined by ten repeated tests. This assay is unique in its ability to enable diagnosis of the Ebola infections and simultaneous typing of Ebola virus on a single chip. It offers short reaction time, ease of use and high specificity. These features should enable POCT in remote area during outbreaks of Ebola virus.

Globally Stable Microresonator Turing Pattern Formation for Coherent High-Power THz Radiation On-Chip

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Shu-Wei; Yang, Jinghui; Yang, Shang-Hua; Yu, Mingbin; Kwong, Dim-Lee; Zelevinsky, T.; Jarrahi, Mona; Wong, Chee Wei

2017-10-01

In nonlinear microresonators driven by continuous-wave (cw) lasers, Turing patterns have been studied in the formalism of the Lugiato-Lefever equation with emphasis on their high coherence and exceptional robustness against perturbations. Destabilization of Turing patterns and the transition to spatiotemporal chaos, however, limit the available energy carried in the Turing rolls and prevent further harvest of their high coherence and robustness to noise. Here, we report a novel scheme to circumvent such destabilization, by incorporating the effect of local mode hybridizations, and we attain globally stable Turing pattern formation in chip-scale nonlinear oscillators with significantly enlarged parameter space, achieving a record-high power-conversion efficiency of 45% and an elevated peak-to-valley contrast of 100. The stationary Turing pattern is discretely tunable across 430 GHz on a THz carrier, with a fractional frequency sideband nonuniformity measured at 7.3 ×10-14 . We demonstrate the simultaneous microwave and optical coherence of the Turing rolls at different evolution stages through ultrafast optical correlation techniques. The free-running Turing-roll coherence, 9 kHz in 200 ms and 160 kHz in 20 minutes, is transferred onto a plasmonic photomixer for one of the highest-power THz coherent generations at room temperature, with 1.1% optical-to-THz power conversion. Its long-term stability can be further improved by more than 2 orders of magnitude, reaching an Allan deviation of 6 ×10-10 at 100 s, with a simple computer-aided slow feedback control. The demonstrated on-chip coherent high-power Turing-THz system is promising to find applications in astrophysics, medical imaging, and wireless communications.

Autonomous Optofluidic Chemical Analyzers for Marine Applications: Insights from the Submersible Autonomous Moored Instruments (SAMI for pH and pCO2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chun-Ze Lai

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The commercial availability of inexpensive fiber optics and small volume pumps in the early 1990's provided the components necessary for the successful development of low power, low reagent consumption, autonomous optofluidic analyzers for marine applications. It was evident that to achieve calibration-free performance, reagent-based sensors would require frequent renewal of the reagent by pumping the reagent from an impermeable, inert reservoir to the sensing interface. Pumping also enabled measurement of a spectral blank further enhancing accuracy and stability. The first instrument that was developed based on this strategy, the Submersible Autonomous Moored Instrument for CO2 (SAMI-CO2, uses a pH indicator for measurement of the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2. Because the pH indicator gives an optical response, the instrument requires an optofluidic design where the indicator is pumped into a gas permeable membrane and then to an optical cell for analysis. The pH indicator is periodically flushed from the optical cell by using a valve to switch from the pH indicator to a blank solution. Because of the small volume and low power light source, over 8,500 measurements can be obtained with a ~500 mL reagent bag and 8 alkaline D-cell battery pack. The primary drawback is that the design is more complex compared to the single-ended electrode or optode that is envisioned as the ideal sensor. The SAMI technology has subsequently been used for the successful development of autonomous pH and total alkalinity analyzers. In this manuscript, we will discuss the pros and cons of the SAMI pCO2 and pH optofluidic technology and highlight some past data sets and applications for studying the carbon cycle in aquatic ecosystems.

Flip chip assembly of thinned chips for hybrid pixel detector applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fritzsch, T; Zoschke, K; Rothermund, M; Oppermann, H; Woehrmann, M; Ehrmann, O; Lang, K D; Huegging, F

2014-01-01

There is a steady trend to ultra-thin microelectronic devices. Especially for future particle detector systems a reduced readout chip thickness is required to limit the loss of tracking precision due to scattering. The reduction of silicon thickness is performed at wafer level in a two-step thinning process. To minimize the risk of wafer breakage the thinned wafer needs to be handled by a carrier during the whole process chain of wafer bumping. Another key process is the flip chip assembly of thinned readout chips onto thin sensor tiles. Besides the prevention of silicon breakage the minimization of chip warpage is one additional task for a high yield and reliable flip chip process. A new technology using glass carrier wafer will be described in detail. The main advantage of this technology is the combination of a carrier support during wafer processing and the chip support during flip chip assembly. For that a glass wafer is glue-bonded onto the backside of the thinned readout chip wafer. After the bump deposition process the glass-readout chip stack is diced in one step. Finally the glass carrier chip is released by laser illumination after flip chip assembly of the readout chip onto sensor tile. The results of the flip chip assembly process development for the ATLAS IBL upgrade are described more in detail. The new ATLAS FEI4B chip with a size of 20 × 19 mm 2 is flip chip bonded with a thickness of only 150 μm, but the capability of this technology has been demonstrated on hybrid modules with a reduced readout chip thickness of down to 50 μm which is a major step for ultra-thin electronic systems

Rotational microfluidic motor for on-chip microcentrifugation

Science.gov (United States)

Shilton, Richie J.; Glass, Nick R.; Chan, Peggy; Yeo, Leslie Y.; Friend, James R.

2011-06-01

We report on the design of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) driven fluid-coupled micromotor which runs at high rotational velocities. A pair of opposing SAWs generated on a lithium niobate substrate are each obliquely passed into either side of a fluid drop to drive rotation of the fluid, and the thin circular disk set on the drop. Using water for the drop, a 5 mm diameter disk was driven with rotation speeds and start-up torques up to 2250 rpm and 60 nN m, respectively. Most importantly for lab-on-a-chip applications, radial accelerations of 172 m/s2 was obtained, presenting possibilities for microcentrifugation, flow sequencing, assays, and cell culturing in truly microscale lab-on-a-chip devices.

Highly sensitive bacterial susceptibility test against penicillin using parylene-matrix chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Jong-Min; Kim, Jo-Il; Song, Hyun-Woo; Noh, Joo-Yoon; Kang, Min-Jung; Pyun, Jae-Chul

2015-09-15

This work presented a highly sensitive bacterial antibiotic susceptibility test through β-lactamase assay using Parylene-matrix chip. β-lactamases (EC 3.5.2.6) are an important family of enzymes that confer resistance to β-lactam antibiotics by catalyzing the hydrolysis of these antibiotics. Here we present a highly sensitive assay to quantitate β-lactamase-mediated hydrolysis of penicillin into penicilloic acid. Typically, MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry has been used to quantitate low molecular weight analytes and to discriminate them from noise peaks of matrix fragments that occur at low m/z ratios (m/ztest was carried out using Parylene-matrix chip and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The Parylene-matrix chip was successfully used to quantitate penicillin (m/z: [PEN+H](+)=335.1 and [PEN+Na](+)=357.8) and penicilloic acid (m/z: [PA+H](+)=353.1) in a β-lactamase assay with minimal interference of low molecular weight noise peaks. The β-lactamase assay was carried out with an antibiotic-resistant E. coli strain and an antibiotic-susceptible E. coli strain, revealing that the minimum number of E. coli cells required to screen for antibiotic resistance was 1000 cells for the MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry/Parylene-matrix chip assay. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Highly specific detection of genetic modification events using an enzyme-linked probe hybridization chip.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, M Z; Zhang, X F; Chen, X M; Chen, X; Wu, S; Xu, L L

2015-08-10

The enzyme-linked probe hybridization chip utilizes a method based on ligase-hybridizing probe chip technology, with the principle of using thio-primers for protection against enzyme digestion, and using lambda DNA exonuclease to cut multiple PCR products obtained from the sample being tested into single-strand chains for hybridization. The 5'-end amino-labeled probe was fixed onto the aldehyde chip, and hybridized with the single-stranded PCR product, followed by addition of a fluorescent-modified probe that was then enzymatically linked with the adjacent, substrate-bound probe in order to achieve highly specific, parallel, and high-throughput detection. Specificity and sensitivity testing demonstrated that enzyme-linked probe hybridization technology could be applied to the specific detection of eight genetic modification events at the same time, with a sensitivity reaching 0.1% and the achievement of accurate, efficient, and stable results.

Spectroscopic measurements with the ATLAS FE-I4 pixel readout chip

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pohl, David-Leon; Janssen, Jens; Hemperek, Tomasz; Huegging, Fabian; Wermes, Norbert [Physikalisches Institut der Univeristaet Bonn (Germany)

2015-07-01

The ATLAS FE-I4 pixel readout chip is a large (2 x 2 cm{sup 2}) state of the art ASIC used in high energy physics experiments as well as for research and development purposes. While the FE-I4 is optimized for high hit rates it provides very limited charge resolution. Therefore two methods were developed to obtain high resolution single pixel charge spectra with the ATLAS FE-I4. The first method relies on the ability to change the detection threshold in small steps while counting hits from a particle source and has a resolution limited by electronic noise only. The other method uses a FPGA based time-to-digital-converter to digitize the analog charge signal with high precision. The feasibility, performance and challenges of these methods are discussed. First results of sensor characterizations from radioactive sources and test beams with the ATLAS FE-I4 in view of the charge collection efficiency after irradiation are presented.

Co-design of on-chip antennas and circuits for a UNII band monolithic transceiver

KAUST Repository

Shamim, Atif

2012-07-28

The surge of highly integrated and multifunction wireless devices has necessitated the designers to think outside the box for solutions that are unconventional. The new trends have provided the impetus for low cost and compact RF System-on-Chip (SoC) approaches [1]. The major advantages of SoC are miniaturization and cost reduction. A major bottleneck to the true realization of monolithic RF SoC transceivers is the implementation of on-chip antennas with circuitry. Though complete integrated transceivers with on-chip antennas have been demonstrated, these designs are generally for high frequencies. Moreover, they either use non-standard CMOS processes or additional fabrication steps to enhance the antenna efficiency, which in turn adds to the cost of the system [2-3]. Another challenge related to the on-chip antennas is the characterization of their radiation properties. Most of the recently reported work (summarized in Table I) shows that very few on-chip antennas are characterized. Our previous work [4], demonstrated a Phase Lock Loop (PLL) based transmitter (TX) with an on-chip antenna. However, the radiation from the on-chip antenna experienced strong interference due to 1) some active circuitry on one side of the chip and 2) the PCB used to mount the chip in the anechoic chamber. This paper presents, for the first time, a complete 5.2 GHz (UNII band) transceiver with separate TX and receiver (RX) antennas. To the author\\'s best knowledge, its size of 3 mm2 is the smallest reported for a UNII band transceiver with two on-chip antennas. Both antennas are characterized for their radiation properties through an on-wafer custom measurement setup. The strategy to co-design on-chip antennas with circuits, resultant trade-offs and measurement challenges have also been discussed. © 2010 IEEE.

Sorting on the basis of deformability of single cells in a femtosecond laser fabricated optofluidic device

Science.gov (United States)

Bragheri, F.; Paiè, P.; Yang, T.; Nava, G.; Martınez Vázquez, R.; Di Tano, M.; Veglione, M.; Minzioni, P.; Mondello, C.; Cristiani, I.; Osellame, R.

2015-03-01

Optical stretching is a powerful technique for the mechanical phenotyping of single suspended cells that exploits cell deformability as an inherent functional marker. Dual-beam optical trapping and stretching of cells is a recognized tool to investigate their viscoelastic properties. The optical stretcher has the ability to deform cells through optical forces without physical contact or bead attachment. In addition, it is the only method that can be combined with microfluidic delivery, allowing for the serial, high-throughput measurement of the optical deformability and the selective sorting of single specific cells. Femtosecond laser micromachining can fabricate in the same chip both the microfluidic channel and the optical waveguides, producing a monolithic device with a very precise alignment between the components and very low sensitivity to external perturbations. Femtosecond laser irradiation in a fused silica chip followed by chemical etching in hydrofluoric acid has been used to fabricate the microfluidic channels where the cells move by pressure-driven flow. With the same femtosecond laser source two optical waveguides, orthogonal to the microfluidic channel and opposing each other, have been written inside the chip. Here we present an optimized writing process that provides improved wall roughness of the micro-channels allowing high-quality imaging. In addition, we will show results on cell sorting on the basis of mechanical properties in the same device: the different deformability exhibited by metastatic and tumorigenic cells has been exploited to obtain a metastasis-cells enriched sample. The enrichment is verified by exploiting, after cells collection, fluorescence microscopy.

Fiber optic refractive index sensor using optofluidic anti-resonant reflecting guidance

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Ran; Lu, Danfeng; Cheng, Jin; Qi, Zhi-mei

2017-10-01

An optofluidic anti-resonant reflecting guidance has been proposed and experimental demonstrated for the measurement of liquid refractive index. Two micro-channels were fabricated for the delivery of the liquid sample in the hollow core photonic crystal fiber by using femtosecond laser micromachining, serving as an inlet and outlet. The refractive index can be detected by using the resonant condition of the Fabry-Perot resonator, which is interrogated through the wavelength shift and of the lossy dip in the transmission spectrum. The experimental results show that the sensitivity of up to 1328 nm/RIU is achieved for the refractive index in the range from 1.345 to 1.363 RIU, respectively. The proposed sensor appears to have potential applications of precise measurement in chemistry, medicine, and biology.

Neural chips, neural computers and application in high and superhigh energy physics experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nikityuk, N.M.; )

2001-01-01

Architecture peculiarity and characteristics of series of neural chips and neural computes used in scientific instruments are considered. Tendency of development and use of them in high energy and superhigh energy physics experiments are described. Comparative data which characterize the efficient use of neural chips for useful event selection, classification elementary particles, reconstruction of tracks of charged particles and for search of hypothesis Higgs particles are given. The characteristics of native neural chips and accelerated neural boards are considered [ru

Development of a synchrotron timing system on a programmable chip

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin Feiyu; Qiao Weimin; Wang Yanyu; Guo Yuhui

2009-01-01

A synchrotron requires extremely high time constraints for timing signals, so timing system is very important for a synchrotron control system. A FPGA+ARM+Linux+DSP architecture has been mainly used in timing control of the HIRFL-CSR control system. In this paper, we report the development of the SOPC(System On a Programmable Chip) based on FPGA and uClinux.It can integrate all the functions of ARM+Linux in one single FPGA chip, hence no need of the dedicated ARM chip, and the reduced cost. The maximum operation frequency of this system is 185 MHz. The hardware consumes less than 4% of total resources of FPGA chip. And both the hardware system and the operating system of the SOPC are reconfigurable. The SOPC system has a wide prospect of applications in accelerator engineering and many fields of scientific research. (authors)

Imaging cytometry in a plastic ultra-mobile system

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez Vázquez, R.; Trotta, G.; Paturzo, M.; Volpe, A.; Bernava, G.; Basile, V.; Ancona, A.; Ferraro, P.; Fassi, I.; Osellame, R.

2017-03-01

We present a cost-effective and highly-portable plastic prototype that can be interfaced with a cell phone to implement an optofluidic imaging cytometry platform. It is based on a PMMA microfluidic chip that fits inside an opto-mechanical platform fabricated by a 3D printer. The fluorescence excitation and imaging is performed using the LED and the CMOS from the cell phone increasing the compactness of the system. A custom developed application is used to analyze the images and provide a value of particle concentration.

The Advances, Challenges and Future Possibilities of Millimeter-Wave Chip-to-Chip Interconnections for Multi-Chip Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amlan Ganguly

2018-02-01

Full Text Available With aggressive scaling of device geometries, density of manufacturing faults is expected to increase. Therefore, yield of complex Multi-Processor Systems-on-Chips (MP-SoCs will decrease due to higher probability of manufacturing defects especially, in dies with large area. Therefore, disintegration of large SoCs into smaller chips called chiplets will improve yield and cost of complex platform-based systems. This will also provide functional flexibility, modular scalability as well as the capability to integrate heterogeneous architectures and technologies in a single unit. However, with scaling of the number of chiplets in such a system, the shared resources in the system such as the interconnection fabric and memory modules will become performance bottlenecks. Additionally, the integration of heterogeneous chiplets operating at different frequencies and voltages can be challenging. State-of-the-art inter-chip communication requires power-hungry high-speed I/O circuits and data transfer over long wired traces on substrates. This increases energy consumption and latency while decreasing data bandwidth for chip-to-chip communication. In this paper, we explore the advances and the challenges of interconnecting a multi-chip system with millimeter-wave (mm-wave wireless interconnects from a variety of perspectives spanning multiple aspects of the wireless interconnection design. Our discussion on the recent advances include aspects such as interconnection topology, physical layer, Medium Access Control (MAC and routing protocols. We also present some potential paradigm-shifting applications as well as complementary technologies of wireless inter-chip communications.

Recent advances in lab-on-a-chip for biosensing applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lafleur, Josiane P.; Jönsson, Alexander; Senkbeil, Silja

2016-01-01

The marriage of highly sensitive biosensor designs with the versatility in sample handling and fluidic manipulation offered by lab-on-a-chip systems promises to yield powerful tools for analytical and, in particular, diagnostic applications. The field where these two technologies meet is rapidly...... improvements to existing methods. Recent examples, showing a staggering variety of lab-on-a-chip systems for biosensing applications, are presented, tabularized for overview, and briefly discussed....

An atlas of high-resolution IRAS maps on nearby galaxies

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Walter

1993-01-01

An atlas of far-infrared IRAS maps with near 1 arcmin angular resolution of 30 optically large galaxies is presented. The high-resolution IRAS maps were produced with the Maximum Correlation Method (MCM) image construction and enhancement technique developed at IPAC. The MCM technique, which recovers the spatial information contained in the overlapping detector data samples of the IRAS all-sky survey scans, is outlined and tests to verify the structural reliability and photometric integrity of the high-resolution maps are presented. The infrared structure revealed in individual galaxies is discussed. The atlas complements the IRAS Nearby Galaxy High-Resolution Image Atlas, the high-resolution galaxy images encoded in FITS format, which is provided to the astronomical community as an IPAC product.

Poster - 01: LabPET II Pixelated APD-Based PET Scanner for High-Resolution Preclinical Imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lecomte, Roger; Arpin, Louis; Beaudoin, Jean-François; Bergeron, Mélanie; Bouchard, Jonathan; Bouziri, Haithem; Cadorette, Jules; Gaudin, Émilie; Jürgensen, Nadia; Koua, Konin Calliste; Trépanier, Pierre-Yves Lauzier; Leroux, Jean-Daniel; Loignon-Houle, Francis; Njejimana, Larissa; Paillé, Maxime; Paulin, Caroline; Pepin, Catherine; Pratte, Jean-François; Samson, Arnaud; Thibaudeau, Christian [Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Sherbrooke, CIMS/CRCHUS, Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Sherbrooke, CIMS/CRCHUS, Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Sherbrooke, 3IT, Université de Sherbrooke, Novalgo Inc., Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Sherbrooke, CIMS/CRCHUS, 3IT, Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Sherbrooke, Université de Sherbrooke, 3IT, Université de Sherbrooke (Canada); and others

2016-08-15

Purpose: LabPET II is a new generation APD-based PET scanner designed to achieve sub-mm spatial resolution using truly pixelated detectors and highly integrated parallel front-end processing electronics. Methods: The basic element uses a 4×8 array of 1.12×1.12 mm{sup 2} Lu{sub 1.9}Y{sub 0.1}SiO{sub 5}:Ce (LYSO) scintillator pixels with one-to-one coupling to a 4×8 pixelated monolithic APD array mounted on a ceramic carrier. Four detector arrays are mounted on a daughter board carrying two flip-chip, 64-channel, mixed-signal, application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) on the backside interfacing to two detector arrays each. Fully parallel signal processing was implemented in silico by encoding time and energy information using a dual-threshold Time-over-Threshold (ToT) scheme. The self-contained 128-channel detector module was designed as a generic component for ultra-high resolution PET imaging of small to medium-size animals. Results: Energy and timing performance were optimized by carefully setting ToT thresholds to minimize the noise/slope ratio. ToT spectra clearly show resolved 511 keV photopeak and Compton edge with ToT resolution well below 10%. After correction for nonlinear ToT response, energy resolution is typically 24±2% FWHM. Coincidence time resolution between opposing 128-channel modules is below 4 ns FWHM. Initial imaging results demonstrate that 0.8 mm hot spots of a Derenzo phantom can be resolved. Conclusion: A new generation PET scanner featuring truly pixelated detectors was developed and shown to achieve a spatial resolution approaching the physical limit of PET. Future plans are to integrate a small-bore dedicated mouse version of the scanner within a PET/CT platform.

Photonic crystal fiber as lab-in-fiber optofluidic platform for sensing and process monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, Fei

The ability to design and fabricate photonic crystal fiber (PCF) of vastly different microstructural and optical characteristics is arguably one of the most significant recent advances in the field of fiber optics. This dissertation aims to advance the PCF research frontier by exploring long-period fiber gratings (LPG) inscribed in PCF for sensing and process monitoring via combined numerical and experimental investigation. Specifically, a mode solver based on the Finite Element Method (FEM) has been employed to calculate the mode field distribution, the phase matching condition, and the dispersive characteristics associated with LPG-induced coupling of the fundamental core mode (LP01) to various cladding modes (LPmn, m=0,1; n=2,3, ...) in an endlessly single mode PCF. The numerical results have been used to guide the design and fabrication of LPG in PCF by CO2 laser inscription to maximize index sensitivity in gas or liquid medium. Cascaded PCF-LPG has been fabricated and shown to exhibit record sensitivity in excess of 1700 nm/RIU with high resolution for index measurements of gas phase. The inherent interference fringes in the transmission spectrum of cascaded PCF-LPG have been utilized to analyze mode coupling behaviour. In addition, we have developed and implemented a reflective mirror-aided method to allow symmetrical CO2 laser irradiation of PCF during LPG inscription. Both numerical analysis and experimental measurements have shown significantly improved mode coupling behaviour, mode field distribution, as well as reproducibility in LPG fabrication, critical for practical exploitation of the PCF-LPG platform. We have further exploited the high index sensitivity of PCF-LPG to monitor layer-by-layer (LbL) self-assembly of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVPON) and poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) polyelectrolyte layers as well as the pH responsiveness of the cross-linked PMAA hydrogel films. A shift of ˜1.625 nm in the resonance wavelength per polyelectrolyte layer

High resolution solar observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Title, A.

1985-01-01

Currently there is a world-wide effort to develop optical technology required for large diffraction limited telescopes that must operate with high optical fluxes. These developments can be used to significantly improve high resolution solar telescopes both on the ground and in space. When looking at the problem of high resolution observations it is essential to keep in mind that a diffraction limited telescope is an interferometer. Even a 30 cm aperture telescope, which is small for high resolution observations, is a big interferometer. Meter class and above diffraction limited telescopes can be expected to be very unforgiving of inattention to details. Unfortunately, even when an earth based telescope has perfect optics there are still problems with the quality of its optical path. The optical path includes not only the interior of the telescope, but also the immediate interface between the telescope and the atmosphere, and finally the atmosphere itself

A High-Voltage SOI CMOS Exciter Chip for a Programmable Fluidic Processor System.

Science.gov (United States)

Current, K W; Yuk, K; McConaghy, C; Gascoyne, P R C; Schwartz, J A; Vykoukal, J V; Andrews, C

2007-06-01

A high-voltage (HV) integrated circuit has been demonstrated to transport fluidic droplet samples on programmable paths across the array of driving electrodes on its hydrophobically coated surface. This exciter chip is the engine for dielectrophoresis (DEP)-based micro-fluidic lab-on-a-chip systems, creating field excitations that inject and move fluidic droplets onto and about the manipulation surface. The architecture of this chip is expandable to arrays of N X N identical HV electrode driver circuits and electrodes. The exciter chip is programmable in several senses. The routes of multiple droplets may be set arbitrarily within the bounds of the electrode array. The electrode excitation waveform voltage amplitude, phase, and frequency may be adjusted based on the system configuration and the signal required to manipulate a particular fluid droplet composition. The voltage amplitude of the electrode excitation waveform can be set from the minimum logic level up to the maximum limit of the breakdown voltage of the fabrication technology. The frequency of the electrode excitation waveform can also be set independently of its voltage, up to a maximum depending upon the type of droplets that must be driven. The exciter chip can be coated and its oxide surface used as the droplet manipulation surface or it can be used with a top-mounted, enclosed fluidic chamber consisting of a variety of materials. The HV capability of the exciter chip allows the generated DEP forces to penetrate into the enclosed chamber region and an adjustable voltage amplitude can accommodate a variety of chamber floor thicknesses. This demonstration exciter chip has a 32 x 32 array of nominally 100 V electrode drivers that are individually programmable at each time point in the procedure to either of two phases: 0deg and 180deg with respect to the reference clock. For this demonstration chip, while operating the electrodes with a 100-V peak-to-peak periodic waveform, the maximum HV electrode

High-resolution imaging of cellular processes across textured surfaces using an indexed-matched elastomer.

Science.gov (United States)

Ravasio, Andrea; Vaishnavi, Sree; Ladoux, Benoit; Viasnoff, Virgile

2015-03-01

Understanding and controlling how cells interact with the microenvironment has emerged as a prominent field in bioengineering, stem cell research and in the development of the next generation of in vitro assays as well as organs on a chip. Changing the local rheology or the nanotextured surface of substrates has proved an efficient approach to improve cell lineage differentiation, to control cell migration properties and to understand environmental sensing processes. However, introducing substrate surface textures often alters the ability to image cells with high precision, compromising our understanding of molecular mechanisms at stake in environmental sensing. In this paper, we demonstrate how nano/microstructured surfaces can be molded from an elastomeric material with a refractive index matched to the cell culture medium. Once made biocompatible, contrast imaging (differential interference contrast, phase contrast) and high-resolution fluorescence imaging of subcellular structures can be implemented through the textured surface using an inverted microscope. Simultaneous traction force measurements by micropost deflection were also performed, demonstrating the potential of our approach to study cell-environment interactions, sensing processes and cellular force generation with unprecedented resolution. Copyright © 2014 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Organ-Tumor-on-a-Chip for Chemosensitivity Assay: A Critical Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Navid Kashaninejad

2016-07-01

Full Text Available With a mortality rate over 580,000 per year, cancer is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide. However, the emerging field of microfluidics can potentially shed light on this puzzling disease. Unique characteristics of microfluidic chips (also known as micro-total analysis system make them excellent candidates for biological applications. The ex vivo approach of tumor-on-a-chip is becoming an indispensable part of personalized medicine and can replace in vivo animal testing as well as conventional in vitro methods. In tumor-on-a-chip, the complex three-dimensional (3D nature of malignant tumor is co-cultured on a microfluidic chip and high throughput screening tools to evaluate the efficacy of anticancer drugs are integrated on the same chip. In this article, we critically review the cutting edge advances in this field and mainly categorize each tumor-on-a-chip work based on its primary organ. Specifically, design, fabrication and characterization of tumor microenvironment; cell culture technique; transferring mechanism of cultured cells into the microchip; concentration gradient generators for drug delivery; in vitro screening assays of drug efficacy; and pros and cons of each microfluidic platform used in the recent literature will be discussed separately for the tumor of following organs: (1 Lung; (2 Bone marrow; (3 Brain; (4 Breast; (5 Urinary system (kidney, bladder and prostate; (6 Intestine; and (7 Liver. By comparing these microchips, we intend to demonstrate the unique design considerations of each tumor-on-a-chip based on primary organ, e.g., how microfluidic platform of lung-tumor-on-a-chip may differ from liver-tumor-on-a-chip. In addition, the importance of heart–liver–intestine co-culture with microvasculature in tumor-on-a-chip devices for in vitro chemosensitivity assay will be discussed. Such system would be able to completely evaluate the absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion and toxicity (ADMET of

Microfluidics without channels: highly-flexible synthesis on a digital-microfluidic chip for production of diverse PET tracers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Dam, Robert Michael [Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)

2010-09-01

Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging is used for fundamental studies of living biological organisms and microbial ecosystems in applications ranging from biofuel production to environmental remediation to the study, diagnosis, and treatment monitoring of human disease. Routine access to PET imaging, to monitor biochemical reactions in living organisms in real time, could accelerate a broad range of research programs of interest to DOE. Using PET requires access to short-lived radioactive-labeled compounds that specifically probe the desired living processes. The overall aims of this project were to develop a miniature liquid-handling technology platform (called “microfluidics”) that increases the availability of diverse PET probes by reducing the cost and complexity of their production. Based on preliminary experiments showing that microfluidic chips can synthesis such compounds, we aimed to advance this technology to improve its robustness, increase its flexibility for a broad range of probes, and increase its user-friendliness. Through the research activities of this project, numerous advances were made; Tools were developed to enable the visualization of radioactive materials within microfluidic chips; Fundamental advances were made in the microfluidic chip architecture and fabrication process to increase its robustness and reliability; The microfluidic chip technology was shown to produce useful quantities of an example PET probes, and methods to further increase the output were successfully pursued; A “universal” chip was developed that could produce multiple types of PET probes, enabling the possibility of “on demand” synthesis of different probes; and Operation of the chip was automated to ensure minimal radiation exposure to the operator Based on the demonstrations of promising technical feasibility and performance, the microfluidic chip technology is currently being commercialized. It is anticipated that costs of microfluidic chips can be

A nanofluidic bioarray chip for fast and high-throughput detection of antibodies in biological fluids

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jonathan; Gulzar, Naveed; Scott, Jamie K.; Li, Paul C. H.

2012-10-01

Immunoassays have become a standard in secretome analysis in clinical and research analysis. In this field there is a need for a high throughput method that uses low sample volumes. Microfluidics and nanofluidics have been developed for this purpose. Our lab has developed a nanofluidic bioarray (NBA) chip with the goal being a high throughput system that assays low sample volumes against multiple probes. A combination of horizontal and vertical channels are produced to create an array antigens on the surface of the NBA chip in one dimension that is probed by flowing in the other dimension antibodies from biological fluids. We have tested the NBA chip by immobilizing streptavidin and then biotinylated peptide to detect the presence of a mouse monoclonal antibody (MAb) that is specific for the peptide. Bound antibody is detected by an AlexaFluor 647 labeled goat (anti-mouse IgG) polyclonal antibody. Using the NBA chip, we have successfully detected peptide binding by small-volume (0.5 μl) samples containing 50 attomoles (100 pM) MAb.

High resolution mid-infrared spectroscopy based on frequency upconversion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dam, Jeppe Seidelin; Hu, Qi; Tidemand-Lichtenberg, Peter

2013-01-01

signals can be analyzed. The obtainable frequency resolution is usually in the nm range where sub nm resolution is preferred in many applications, like gas spectroscopy. In this work we demonstrate how to obtain sub nm resolution when using upconversion. In the presented realization one object point...... high resolution spectral performance by observing emission from hot water vapor in a butane gas burner....

High Power Broadband Multispectral Source on a Hybrid Silicon Chip

Science.gov (United States)

2017-03-14

optical bandwidth of the erbium-doped- fiber -amplifier with densely-spaced frequency channels. To extend the spectral capacity of the Si-on-insulator...associated with non-uniform undercut at the taper tip across the chip after wet etching the active region. Figure 14. Normalized optical emission...Hutchinson, J., Shin, J.-H., Fish, G., and Fang, A., “Integrated silicon photonic laser sources for telecom and datacom,” in [National Fiber Optic

Second-generation Micro-Spec: a medium-resolution spectrometer-on-a-chip for submillimeter astronomy

Science.gov (United States)

Cataldo, Giuseppe; Barrentine, Emily M.; Bulcha, Berhanu T.; Ehsan, Negar; Hess, Larry A.; Noroozian, Omid; Stevenson, Thomas R.; U-Yen, Kongpop; Wollack, Edward; Moseley, Samuel Harvey

2018-01-01

This work reports on the design of a second-generation Micro-Spec (µ-Spec), a direct-detection spectrometer which integrates all the components of a diffraction-grating spectrometer onto a ~10-cm2 chip by means of superconducting microstrip transmission lines on a monocrystalline silicon substrate. The second-generation µ-Spec is designed to operate with a resolving power of 512 over the 500-1000 µm (300-600 GHz) wavelength range, a band of interest for several spectroscopic applications in astrophysics and the study of the early (z > 8) Universe. High-altitude balloon missions would provide the first testbed to demonstrate the µ-Spec technology in a space-like environment and would represent an economically viable venue for multiple observation campaigns.A brief overview of each instrument subsystem will be provided. Emphasis will be given to the design of the spectrometer’s two-dimensional diffractive region, through which the light of different wavelengths is focused on the kinetic inductance detectors along the focal plane. An optical design optimized for balloon missions through an optimization process that satisfies specific requirements on spectrometer’s size, operating spectral range and optical performance is presented in terms of geometric layout, spectral purity and efficiency.

The impact of CHIP premium increases on insurance outcomes among CHIP eligible children.

Science.gov (United States)

Nikolova, Silviya; Stearns, Sally

2014-03-03

Within the United States, public insurance premiums are used both to discourage private health policy holders from dropping coverage and to reduce state budget costs. Prior research suggests that the odds of having private coverage and being uninsured increase with increases in public insurance premiums. The aim of this paper is to test effects of Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) premium increases on public insurance, private insurance, and uninsurance rates. The fact that families just below and above a state-specific income cut-off are likely very similar in terms of observable and unobservable characteristics except the premium contribution provides a natural experiment for estimating the effect of premium increases. Using 2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) merged with CHIP premiums, we compare health insurance outcomes for CHIP eligible children as of January 2003 in states with a two-tier premium structure using a cross-sectional regression discontinuity methodology. We use difference-in-differences analysis to compare longitudinal insurance outcomes by December 2003. Higher CHIP premiums are associated with higher likelihood of private insurance. Disenrollment from CHIP in response to premium increases over time does not increase the uninsurance rate. When faced with higher CHIP premiums, private health insurance may be a preferable alternative for CHIP eligible families with higher incomes. Therefore, competition in the insurance exchanges being formed under the Affordable Care Act could enhance choice.

Modelling, Synthesis, and Configuration of Networks-on-Chips

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stuart, Matthias Bo

This thesis presents three contributions in two different areas of network-on-chip and system-on-chip research: Application modelling and identifying and solving different optimization problems related to two specific network-on-chip architectures. The contribution related to application modelling...... is an analytical method for deriving the worst-case traffic pattern caused by an application and the cache-coherence protocol in a cache-coherent shared-memory system. The contributions related to network-on-chip optimization problems consist of two parts: The development and evaluation of six heuristics...... for solving the network synthesis problem in the MANGO network-on-chip, and the identification and formalization of the ReNoC configuration problem together with three heuristics for solving it....

Comparison of a Ring On-Chip Network and a Code-Division Multiple-Access On-Chip Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xin Wang

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Two network-on-chip (NoC designs are examined and compared in this paper. One design applies a bidirectional ring connection scheme, while the other design applies a code-division multiple-access (CDMA connection scheme. Both of the designs apply globally asynchronous locally synchronous (GALS scheme in order to deal with the issue of transferring data in a multiple-clock-domain environment of an on-chip system. The two NoC designs are compared with each other by their network structures, data transfer principles, network node structures, and their asynchronous designs. Both the synchronous and the asynchronous designs of the two on-chip networks are realized using a hardware-description language (HDL in order to make the entire designs suit the commonly used synchronous design tools and flow. The performance estimation and comparison of the two NoC designs which are based on the HDL realizations are addressed. By comparing the two NoC designs, the advantages and disadvantages of applying direct connection and CDMA connection schemes in an on-chip communication network are discussed.

Design of Networks-on-Chip for Real-Time Multi-Processor Systems-on-Chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sparsø, Jens

2012-01-01

This paper addresses the design of networks-on-chips for use in multi-processor systems-on-chips - the hardware platforms used in embedded systems. These platforms typically have to guarantee real-time properties, and as the network is a shared resource, it has to provide service guarantees...... (bandwidth and/or latency) to different communication flows. The paper reviews some past work in this field and the lessons learned, and the paper discusses ongoing research conducted as part of the project "Time-predictable Multi-Core Architecture for Embedded Systems" (T-CREST), supported by the European...

Analysis of a flip-chip bonded tunable high-temperature superconducting coplanar waveguide resonator using the conformal mapping technique

CERN Document Server

Misra, M; Murakami, H; Tonouchi, M

2003-01-01

We have studied the tuning properties of a high-temperature superconducting (HTS) half-wavelength coplanar waveguide (CPW) resonator operating at 5 GHz. The tuning schemes are based on flip-chip bonding of an electrically tunable ferroelectric (FE) thin film and a mechanically movable low-loss single crystal on top of the resonator. Using the conformal mapping method, closed-form analytical expressions have been derived for a flip-chip bonded conductor-backed and top-shielded CPW transmission line. The obtained expressions are used to analyse the volume effect of the FE thin film and the gap between the flip-chip and the CPW resonator on the tuning properties of the device. It has been found that large frequency modulation of the resonator produces impedance mismatch, which can considerably enhance the insertion loss of high-performance HTS microwave devices. Analysis also suggests that, for electrically tunable devices, flip-chip bonded FE thin films on HTS CPW devices provide a relatively higher performance...

Influence of passivation process on chip performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lu, J.; Kovalgin, Alexeij Y.; Schmitz, Jurriaan

2009-01-01

In this work, we have studied the performance of CMOS chips before and after a low temperature post-processing step. In order to prevent damage to the IC chips by the post-processing steps, a first passivation layers is needed on top of the IC chips. Two different passivation layer deposition

High-Resolution PET Detector. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Karp, Joel

2014-01-01

The objective of this project was to develop an understanding of the limits of performance for a high resolution PET detector using an approach based on continuous scintillation crystals rather than pixelated crystals. The overall goal was to design a high-resolution detector, which requires both high spatial resolution and high sensitivity for 511 keV gammas. Continuous scintillation detectors (Anger cameras) have been used extensively for both single-photon and PET scanners, however, these instruments were based on NaI(Tl) scintillators using relatively large, individual photo-multipliers. In this project we investigated the potential of this type of detector technology to achieve higher spatial resolution through the use of improved scintillator materials and photo-sensors, and modification of the detector surface to optimize the light response function.We achieved an average spatial resolution of 3-mm for a 25-mm thick, LYSO continuous detector using a maximum likelihood position algorithm and shallow slots cut into the entrance surface

Development and validation of a general-purpose ASIC chip for the control of switched reluctance machines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Haijin; Lu Shengli; Shi Longxing

2009-01-01

A general-purpose application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) chip for the control of switched reluctance machines (SRMs) was designed and validated to fill the gap between the microcontroller capability and the controller requirements of high performance switched reluctance drive (SRD) systems. It can be used for the control of SRM running either in low speed or in high-speed, i.e., either in chopped current control (CCC) mode or in angular position control (APC) mode. Main functions of the chip include filtering and cycle calculation of rotor angular position signals, commutation logic according to rotor cycle and turn-on/turn-off angles (θ on /θ off ), controllable pulse width modulation (PWM) waveforms generation, chopping control with adjustable delay time, and commutation control with adjustable delay time. All the control parameters of the chip are set online by the microcontroller through a serial peripheral interface (SPI). The chip has been designed with the standard cell based design methodology, and implemented in the central semiconductor manufacturing corporation (CSMC) 0.5 μm complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process technology. After a successful automatic test equipment (ATE) test using the Nextest's Maverick test system, the chip was further validated through an experimental three-phase 6/2-pole SRD system. Both the ATE test and experimental validation results show that the chip can meet the control requirements of high performance SRD systems, and simplify the controller construction. For a resolution of 0.36 deg. (electrical degree), the chip's maximum processable frequency of the rotor angular position signals is 10 kHz, which is 300,000 rev/min when a three-phase 6/2-pole SRM is concerned

Scalable fabrication of high-power graphene micro-supercapacitors for flexible and on-chip energy storage

Science.gov (United States)

El-Kady, Maher F.; Kaner, Richard B.

2013-02-01

The rapid development of miniaturized electronic devices has increased the demand for compact on-chip energy storage. Microscale supercapacitors have great potential to complement or replace batteries and electrolytic capacitors in a variety of applications. However, conventional micro-fabrication techniques have proven to be cumbersome in building cost-effective micro-devices, thus limiting their widespread application. Here we demonstrate a scalable fabrication of graphene micro-supercapacitors over large areas by direct laser writing on graphite oxide films using a standard LightScribe DVD burner. More than 100 micro-supercapacitors can be produced on a single disc in 30 min or less. The devices are built on flexible substrates for flexible electronics and on-chip uses that can be integrated with MEMS or CMOS in a single chip. Remarkably, miniaturizing the devices to the microscale results in enhanced charge-storage capacity and rate capability. These micro-supercapacitors demonstrate a power density of ~200 W cm-3, which is among the highest values achieved for any supercapacitor.

An Automatic Baseline Regulation in a Highly Integrated Receiver Chip for JUNO

Science.gov (United States)

Muralidharan, P.; Zambanini, A.; Karagounis, M.; Grewing, C.; Liebau, D.; Nielinger, D.; Robens, M.; Kruth, A.; Peters, C.; Parkalian, N.; Yegin, U.; van Waasen, S.

2017-09-01

This paper describes the data processing unit and an automatic baseline regulation of a highly integrated readout chip (Vulcan) for JUNO. The chip collects data continuously at 1 Gsamples/sec. The Primary data processing which is performed in the integrated circuit can aid to reduce the memory and data processing efforts in the subsequent stages. In addition, a baseline regulator compensating a shift in the baseline is described.

Wide-field fluorescent microscopy and fluorescent imaging flow cytometry on a cell-phone.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Hongying; Ozcan, Aydogan

2013-04-11

Fluorescent microscopy and flow cytometry are widely used tools in biomedical research and clinical diagnosis. However these devices are in general relatively bulky and costly, making them less effective in the resource limited settings. To potentially address these limitations, we have recently demonstrated the integration of wide-field fluorescent microscopy and imaging flow cytometry tools on cell-phones using compact, light-weight, and cost-effective opto-fluidic attachments. In our flow cytometry design, fluorescently labeled cells are flushed through a microfluidic channel that is positioned above the existing cell-phone camera unit. Battery powered light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are butt-coupled to the side of this microfluidic chip, which effectively acts as a multi-mode slab waveguide, where the excitation light is guided to uniformly excite the fluorescent targets. The cell-phone camera records a time lapse movie of the fluorescent cells flowing through the microfluidic channel, where the digital frames of this movie are processed to count the number of the labeled cells within the target solution of interest. Using a similar opto-fluidic design, we can also image these fluorescently labeled cells in static mode by e.g. sandwiching the fluorescent particles between two glass slides and capturing their fluorescent images using the cell-phone camera, which can achieve a spatial resolution of e.g. - 10 μm over a very large field-of-view of - 81 mm(2). This cell-phone based fluorescent imaging flow cytometry and microscopy platform might be useful especially in resource limited settings, for e.g. counting of CD4+ T cells toward monitoring of HIV+ patients or for detection of water-borne parasites in drinking water.

High-Resolution Sonars: What Resolution Do We Need for Target Recognition?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pailhas Yan

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Target recognition in sonar imagery has long been an active research area in the maritime domain, especially in the mine-counter measure context. Recently it has received even more attention as new sensors with increased resolution have been developed; new threats to critical maritime assets and a new paradigm for target recognition based on autonomous platforms have emerged. With the recent introduction of Synthetic Aperture Sonar systems and high-frequency sonars, sonar resolution has dramatically increased and noise levels decreased. Sonar images are distance images but at high resolution they tend to appear visually as optical images. Traditionally algorithms have been developed specifically for imaging sonars because of their limited resolution and high noise levels. With high-resolution sonars, algorithms developed in the image processing field for natural images become applicable. However, the lack of large datasets has hampered the development of such algorithms. Here we present a fast and realistic sonar simulator enabling development and evaluation of such algorithms.We develop a classifier and then analyse its performances using our simulated synthetic sonar images. Finally, we discuss sensor resolution requirements to achieve effective classification of various targets and demonstrate that with high resolution sonars target highlight analysis is the key for target recognition.

Single-chip CMUT-on-CMOS front-end system for real-time volumetric IVUS and ICE imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Gurun, Gokce; Tekes, Coskun; Zahorian, Jaime; Xu, Toby; Satir, Sarp; Karaman, Mustafa; Hasler, Jennifer; Degertekin, F Levent

2014-02-01

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and intracardiac echography (ICE) catheters with real-time volumetric ultrasound imaging capability can provide unique benefits to many interventional procedures used in the diagnosis and treatment of coronary and structural heart diseases. Integration of capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducer (CMUT) arrays with front-end electronics in single-chip configuration allows for implementation of such catheter probes with reduced interconnect complexity, miniaturization, and high mechanical flexibility. We implemented a single-chip forward-looking (FL) ultrasound imaging system by fabricating a 1.4-mm-diameter dual-ring CMUT array using CMUT-on-CMOS technology on a front-end IC implemented in 0.35-μm CMOS process. The dual-ring array has 56 transmit elements and 48 receive elements on two separate concentric annular rings. The IC incorporates a 25-V pulser for each transmitter and a low-noise capacitive transimpedance amplifier (TIA) for each receiver, along with digital control and smart power management. The final shape of the silicon chip is a 1.5-mm-diameter donut with a 430-μm center hole for a guide wire. The overall front-end system requires only 13 external connections and provides 4 parallel RF outputs while consuming an average power of 20 mW. We measured RF A-scans from the integrated single- chip array which show full functionality at 20.1 MHz with 43% fractional bandwidth. We also tested and demonstrated the image quality of the system on a wire phantom and an ex vivo chicken heart sample. The measured axial and lateral point resolutions are 92 μm and 251 μm, respectively. We successfully acquired volumetric imaging data from the ex vivo chicken heart at 60 frames per second without any signal averaging. These demonstrative results indicate that single-chip CMUT-on-CMOS systems have the potential to produce realtime volumetric images with image quality and speed suitable for catheter-based clinical applications.

ANL high resolution injector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Minehara, E.; Kutschera, W.; Hartog, P.D.; Billquist, P.

1985-01-01

The ANL (Argonne National Laboratory) high-resolution injector has been installed to obtain higher mass resolution and higher preacceleration, and to utilize effectively the full mass range of ATLAS (Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System). Preliminary results of the first beam test are reported briefly. The design and performance, in particular a high-mass-resolution magnet with aberration compensation, are discussed. 7 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs

Single mode dye-doped polymer photonic crystal lasers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christiansen, Mads Brøkner; Buss, Thomas; Smith, Cameron

2010-01-01

Dye-doped polymer photonic crystal (PhC) lasers fabricated by combined nanoimprint and photolithography are studied for their reproducibility and stability characteristics. We introduce a phase shift in the PhC lattice that substantially improves the yield of single wavelength emission. Single mode...... emission and reproducibility of laser characteristics are important if the lasers are to be mass produced in, e. g., optofluidic sensor chips. The fabrication yield is above 85% with highly reproducible wavelengths (within 0.5%), and the temperature dependence on the wavelength is found to be -0.045 or -0...

Performance of a Fast Binary Readout CMOS Active Pixel Sensor Chip Designed for Charged Particle Detection

Science.gov (United States)

Deerli, Yavuz; Besanon, Marc; Besson, Auguste; Claus, Gilles; Deptuch, Grzegorz; Dulinski, Wojciech; Fourches, Nicolas; Goffe, Mathieu; Himmi, Abdelkader; Li, Yan; Lutz, Pierre; Orsini, Fabienne; Szelezniak, Michal

2006-12-01

We report on the performance of the MIMOSA8 (HiMAPS1) chip. The chip is a 128times32 pixels array where 24 columns have discriminated binary outputs and eight columns analog test outputs. Offset correction techniques are used extensively in this chip to overcome process related mismatches. The array is divided in four blocks of pixels with different conversion factors and is controlled by a serially programmable sequencer. MIMOSA8 is a representative of the CMOS sensors development option considered as a promising candidate for the Vertex Detector of the future International Linear Collider (ILC). The readout technique, implemented on the chip, combines high spatial resolution capabilities with high processing readout speed. Data acquisition, providing control of the chip and signal buffering and linked to a VME system, was made on the eight analog outputs. Analog data, without and with a 55Fe X-ray source, were acquired and processed using off-line analysis software. From the reconstruction of pixel clusters, built around a central pixel, we deduce that the charge spread is limited to the closest 25 pixels and almost all the available charge is collected. The position of the total charge collection peak (and subsequently the charge-to-voltage conversion factor) stays unaffected when the clock frequency is increased even up to 150 MHz (13.6 mus readout time per frame). The discriminators, placed in the readout chain, have proved to be fully functional. Beam tests have been made with high energy electrons at DESY (Germany) to study detection efficiency. The results prove that MIMOSA8 is the first and fastest successful monolithic active pixel sensor with on-chip signal discrimination for detection of MIPs

Heteronuclear Micro-Helmholtz Coil Facilitates µm-Range Spatial and Sub-Hz Spectral Resolution NMR of nL-Volume Samples on Customisable Microfluidic Chips.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nils Spengler

Full Text Available We present a completely revised generation of a modular micro-NMR detector, featuring an active sample volume of ∼ 100 nL, and an improvement of 87% in probe efficiency. The detector is capable of rapidly screening different samples using exchangeable, application-specific, MEMS-fabricated, microfluidic sample containers. In contrast to our previous design, the sample holder chips can be simply sealed with adhesive tape, with excellent adhesion due to the smooth surfaces surrounding the fluidic ports, and so withstand pressures of ∼2.5 bar, while simultaneously enabling high spectral resolution up to 0.62 Hz for H2O, due to its optimised geometry. We have additionally reworked the coil design and fabrication processes, replacing liquid photoresists by dry film stock, whose final thickness does not depend on accurate volume dispensing or precise levelling during curing. We further introduced mechanical alignment structures to avoid time-intensive optical alignment of the chip stacks during assembly, while we exchanged the laser-cut, PMMA spacers by diced glass spacers, which are not susceptible to melting during cutting. Doing so led to an overall simplification of the entire fabrication chain, while simultaneously increasing the yield, due to an improved uniformity of thickness of the individual layers, and in addition, due to more accurate vertical positioning of the wirebonded coils, now delimited by a post base plateau. We demonstrate the capability of the design by acquiring a 1H spectrum of ∼ 11 nmol sucrose dissolved in D2O, where we achieved a linewidth of 1.25 Hz for the TSP reference peak. Chemical shift imaging experiments were further recorded from voxel volumes of only ∼ 1.5 nL, which corresponded to amounts of just 1.5 nmol per voxel for a 1 M concentration. To extend the micro-detector to other nuclei of interest, we have implemented a trap circuit, enabling heteronuclear spectroscopy, demonstrated by two 1H/13C 2D HSQC

Study on a high resolution positron emission tomography scanner for brain study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nohara, N.; Tomitani, T.; Yamamoto, M.; Murayama, H.; Tanaka, E.

1990-01-01

The spatial resolution of positron emission tomography (PET) scanners is usually limited by the finite size of crystals such as bismuth germanate (BGO). To attain high resolution as well as high sensitivity, it is essential to use a large number of small BGO crystals arranged in close-packing on circular rings. In developing high resolution PET scanners, however, there are two physical factors limiting the spatial resolution. One is the finite range of positrons before annihilation and the other the deviation from 180 degrees of annihilation photons. The effect of the factors on the spatial resolution has been evaluated for positron-emitting sources as a function of detector ring radius. A high resolution PET scanner has been developed for brain study, aiming to have spatial resolutions as high as less than 4-mm FWHM in tomographic plane and less than 6-mm FWHM in axial direction at the detector ring center. For the goal of the high resolutions a multi-segment type of photomultiplier tubes has been specially designed and developed, which allows one tube to be directly coupled by four BGO crystals. The scanner consists of five detector rings of 47-cm in diameter, using all 1200 BGO crystals each measuring 5 mm x 12 mm x 30 mm. The scanner provides simultaneous 9 images by combination of in-plane and cross-plane, offering a 24-cm dia. x7.4-cm field-of-view. Physical performance of the scanner was investigated. At the ring center, the spatial resolution in the tomographic plane was measured to be 3.5-mm FWHM. The axial resolution was measured to be 5.7-mm FWHM for in-plane and 5.3-mm FWHM for cross-plane. Sensitivity for a 20-cm dia. uniform source was measured to be 9.5 kcps/μCi/ml for in-plane and 15.3 kcps/μCi/ml for cross-plane. (J.P.N.)

Silicon Chip-to-Chip Mode-Division Multiplexing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baumann, Jan Markus; Porto da Silva, Edson; Ding, Yunhong

2018-01-01

A chip-to-chip mode-division multiplexing connection is demonstrated using a pair of multiplexers/demultiplexers fabricated on the silicon-on-insulator platform. Successful mode multiplexing and demultiplexing is experimentally demonstrated, using the LP01, LP11a and LP11b modes.......A chip-to-chip mode-division multiplexing connection is demonstrated using a pair of multiplexers/demultiplexers fabricated on the silicon-on-insulator platform. Successful mode multiplexing and demultiplexing is experimentally demonstrated, using the LP01, LP11a and LP11b modes....

Fabrication and characterization of on-chip optical nonlinear chalcogenide nanofiber devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Qiming; Li, Ming; Hao, Qiang; Deng, Dinghuan; Zhou, Hui; Zeng, Heping; Zhan, Li; Wu, Xiang; Liu, Liying; Xu, Lei

2010-11-15

Chalcogenide (As(2)S(3)) nanofibers as narrow as 200 nm in diameter are drawn by the fiber pulling method, are successfully embedded in SU8 polymer, and form on-chip waveguides and high-Q microknot resonators (Q = 3.9 × 10(4)) with smooth cleaved end faces. Resonance tuning of resonators is realized by localized laser irradiation. Strong supercontinuum generation with a bandwidth of 500 nm is achieved in a 7-cm-long on-chip chalcogenide waveguide. Our result provides a method for the development of compact, high-optical-quality, and robust photonic devices.

The implementation of sea ice model on a regional high-resolution scale

Science.gov (United States)

Prasad, Siva; Zakharov, Igor; Bobby, Pradeep; McGuire, Peter

2015-09-01

The availability of high-resolution atmospheric/ocean forecast models, satellite data and access to high-performance computing clusters have provided capability to build high-resolution models for regional ice condition simulation. The paper describes the implementation of the Los Alamos sea ice model (CICE) on a regional scale at high resolution. The advantage of the model is its ability to include oceanographic parameters (e.g., currents) to provide accurate results. The sea ice simulation was performed over Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea to retrieve important parameters such as ice concentration, thickness, ridging, and drift. Two different forcing models, one with low resolution and another with a high resolution, were used for the estimation of sensitivity of model results. Sea ice behavior over 7 years was simulated to analyze ice formation, melting, and conditions in the region. Validation was based on comparing model results with remote sensing data. The simulated ice concentration correlated well with Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) and Ocean and Sea Ice Satellite Application Facility (OSI-SAF) data. Visual comparison of ice thickness trends estimated from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite (SMOS) agreed with the simulation for year 2010-2011.

Automated, Ultra-Sterile Solid Sample Handling and Analysis on a Chip

Science.gov (United States)

Mora, Maria F.; Stockton, Amanda M.; Willis, Peter A.

2013-01-01

There are no existing ultra-sterile lab-on-a-chip systems that can accept solid samples and perform complete chemical analyses without human intervention. The proposed solution is to demonstrate completely automated lab-on-a-chip manipulation of powdered solid samples, followed by on-chip liquid extraction and chemical analysis. This technology utilizes a newly invented glass micro-device for solid manipulation, which mates with existing lab-on-a-chip instrumentation. Devices are fabricated in a Class 10 cleanroom at the JPL MicroDevices Lab, and are plasma-cleaned before and after assembly. Solid samples enter the device through a drilled hole in the top. Existing micro-pumping technology is used to transfer milligrams of powdered sample into an extraction chamber where it is mixed with liquids to extract organic material. Subsequent chemical analysis is performed using portable microchip capillary electrophoresis systems (CE). These instruments have been used for ultra-highly sensitive (parts-per-trillion, pptr) analysis of organic compounds including amines, amino acids, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids, and thiols. Fully autonomous amino acid analyses in liquids were demonstrated; however, to date there have been no reports of completely automated analysis of solid samples on chip. This approach utilizes an existing portable instrument that houses optics, high-voltage power supplies, and solenoids for fully autonomous microfluidic sample processing and CE analysis with laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection. Furthermore, the entire system can be sterilized and placed in a cleanroom environment for analyzing samples returned from extraterrestrial targets, if desired. This is an entirely new capability never demonstrated before. The ability to manipulate solid samples, coupled with lab-on-a-chip analysis technology, will enable ultraclean and ultrasensitive end-to-end analysis of samples that is orders of magnitude more sensitive than the ppb goal given

High Resolution Tracking Devices Based on Capillaries Filled with Liquid Scintillator

CERN Multimedia

Bonekamper, D; Vassiltchenko, V; Wolff, T

2002-01-01

%RD46 %title\\\\ \\\\The aim of the project is to develop high resolution tracking devices based on thin glass capillary arrays filled with liquid scintillator. This technique provides high hit densities and a position resolution better than 20 $\\mu$m. Further, their radiation hardness makes them superior to other types of tracking devices with comparable performance. Therefore, the technique is attractive for inner tracking in collider experiments, microvertex devices, or active targets for short-lived particle detection. High integration levels in the read-out based on the use of multi-pixel photon detectors and the possibility of optical multiplexing allow to reduce considerably the number of output channels, and, thus, the cost for the detector.\\\\ \\\\New optoelectronic devices have been developed and tested: the megapixel Electron Bombarded CCD (EBCCD), a high resolution image-detector having an outstanding capability of single photo-electron detection; the Vacuum Image Pipeline (VIP), a high-speed gateable pi...

A Router Architecture for Connection-Oriented Service Guarantees in the MANGO Clockless Network-on-Chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerregaard, Tobias; Sparsø, Jens

2005-01-01

On-chip networks for future system-on-chip designs need simple, high performance implementations. In order to promote system-level integrity, guaranteed services (GS) need to be provided. We propose a network-on-chip (NoC) router architecture to support this, and demonstrate with a CMOS standard...... cell design. Our implementation is based on clockless circuit techniques, and thus inherently supports a modular, GALS-oriented design flow. Our router exploits virtual channels to provide connection-oriented GS, as well as connection-less best-effort (BE) routing. The architecture is highly flexible...

Effects of display resolution and size on primary diagnosis of chest images using a high-resolution electronic work station

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fuhrman, C.R.; Cooperstein, L.A.; Herron, J.; Good, W.F.; Good, B.; Gur, D.; Maitz, G.; Tabor, E.; Hoy, R.J.

1987-01-01

To evaluate the acceptability of electronically displayed planar images, the authors have a high-resolution work station. This system utilizes a high-resolution film digitizer (100-micro resolution) interfaced to a mainframe computer and two high-resolution (2,048 X 2,048) display devices (Azuray). In a clinically simulated multiobserver blind study (19 cases and five observers) a prodetermined series of reading sessions is stored on magnetic disk and is transferred to the displays while the preceding set of images is being reviewed. Images can be linearly processed on the fly into 2,000 X 2,000 full resolution, 1,000 X 1,000 minified display, or 1,000 X 1,000 interpolated for full-size display. Results of the study indicate that radiologists accept but do not like significant minification (more than X2), and they rate 2,000 X 2,000 images as having better diagnostic quality than 1,000 X 1,000 images

Lab-on-a-Chip Pathogen Sensors for Food Safety

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bumsang Kim

2012-08-01

Full Text Available There have been a number of cases of foodborne illness among humans that are caused by pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella typhimurium, etc. The current practices to detect such pathogenic agents are cell culturing, immunoassays, or polymerase chain reactions (PCRs. These methods are essentially laboratory-based methods that are not at all real-time and thus unavailable for early-monitoring of such pathogens. They are also very difficult to implement in the field. Lab-on-a-chip biosensors, however, have a strong potential to be used in the field since they can be miniaturized and automated; they are also potentially fast and very sensitive. These lab-on-a-chip biosensors can detect pathogens in farms, packaging/processing facilities, delivery/distribution systems, and at the consumer level. There are still several issues to be resolved before applying these lab-on-a-chip sensors to field applications, including the pre-treatment of a sample, proper storage of reagents, full integration into a battery-powered system, and demonstration of very high sensitivity, which are addressed in this review article. Several different types of lab-on-a-chip biosensors, including immunoassay- and PCR-based, have been developed and tested for detecting foodborne pathogens. Their assay performance, including detection limit and assay time, are also summarized. Finally, the use of optical fibers or optical waveguide is discussed as a means to improve the portability and sensitivity of lab-on-a-chip pathogen sensors.

Sea otter dental enamel is highly resistant to chipping due to its microstructure.

Science.gov (United States)

Ziscovici, Charles; Lucas, Peter W; Constantino, Paul J; Bromage, Timothy G; van Casteren, Adam

2014-10-01

Dental enamel is prone to damage by chipping with large hard objects at forces that depend on chip size and enamel toughness. Experiments on modern human teeth have suggested that some ante-mortem chips on fossil hominin enamel were produced by bite forces near physiological maxima. Here, we show that equivalent chips in sea otter enamel require even higher forces than human enamel. Increased fracture resistance correlates with more intense enamel prism decussation, often seen also in some fossil hominins. It is possible therefore that enamel chips in such hominins may have formed at even greater forces than currently envisaged. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Ultra high resolution tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haddad, W.S.

1994-11-15

Recent work and results on ultra high resolution three dimensional imaging with soft x-rays will be presented. This work is aimed at determining microscopic three dimensional structure of biological and material specimens. Three dimensional reconstructed images of a microscopic test object will be presented; the reconstruction has a resolution on the order of 1000 A in all three dimensions. Preliminary work with biological samples will also be shown, and the experimental and numerical methods used will be discussed.

High-resolution and high-conductive electrode fabrication on a low thermal resistance flexible substrate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Bongchul; Kno, Jinsung; Yang, Minyang

2011-01-01

Processes based on the liquid-state pattern transfer, like inkjet printing, have critical limitations including low resolution and low electrical conductivity when fabricating electrodes on low thermal resistance flexible substrates such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Those are due to the nonlinear transfer mechanism and the limit of the sintering temperature. Although the laser direct curing (LDC) of metallic inks is an alternative process to improve the resolution, it is also associated with the disadvantages of causing thermal damage to the polymer substrate. This paper suggests the laser induced pattern adhesion transfer method to fabricate electrodes of both high electrical conductivity and high resolution on a PET substrate. First, solid patterns are cost-effectively created by the LDC of the organometallic silver ink on a glass that is optically and thermally stable. The solid patterns sintered on the glass are transferred to the PET substrate by the photo-thermally generated adhesion force of the substrate. Therefore, we achieved electrodes with a minimum line width of 10 µm and a specific resistance of 3.6 μΩcm on the PET substrate. The patterns also showed high mechanical reliability

High-resolution and high-conductive electrode fabrication on a low thermal resistance flexible substrate

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Bongchul; Kno, Jinsung; Yang, Minyang

2011-07-01

Processes based on the liquid-state pattern transfer, like inkjet printing, have critical limitations including low resolution and low electrical conductivity when fabricating electrodes on low thermal resistance flexible substrates such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Those are due to the nonlinear transfer mechanism and the limit of the sintering temperature. Although the laser direct curing (LDC) of metallic inks is an alternative process to improve the resolution, it is also associated with the disadvantages of causing thermal damage to the polymer substrate. This paper suggests the laser induced pattern adhesion transfer method to fabricate electrodes of both high electrical conductivity and high resolution on a PET substrate. First, solid patterns are cost-effectively created by the LDC of the organometallic silver ink on a glass that is optically and thermally stable. The solid patterns sintered on the glass are transferred to the PET substrate by the photo-thermally generated adhesion force of the substrate. Therefore, we achieved electrodes with a minimum line width of 10 µm and a specific resistance of 3.6 μΩcm on the PET substrate. The patterns also showed high mechanical reliability.

Deep Proton Writing for the rapid prototyping of polymer micro-components for optical interconnects and optofluidics

Science.gov (United States)

Van Erps, Jürgen; Vervaeke, Michael; Ottevaere, Heidi; Hermanne, Alex; Thienpont, Hugo

2013-07-01

The use of photonics in data communication and numerous other industrial applications brought plenty of prospects for innovation and opened up different unexplored market opportunities. This is a major driving force for the fabrication of micro-optical and micro-mechanical structures and their accurate alignment and integration into opto-mechanical modules and systems. To this end, we present Deep Proton Writing (DPW) as a powerful rapid prototyping technology for such micro-components. The DPW process consists of bombarding polymer samples (PMMA or SU-8) with swift protons, which results after chemical processing steps in high-quality micro-optical components. One of the strengths of the DPW micro-fabrication technology is the ability to fabricate monolithic building blocks that include micro-optical and mechanical functionalities which can be precisely integrated into more complex photonic systems. In this paper we comment on how we shifted from using 8.3 to 16.5 MeV protons for DPW and give some examples of micro-optical and micro-mechanical components recently fabricated through DPW, targeting applications in optical interconnections and in optofluidics.

Deep Proton Writing for the rapid prototyping of polymer micro-components for optical interconnects and optofluidics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van Erps, Jürgen, E-mail: jurgen.van.erps@vub.ac.be; Vervaeke, Michael; Ottevaere, Heidi; Hermanne, Alex; Thienpont, Hugo

2013-07-15

The use of photonics in data communication and numerous other industrial applications brought plenty of prospects for innovation and opened up different unexplored market opportunities. This is a major driving force for the fabrication of micro-optical and micro-mechanical structures and their accurate alignment and integration into opto-mechanical modules and systems. To this end, we present Deep Proton Writing (DPW) as a powerful rapid prototyping technology for such micro-components. The DPW process consists of bombarding polymer samples (PMMA or SU-8) with swift protons, which results after chemical processing steps in high-quality micro-optical components. One of the strengths of the DPW micro-fabrication technology is the ability to fabricate monolithic building blocks that include micro-optical and mechanical functionalities which can be precisely integrated into more complex photonic systems. In this paper we comment on how we shifted from using 8.3 to 16.5 MeV protons for DPW and give some examples of micro-optical and micro-mechanical components recently fabricated through DPW, targeting applications in optical interconnections and in optofluidics.

Modelling high-resolution electron microscopy based on core-loss spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Allen, L.J.; Findlay, S.D.; Oxley, M.P.; Witte, C.; Zaluzec, N.J.

2006-01-01

There are a number of factors affecting the formation of images based on core-loss spectroscopy in high-resolution electron microscopy. We demonstrate unambiguously the need to use a full nonlocal description of the effective core-loss interaction for experimental results obtained from high angular resolution electron channelling electron spectroscopy. The implications of this model are investigated for atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. Simulations are used to demonstrate that core-loss spectroscopy images formed using fine probes proposed for future microscopes can result in images that do not correspond visually with the structure that has led to their formation. In this context, we also examine the effect of varying detector geometries. The importance of the contribution to core-loss spectroscopy images by dechannelled or diffusely scattered electrons is reiterated here

Thin film metal sensors in fusion bonded glass chips for high-pressure microfluidics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersson, Martin; Ek, Johan; Hedman, Ludvig; Johansson, Fredrik; Sehlstedt, Viktor; Stocklassa, Jesper; Snögren, Pär; Pettersson, Victor; Larsson, Jonas; Vizuete, Olivier; Hjort, Klas; Klintberg, Lena

2017-01-01

High-pressure microfluidics offers fast analyses of thermodynamic parameters for compressed process solvents. However, microfluidic platforms handling highly compressible supercritical CO 2 are difficult to control, and on-chip sensing would offer added control of the devices. Therefore, there is a need to integrate sensors into highly pressure tolerant glass chips. In this paper, thin film Pt sensors were embedded in shallow etched trenches in a glass wafer that was bonded with another glass wafer having microfluidic channels. The devices having sensors integrated into the flow channels sustained pressures up to 220 bar, typical for the operation of supercritical CO 2 . No leakage from the devices could be found. Integrated temperature sensors were capable of measuring local decompression cooling effects and integrated calorimetric sensors measured flow velocities over the range 0.5–13.8 mm s −1 . By this, a better control of high-pressure microfluidic platforms has been achieved. (paper)

Rework of flip chip bonded radiation pixel detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vaehaenen, S.; Heikkinen, H.; Pohjonen, H.; Salonen, J.; Savolainen-Pulli, S.

2008-01-01

In this paper, some practical aspects of reworking flip chip hybridized pixel detectors are discussed. As flip chip technology has been advancing in terms of placement accuracy and reliability, large-area hybrid pixel detectors have been developed. The area requirements are usually fulfilled by placing several readout chips (ROCs) on single sensor chip. However, as the number of ROCs increases, the probability of failure in the hybridization process and the ROC operation also increases. Because high accuracy flip chip bonding takes time, a significant part of the price of a pixel detector comes from the flip chip assembly process itself. As large-area detector substrates are expensive, and many flip chip placements are required, the price of an assembled detector can become very high. In a typical case, there is just one bad ROC (out of several) on a faulty detector to be replaced. Considering the high price of pixel detectors and the fact that reworking faulty ROCs does not take much longer than the original placement, it is worthwhile to investigate the feasibility of a rework process

Rework of flip chip bonded radiation pixel detectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vaehaenen, S. [VTT MEMS and Micropackaging, Espoo 02150 (Finland)], E-mail: sami.vahanen@vtt.fi; Heikkinen, H.; Pohjonen, H.; Salonen, J.; Savolainen-Pulli, S. [VTT MEMS and Micropackaging, Espoo 02150 (Finland)

2008-06-11

In this paper, some practical aspects of reworking flip chip hybridized pixel detectors are discussed. As flip chip technology has been advancing in terms of placement accuracy and reliability, large-area hybrid pixel detectors have been developed. The area requirements are usually fulfilled by placing several readout chips (ROCs) on single sensor chip. However, as the number of ROCs increases, the probability of failure in the hybridization process and the ROC operation also increases. Because high accuracy flip chip bonding takes time, a significant part of the price of a pixel detector comes from the flip chip assembly process itself. As large-area detector substrates are expensive, and many flip chip placements are required, the price of an assembled detector can become very high. In a typical case, there is just one bad ROC (out of several) on a faulty detector to be replaced. Considering the high price of pixel detectors and the fact that reworking faulty ROCs does not take much longer than the original placement, it is worthwhile to investigate the feasibility of a rework process.

A high resolution 16 k multi-channel analyzer PC add-on card

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulkarni, C.P.; Paulson, Molly; Vaidya, P.P.

2001-01-01

This paper describes the system details of a 16 K channel resolution Multi-Channel Analyzer (MCA) developed at Electronics Division, BARC, which is used in high resolution nuclear spectroscopy systems for pulse height analysis. The high resolution data acquisition PC add-on card is architectured using a state of the art digital circuit design technology which makes use of a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and some of the most modern and advanced analog counterparts like low power, high speed and high precision comparators, Op-amps, ADCs and DACs etc. The 16 K MCA card gives an economic, compact, and low power alternative for nuclear pulse spectroscopy use. (author)

Particle trapping and hopping in an optofluidic fishnet

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Y. Z.; Xiong, S.; Zhang, Y.; Chin, L. K.; Wu, J. H.; Chen, T. N.; Liu, A. Q.

2017-08-01

Particle jumping between optical potentials has attracted much attention owing to its extensive involvement in many physical and biological experiments. In some circumstances, particle jumping indicates escaping from the optical trap, which is an issue people are trying to avoid. Nevertheless, particle jumping can facilitate the individual trap in each laser spot in the optical lattice and enable sorting and delivery of nanoparticles. Particle hopping has not been seen in fluid because Fluidic drag force dramatically reduce the dwell time of particle or break the potential well. Here, we observe particle hopping in the microchannel by three reasons, e.g., particle collision or aggregation, light disturbing by pretrapped particle and fake trapping position. We show that commonly ignored particle influence to the light could create a new isolated trapping position, where particle hops to the adjacent potential well. The hopping happens in an optofluidic fishnet which is comprised of discrete hotspots enabling 2D patterning of particles in the flow stream for the first time. We also achieve a 2D patterning of cryptosporidium in the microchannel. Our observed particle hopping in the flow stream completes the family of particle kinetics in potential wells and inspires new interests in the particle disturbed optical trapping. The 2D patterning of particles benefits the parallel study of biological samples in the flow stream and have potential on cell sorting and drug delivery.

Impact of Cutting Forces and Chip Microstructure in High Speed Machining of Carbon Fiber – Epoxy Composite Tube

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roy Y. Allwin

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Carbon fiber reinforced polymeric (CFRP composite materials are widely used in aerospace, automobile and biomedical industries due to their high strength to weight ratio, corrosion resistance and durability. High speed machining (HSM of CFRP material is needed to study the impact of cutting parameters on cutting forces and chip microstructure which offer vital inputs to the machinability and deformation characteristics of the material. In this work, the orthogonal machining of CFRP was conducted by varying the cutting parameters such as cutting speed and feed rate at high cutting speed/feed rate ranges up to 346 m/min/ 0.446 mm/rev. The impact of the cutting parameters on cutting forces (principal cutting, feed and thrust forces and chip microstructure were analyzed. A significant impact on thrust forces and chip segmentation pattern was seen at higher feed rates and low cutting speeds.

Flip chip assembly of thinned chips for hybrid pixel detector applications

CERN Document Server

Fritzsch, T; Woehrmann, M; Rothermund, M; Huegging, F; Ehrmann, O; Oppermann, H; Lang, K.D

2014-01-01

There is a steady trend to ultra-thin microelectronic devices. Especially for future particle detector systems a reduced readout chip thickness is required to limit the loss of tracking precision due to scattering. The reduction of silicon thickness is performed at wafer level in a two-step thinning process. To minimize the risk of wafer breakage the thinned wafer needs to be handled by a carrier during the whole process chain of wafer bumping. Another key process is the flip chip assembly of thinned readout chips onto thin sensor tiles. Besides the prevention of silicon breakage the minimization of chip warpage is one additional task for a high yield and reliable flip chip process. A new technology using glass carrier wafer will be described in detail. The main advantage of this technology is the combination of a carrier support during wafer processing and the chip support during flip chip assembly. For that a glass wafer is glue-bonded onto the backside of the thinned readout chip wafer. After the bump depo...

Optofluidic plasmonic onchip nanosensor array for biodetection

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Min

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing has been demonstrated in the past decade to be the gold standard technique for biochemical interaction analysis, and plays an important role in drug discovery and biomedical research. The technique circumvents the need of fluorescence/radioactive tagging or enzymatic detection, enables ultrasensitive remote sensing, and quantitatively monitors bio-interaction in real time. Although SPR has these attractive features that can satisfy most research/clinic requirements, there still exist problems that limit its applications. First, the reflection geometry of the prism coupling scheme adds limitations for high throughput screening application. Additionally, SPR instrumentations are bulky and not suitable for point-of-care settings. Moreover, the SPR sensor is embedded in conventional micro-fluidic cells, in which the sensor performance is limited by inefficient analyte transport. Suspended plasmonic nanohole array (PNA) offers an opportunity to overcome these limitations. A collinear excitation/collection coupling scheme combined with the small footprint of PNA provides unique platform for multiplexing and system minimization. The suspended nanohole structure also offers a unique configuration to integrate nano-photonics with nano-fluidics. This thesis focuses on developing a lab-on-a-chip PNA platform for point-of-care bio-detection. To achieve this, we first demonstrate that the figure-of-merit of our PNA sensor surpasses that of the prism coupled SPR. We also show that the ultrasensitive label-free PNA sensor is able to directly detect intact viruses from biological media at clinically relevant concentrations with little sample preparation. We then present a plasmonic microarray with over one million PNA sensors on a microscope slide for high throughput screening applications. A dual-color filter imaging method is introduced to increase the accuracy, reliability, and signal-to-noise ratio in a highly multiplexed manner. Finally

Integrated lasers for polymer Lab-on-a-Chip systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mappes, Timo; Vannahme, Christoph; Grosmann, Tobias

2012-01-01

We develop optical Lab-on-a-Chips on different platforms for marker-based and label-free biophotonic sensor applications. Our chips are based on polymers and fabricated by mass production technologies to integrate microfluidic channels, optical waveguides and miniaturized lasers.......We develop optical Lab-on-a-Chips on different platforms for marker-based and label-free biophotonic sensor applications. Our chips are based on polymers and fabricated by mass production technologies to integrate microfluidic channels, optical waveguides and miniaturized lasers....

Cutting zone area and chip morphology in high-speed cutting of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ke, Qing Chan; Xu, Daochun; Xiong, Dan Ping

2017-01-01

The titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V has superior properties but poor machinability, yet is widely used in aerospace and biomedical industries. Chip formation and cutting zone area are important factors that have received limited attention. Thus, we propose a high-speed orthogonal cutting model for serrated chip formation. The high speed orthogonal cutting of Ti-6Al-4V was studied with a cutting speed of 10-160 m/min and a feed of 0.07-0.11 mm/r. Using theoretical models and experimental results, parameters such as chip shape, serration level, slip angle, and shear slip distance were investigated. Cutting zone boundaries (tool-chip contact length, length of shear plane, and critical slip plane) and cutting zone area were obtained. The results showed that discontinuous, long-curling, and continuous chips were formed at low, medium, and high speeds, respectively. Serration level, shear slip distance, and slip angle rose with increasing cutting speed. The length of shear plane, tool-chip contact, and critical slip plane varied subtly with increased cutting speed, and rose noticeably with increased feed. Cutting zone area grew weakly with increased cutting speed, levelling off at high cutting speed; however, it rose noticeably with increased feed. This study furthers our understanding of the shear slip phenomenon and the mechanism of serrated chip formation

Cutting zone area and chip morphology in high-speed cutting of titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ke, Qing Chan; Xu, Daochun; Xiong, Dan Ping [School of Technology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing (China)

2017-01-15

The titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V has superior properties but poor machinability, yet is widely used in aerospace and biomedical industries. Chip formation and cutting zone area are important factors that have received limited attention. Thus, we propose a high-speed orthogonal cutting model for serrated chip formation. The high speed orthogonal cutting of Ti-6Al-4V was studied with a cutting speed of 10-160 m/min and a feed of 0.07-0.11 mm/r. Using theoretical models and experimental results, parameters such as chip shape, serration level, slip angle, and shear slip distance were investigated. Cutting zone boundaries (tool-chip contact length, length of shear plane, and critical slip plane) and cutting zone area were obtained. The results showed that discontinuous, long-curling, and continuous chips were formed at low, medium, and high speeds, respectively. Serration level, shear slip distance, and slip angle rose with increasing cutting speed. The length of shear plane, tool-chip contact, and critical slip plane varied subtly with increased cutting speed, and rose noticeably with increased feed. Cutting zone area grew weakly with increased cutting speed, levelling off at high cutting speed; however, it rose noticeably with increased feed. This study furthers our understanding of the shear slip phenomenon and the mechanism of serrated chip formation.

From existing in situ, high-resolution measurement technologies to lab-on-a-chip - the future of water quality monitoring?

Science.gov (United States)

Wade, A. J.; Palmer-Felgate, E. J.; Halliday, S. J.; Skeffington, R. A.; Loewenthal, M.; Jarvie, H. P.; Bowes, M. J.; Greenway, G. M.; Haswell, S. J.; Bell, I. M.; Joly, E.; Fallatah, A.; Neal, C.; Williams, R. J.; Gozzard, E.; Newman, J. R.

2012-05-01

This paper introduces new insights into the hydrochemical functioning of lowland river-systems using field-based spectrophotometric and electrode technologies. The streamwater concentrations of nitrogen species and phosphorus fractions were measured at hourly intervals on a continuous basis at two contrasting sites on tributaries of the River Thames, one draining a rural catchment, the River Enborne, and one draining a more urban system, The Cut. The measurements complement those from an existing network of multi-parameter water quality sondes maintained across the Thames catchment and weekly monitoring based on grab samples. The results of the sub-daily monitoring show that streamwater phosphorus concentrations display highly complex, seemingly chaotic, dynamics under storm conditions dependent on the antecedent catchment wetness, and that diurnal phosphorus and nitrogen cycles occur under low flow conditions. The diurnal patterns highlight the dominance of sewage inputs in controlling the streamwater phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations at low flows, even at a distance of 7 km from the nearest sewage works in the rural, River Enborne, and that the time of sample collection is important when judging water quality against ecological thresholds or standards. An exhaustion of the supply of phosphorus from diffuse and septic tank sources during storm events was evident and load estimation was not improved by sub-daily monitoring beyond that achieved by daily sampling because of the eventual reduction in the phosphorus mass entering the stream during events. The dominance of respiration over photosynthesis in The Cut indicated a prevalence of heterotrophic algae, and the seasonal patterns in respiration and photosynthesis corresponded with those of temperature and light in this nutrient over-enriched stream. These results highlight the utility of sub-daily water quality measurements but the deployment of modified wet-chemistry technologies into the field was limited

Effect of osmotic dehydration and vacuum-frying parameters to produce high-quality mango chips.

Science.gov (United States)

Nunes, Yolanda; Moreira, Rosana G

2009-09-01

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is a fruit rich in flavor and nutritional values, which is an excellent candidate for producing chips. The objective of this study was to develop high-quality mango chips using vacuum frying. Mango ("Tommy Atkins") slices were pretreated with different maltodextrin concentrations (40, 50, and 65, w/v), osmotic dehydration times (45, 60, and 70 min), and solution temperatures (22 and 40 degrees C). Pretreated slices were vacuum fried at 120, 130, and 138 degrees C and product quality attributes (oil content, texture, color, carotenoid content) determined. The effect of frying temperatures at optimum osmotic dehydration times (65 [w/v] at 40 degrees C) was assessed. All samples were acceptable (scores > 5) to consumer panelists. The best mango chips were those pretreated with 65 (w/v) concentration for 60 min and vacuum fried at 120 degrees C. Mango chips under atmospheric frying had less carotenoid retention (32%) than those under vacuum frying (up to 65%). These results may help further optimize vacuum-frying processing of high-quality fruit-based snacks.

A high resolution solar atlas for fluorescence calculations

Science.gov (United States)

Hearn, M. F.; Ohlmacher, J. T.; Schleicher, D. G.

1983-01-01

The characteristics required of a solar atlas to be used for studying the fluorescence process in comets are examined. Several sources of low resolution data were combined to provide an absolutely calibrated spectrum from 2250 A to 7000A. Three different sources of high resolution data were also used to cover this same spectral range. The low resolution data were then used to put each high resolution spectrum on an absolute scale. The three high resolution spectra were then combined in their overlap regions to produce a single, absolutely calibrated high resolution spectrum over the entire spectral range.

Single mode dye-doped polymer photonic crystal lasers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christiansen, Mads B; Buß, Thomas; Smith, Cameron L C; Petersen, Sidsel R; Jørgensen, Mette M; Kristensen, Anders

2010-01-01

Dye-doped polymer photonic crystal (PhC) lasers fabricated by combined nanoimprint and photolithography are studied for their reproducibility and stability characteristics. We introduce a phase shift in the PhC lattice that substantially improves the yield of single wavelength emission. Single mode emission and reproducibility of laser characteristics are important if the lasers are to be mass produced in, e.g., optofluidic sensor chips. The fabrication yield is above 85% with highly reproducible wavelengths (within 0.5%), and the temperature dependence on the wavelength is found to be −0.045 or −0.066 nm K -1 , depending on the material

Error Control for Network-on-Chip Links

CERN Document Server

Fu, Bo

2012-01-01

As technology scales into nanoscale regime, it is impossible to guarantee the perfect hardware design. Moreover, if the requirement of 100% correctness in hardware can be relaxed, the cost of manufacturing, verification, and testing will be significantly reduced. Many approaches have been proposed to address the reliability problem of on-chip communications. This book focuses on the use of error control codes (ECCs) to improve on-chip interconnect reliability. Coverage includes detailed description of key issues in NOC error control faced by circuit and system designers, as well as practical error control techniques to minimize the impact of these errors on system performance. Provides a detailed background on the state of error control methods for on-chip interconnects; Describes the use of more complex concatenated codes such as Hamming Product Codes with Type-II HARQ, while emphasizing integration techniques for on-chip interconnect links; Examines energy-efficient techniques for integrating multiple error...

Packaged integrated opto-fluidic solution for harmful fluid analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Allenet, T.; Bucci, D.; Geoffray, F.; Canto, F.; Couston, L.; Jardinier, E.; Broquin, J.-E.

2016-02-01

Advances in nuclear fuel reprocessing have led to a surging need for novel chemical analysis tools. In this paper, we present a packaged lab-on-chip approach with co-integration of optical and micro-fluidic functions on a glass substrate as a solution. A chip was built and packaged to obtain light/fluid interaction in order for the entire device to make spectral measurements using the photo spectroscopy absorption principle. The interaction between the analyte solution and light takes place at the boundary between a waveguide and a fluid micro-channel thanks to the evanescent part of the waveguide's guided mode that propagates into the fluid. The waveguide was obtained via ion exchange on a glass wafer. The input and the output of the waveguides were pigtailed with standard single mode optical fibers. The micro-scale fluid channel was elaborated with a lithography procedure and hydrofluoric acid wet etching resulting in a 150+/-8 μm deep channel. The channel was designed with fluidic accesses, in order for the chip to be compatible with commercial fluidic interfaces/chip mounts. This allows for analyte fluid in external capillaries to be pumped into the device through micro-pipes, hence resulting in a fully packaged chip. In order to produce this co-integrated structure, two substrates were bonded. A study of direct glass wafer-to-wafer molecular bonding was carried-out to improve detector sturdiness and durability and put forward a bonding protocol with a bonding surface energy of γ>2.0 J.m-2. Detector viability was shown by obtaining optical mode measurements and detecting traces of 1.2 M neodymium (Nd) solute in 12+/-1 μL of 0.01 M and pH 2 nitric acid (HNO3) solvent by obtaining an absorption peak specific to neodymium at 795 nm.

[Application of gene chip technology for acupuncture research over the past 15 years].

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, Wenrui; Zhang, Yue; Guo, Qiying; Sun, Qisheng; Guo, Qiulei; Ji, Zhi; Yang, Fangyuan; Zhan, He; Wang, He; Sui, Minghe; Hou, Zhongwei; Wang, Chaoyang; Liu, Qingguo

2017-12-12

To explore the application of gene chip technology in the acupuncture research so as to provide evidences for the mechanism of acupuncture for regulating bodies. The literature on the application of gene chip technology in the acupuncture field from 2001 to 2016 was collected in PubMed, Springer, CNKI and WANFANG databases, which was analyzed and summarized. There were some achievements of the technology for acupuncture research, focusing on the five aspects, including the study of the relationship between meridian-point and viscera, the influencing factors of acupuncture effect, the effect and mechanism of acupuncture analgesia, the mechanism of acupuncture anti-aging, the effect and mechanism of acupuncture for diseases of each system. Gene chip technology plays an important role in researching acupuncture mechanism. It is an important technology for genomics study of acupuncture. However, there are also some disadvantages such as high cost, deficient data mining, non-uniform observation objects, deficient professionals, etc. All those need further resolution so as to promote the application of this technology in the acupuncture researching field.

On-chip integrated lasers for biophotonic applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mappes, Timo; Wienhold, Tobias; Bog, Uwe

Meeting the need of biomedical users, we develop disposable Lab-on-a-Chip systems based on commercially available polymers. We are combining passive microfluidics with active optical elements on-chip by integrating multiple solid-state and liquid-core lasers. While covering a wide range of laser ...

Fluorescence-type Monochromatic X-ray Beam-position Monitor with High-spatial Resolution for the NSLS-II Beamlines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoon, Phil S.; Siddons, D. Peter

2010-01-01

We developed a fluorescence-type monochromatic X-ray beam-position monitor (X-BPM) with high-spatial resolution for end-station experiments at the initial project beamlines of the NSLS-II. We designed a ring array of multi-segmented Si PIN-junction photodiodes to use as a position sensor. Further, we integrated a low-noise charge-preamplification HERMES4 ASIC chip into an electronic readout system for photon-counting application. A series of precision measurements to characterize electronically the Si-photodiode sensor and the ASIC chip demonstrated that the inherent noise from the detector system is sufficiently low to meet our stringent requirements. Using a Gaussian beam, we parametrically modeled the optimum working distance to ensure the detector's best performance. Based upon the results from the parametric modeling, prototypes of the next versions of the X-BPM are being developed. In this paper, we describe the methodology for developing the new compact monochromatic X-ray BPM, including its instrumentation, detector modeling, and future plan.

Development of a pixel sensor with fine space-time resolution based on SOI technology for the ILC vertex detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ono, Shun, E-mail: s-ono@champ.hep.sci.osaka-u.ac.jp [Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka (Japan); Togawa, Manabu; Tsuji, Ryoji; Mori, Teppei [Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka (Japan); Yamada, Miho; Arai, Yasuo; Tsuboyama, Toru; Hanagaki, Kazunori [Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies, High Energy Accelerator Research Org. (KEK), 1-1 Oho, Tsukuba (Japan)

2017-02-11

We have been developing a new monolithic pixel sensor with silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology for the International Linear Collider (ILC) vertex detector system. The SOI monolithic pixel detector is realized using standard CMOS circuits fabricated on a fully depleted sensor layer. The new SOI sensor SOFIST can store both the position and timing information of charged particles in each 20×20 μm{sup 2} pixel. The position resolution is further improved by the position weighted with the charges spread to multiple pixels. The pixel also records the hit timing with an embedded time-stamp circuit. The sensor chip has column-parallel analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) circuits and zero-suppression logic for high-speed data readout. We are designing and evaluating some prototype sensor chips for optimizing and minimizing the pixel circuit.

Price of forest chips decreasing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hakkila, P.

2001-01-01

Use of forest chips was studied in 1999 in the national Puuenergia (Wood Energy) research program. Wood combusting heating plants were questioned about are the main reasons restricting the increment of the use of forest chips. Heating plants, which did not use forest chips at all or which used less than 250 m 3 (625 bulk- m 3 ) in 1999 were excluded. The main restrictions for additional use of forest chips were: too high price of forest chips; lack of suppliers and/or uncertainty of deliveries; technical problems of reception and processing of forest chips; insufficiency of boiler output especially in winter; and unsatisfactory quality of chips. The price of forest chips becomes relatively high because wood biomass used for production of forest chips has to be collected from wide area. Heavy equipment has to be used even though small fragments of wood are processed, which increases the price of chips. It is essential for forest chips that the costs can be pressed down because competition with fossil fuels, peat and industrial wood residues is hard. Low market price leads to the situation in which forest owner gets no price of the raw material, the entrepreneurs operate at the limit of profitability and renovation of machinery is difficult, and forest chips suppliers have to sell the chips at prime costs. Price of forest chips has decreased significantly during the past decade. Nominal price of forest chips is now lower than two decades ago. The real price of chips has decreased even more than the nominal price, 35% during the past decade and 20% during the last five years. Chips, made of small diameter wood, are expensive because the price includes the felling costs and harvesting is carried out at thinning lots. Price is especially high if chips are made of delimbed small diameter wood due to increased the work and reduced amount of chips. The price of logging residue chips is most profitable because cutting does not cause additional costs. Recovery of chips is

A contact-lens-shaped IC chip technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Ching-Yu; Yang, Frank; Teng, Chih-Chiao; Fan, Long-Sheng

2014-01-01

We report on novel contact-lens-shaped silicon integrated circuit chip technology for applications such as forming a conforming retinal prosthesis. This is achieved by means of patterning thin films of high residual stress on top of a shaped thin silicon substrate. Several strategies are employed to achieve curvatures of various amounts. Firstly, high residual stress on a thin film makes a thin chip deform into a designed three-dimensional shape. Also, a series of patterned stress films and ‘petal-shaped’ chips were fabricated and analyzed. Large curvatures can also be formed and maintained by the packaging process of bonding the chips to constraining elements such as thin-film polymer ring structures. As a demonstration, a complementary metal oxide semiconductor transistor (CMOS) image-sensing retina chip is made into a contact-lens shape conforming to a human eyeball 12.5 mm in radius. This non-planar and flexible chip technology provides a desirable device surface interface to soft tissues or non-planar bio surfaces and opens up many other possibilities for biomedical applications. (paper)

High resolution, high speed ultrahigh vacuum microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Poppa, Helmut

2004-01-01

The history and future of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is discussed as it refers to the eventual development of instruments and techniques applicable to the real time in situ investigation of surface processes with high resolution. To reach this objective, it was necessary to transform conventional high resolution instruments so that an ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) environment at the sample site was created, that access to the sample by various in situ sample modification procedures was provided, and that in situ sample exchanges with other integrated surface analytical systems became possible. Furthermore, high resolution image acquisition systems had to be developed to take advantage of the high speed imaging capabilities of projection imaging microscopes. These changes to conventional electron microscopy and its uses were slowly realized in a few international laboratories over a period of almost 40 years by a relatively small number of researchers crucially interested in advancing the state of the art of electron microscopy and its applications to diverse areas of interest; often concentrating on the nucleation, growth, and properties of thin films on well defined material surfaces. A part of this review is dedicated to the recognition of the major contributions to surface and thin film science by these pioneers. Finally, some of the important current developments in aberration corrected electron optics and eventual adaptations to in situ UHV microscopy are discussed. As a result of all the path breaking developments that have led to today's highly sophisticated UHV-TEM systems, integrated fundamental studies are now possible that combine many traditional surface science approaches. Combined investigations to date have involved in situ and ex situ surface microscopies such as scanning tunneling microscopy/atomic force microscopy, scanning Auger microscopy, and photoemission electron microscopy, and area-integrating techniques such as x-ray photoelectron

TARGET: A multi-channel digitizer chip for very-high-energy gamma-ray telescopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bechtol, K.; Funk, S.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park; Okumura, A.; /JAXA, Sagamihara /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park; Ruckman, L.; /Hawaii U.; Simons, A.; Tajima, H.; Vandenbroucke, J.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park; Varner, G.; /Hawaii U.

2011-08-11

The next-generation very-high-energy (VHE) gamma-ray observatory, the Cherenkov Telescope Array, will feature dozens of imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs), each with thousands of pixels of photosensors. To be affordable and reliable, reading out such a mega-channel array requires event recording technology that is highly integrated and modular, with a low cost per channel. We present the design and performance of a chip targeted to this application: the TeV Array Readout with GSa/s sampling and Event Trigger (TARGET). This application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) has 16 parallel input channels, a 4096-sample buffer for each channel, adjustable input termination, self-trigger functionality, and tight window-selected readout. We report the performance of TARGET in terms of sampling frequency, power consumption, dynamic range, current-mode gain, analog bandwidth, and cross talk. The large number of channels per chip allows a low cost per channel ($10 to $20 including front-end and back-end electronics but not including photosensors) to be achieved with a TARGET-based IACT readout system. In addition to basic performance parameters of the TARGET chip itself, we present a camera module prototype as well as a second-generation chip (TARGET 2), both of which have been produced.

ChIP on SNP-chip for genome-wide analysis of human histone H4 hyperacetylation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Porter Christopher J

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background SNP microarrays are designed to genotype Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs. These microarrays report hybridization of DNA fragments and therefore can be used for the purpose of detecting genomic fragments. Results Here, we demonstrate that a SNP microarray can be effectively used in this way to perform chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP on chip as an alternative to tiling microarrays. We illustrate this novel application by mapping whole genome histone H4 hyperacetylation in human myoblasts and myotubes. We detect clusters of hyperacetylated histone H4, often spanning across up to 300 kilobases of genomic sequence. Using complementary genome-wide analyses of gene expression by DNA microarray we demonstrate that these clusters of hyperacetylated histone H4 tend to be associated with expressed genes. Conclusion The use of a SNP array for a ChIP-on-chip application (ChIP on SNP-chip will be of great value to laboratories whose interest is the determination of general rules regarding the relationship of specific chromatin modifications to transcriptional status throughout the genome and to examine the asymmetric modification of chromatin at heterozygous loci.

An Energy-Efficient Reconfigurable Circuit Switched Network-on-Chip

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wolkotte, P.T.; Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria; Rauwerda, G.K.; Smit, L.T.

Network-on-Chip (NoC) is an energy-efficient on-chip communication architecture for multi-tile System-on-Chip (SoC) architectures. The SoC architecture, including its run-time software, can replace inflexible ASICs for future ambient systems. These ambient systems have to be flexible as well as

Energy Model of Networks-on-Chip and a Bus

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wolkotte, P.T.; Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria; Kavaldjiev, N.K.; Becker, Jens E.; Becker, Jürgen; Nurmi, J.; Takala, J.; Hamalainen, T.D.

2005-01-01

A Network-on-Chip (NoC) is an energy-efficient onchip communication architecture for Multi-Processor Systemon-Chip (MPSoC) architectures. In earlier papers we proposed two Network-on-Chip architectures based on packet-switching and circuit-switching. In this paper we derive an energy model for both

Stereolithographic hydrogel printing of 3D microfluidic cell culture chips

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Rujing

that support the required freedom in design, detail and chemistry for fabricating truly 3D constructs have remained limited. Here, we report a stereolithographic high-resolution 3D printing technique utilizing poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA, MW 700) to manufacture diffusion-open and mechanically...... and material flexibility by embedding a highly compliant cell-laden gelatin hydrogel within the confines of a 3D printed resilient PEGDA hydrogel chip of intermediate compliance. Overall, our proposed strategy represents an automated, cost-effective and high resolution technique to manufacture complex 3D...... epoxy component as structural supports interfacing the external world as well as compliant PEGDA component as microfluidic channels have been manufactured and perfused. Although still in the preliminary stage, this dual-material printing approach shows the potential for constructing complex 3D...

Individual tree detection based on densities of high points of high resolution airborne lidar

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Abd Rahman, M.Z.; Gorte, B.G.H.

2008-01-01

The retrieval of individual tree location from Airborne LiDAR has focused largely on utilizing canopy height. However, high resolution Airborne LiDAR offers another source of information for tree detection. This paper presents a new method for tree detection based on high points’ densities from a

High-Resolution Remote Sensing Image Building Extraction Based on Markov Model

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, W.; Yan, L.; Chang, Y.; Gong, L.

2018-04-01

With the increase of resolution, remote sensing images have the characteristics of increased information load, increased noise, more complex feature geometry and texture information, which makes the extraction of building information more difficult. To solve this problem, this paper designs a high resolution remote sensing image building extraction method based on Markov model. This method introduces Contourlet domain map clustering and Markov model, captures and enhances the contour and texture information of high-resolution remote sensing image features in multiple directions, and further designs the spectral feature index that can characterize "pseudo-buildings" in the building area. Through the multi-scale segmentation and extraction of image features, the fine extraction from the building area to the building is realized. Experiments show that this method can restrain the noise of high-resolution remote sensing images, reduce the interference of non-target ground texture information, and remove the shadow, vegetation and other pseudo-building information, compared with the traditional pixel-level image information extraction, better performance in building extraction precision, accuracy and completeness.

Electron Spin Resonance Measurement with Microinductor on Chip

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akio Kitagawa

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The detection of radicals on a chip is demonstrated. The proposed method is based on electron spin resonance (ESR spectroscopy and the measurement of high-frequency impedance of the microinductor fabricated on the chip. The measurement was by using a frequency sweep of approximately 100 MHz. The ESR spectra of di(phenyl-(2,4,6-trinitrophenyliminoazanium (DPPH dropped on the microinductor which is fabricated with CMOS 350-nm technology were observed at room temperature. The volume of the DPPH ethanol solution was 2 μL, and the number of spins on the micro-inductor was estimated at about 1014. The sensitivity is not higher than that of the standard ESR spectrometers. However, the result indicates the feasibility of a near field radical sensor in which the microinductor as a probe head and ESR signal processing circuit are integrated.

A Lab-on-Chip Design for Miniature Autonomous Bio-Chemoprospecting Planetary Rovers

Science.gov (United States)

Santoli, S.

The performance of the so-called ` Lab-on-Chip ' devices, featuring micrometre size components and employed at present for carrying out in a very fast and economic way the extremely high number of sequence determinations required in genomic analyses, can be largely improved as to further size reduction, decrease of power consumption and reaction efficiency through development of nanofluidics and of nano-to-micro inte- grated systems. As is shown, such new technologies would lead to robotic, fully autonomous, microwatt consumption and complete ` laboratory on a chip ' units for accurate, fast and cost-effective astrobiological and planetary exploration missions. The theory and the manufacturing technologies for the ` active chip ' of a miniature bio/chemoprospecting planetary rover working on micro- and nanofluidics are investigated. The chip would include micro- and nanoreactors, integrated MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical System) components, nanoelectronics and an intracavity nanolaser for highly accurate and fast chemical analysis as an application of such recently introduced solid state devices. Nano-reactors would be able to strongly speed up reaction kinetics as a result of increased frequency of reactive collisions. The reaction dynamics may also be altered with respect to standard macroscopic reactors. A built-in miniature telemetering unit would connect a network of other similar rovers and a central, ground-based or orbiting control unit for data collection and transmission to an Earth-based unit through a powerful antenna. The development of the ` Lab-on-Chip ' concept for space applications would affect the economy of space exploration missions, as the rover's ` Lab-on-Chip ' development would link space missions with the ever growing terrestrial market and business concerning such devices, largely employed in modern genomics and bioinformatics, so that it would allow the recoupment of space mission costs.

Study on VCSEL laser heating chip in nuclear magnetic resonance gyroscope

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Xiaoyang; Zhou, Binquan; Wu, Wenfeng; Jia, Yuchen; Wang, Jing

2017-10-01

In recent years, atomic gyroscope has become an important direction of inertial navigation. Nuclear magnetic resonance gyroscope has a stronger advantage in the miniaturization of the size. In atomic gyroscope, the lasers are indispensable devices which has an important effect on the improvement of the gyroscope performance. The frequency stability of the VCSEL lasers requires high precision control of temperature. However, the heating current of the laser will definitely bring in the magnetic field, and the sensitive device, alkali vapor cell, is very sensitive to the magnetic field, so that the metal pattern of the heating chip should be designed ingeniously to eliminate the magnetic field introduced by the heating current. In this paper, a heating chip was fabricated by MEMS process, i.e. depositing platinum on semiconductor substrates. Platinum has long been considered as a good resistance material used for measuring temperature The VCSEL laser chip is fixed in the center of the heating chip. The thermometer resistor measures the temperature of the heating chip, which can be considered as the same temperature of the VCSEL laser chip, by turning the temperature signal into voltage signal. The FPGA chip is used as a micro controller, and combined with PID control algorithm constitute a closed loop control circuit. The voltage applied to the heating resistor wire is modified to achieve the temperature control of the VCSEL laser. In this way, the laser frequency can be controlled stably and easily. Ultimately, the temperature stability can be achieved better than 100mK.

Microfluidic Organ-on-a-Chip Models of Human IntestineSummary

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amir Bein

Full Text Available Microfluidic organ-on-a-chip models of human intestine have been developed and used to study intestinal physiology and pathophysiology. In this article, we review this field and describe how microfluidic Intestine Chips offer new capabilities not possible with conventional culture systems or organoid cultures, including the ability to analyze contributions of individual cellular, chemical, and physical control parameters one-at-a-time; to coculture human intestinal cells with commensal microbiome for extended times; and to create human-relevant disease models. We also discuss potential future applications of human Intestine Chips, including how they might be used for drug development and personalized medicine. Keywords: Organs-on-Chips, Gut-on-a-Chip, Intestine-on-a-Chip, Microfluidic

Vertically integrated pixel readout chip for high energy physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deptuch, Grzegorz; Demarteau, Marcel; Hoff, James; Khalid, Farah; Lipton, Ronald; Shenai, Alpana; Trimpl, Marcel; Yarema, Raymond; Zimmerman, Tom

2011-01-01

We report on the development of the vertex detector pixel readout chips based on multi-tier vertically integrated electronics for the International Linear Collider. Some testing results of the VIP2a prototype are presented. The chip is the second iteration of the silicon implementation of the prototype, data-pushed concept of the readout developed at Fermilab. The device was fabricated in the 3D MIT-LL 0.15 (micro)m fully depleted SOI process. The prototype is a three-tier design, featuring 30 x 30 (micro)m 2 pixels, laid out in an array of 48 x 48 pixels.

Effect of on-chip filter on Coulomb blockade thermometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roschier, L; Penttilä, J S; Gunnarsson, D; Prunnila, M; Meschke, M; Savin, A

2012-01-01

Coulomb Blockade Thermometer (CBT) is a primary thermometer based on electric conductance of normal tunnel junction arrays. One limitation for CBT use at the lowest temperatures has been due to environmental noise heating. To improve on this limitation, we have done measurements on CBT sensors fabricated with different on-chip filtering structures in a dilution refrigerator with a base temperature of 10 mK. The CBT sensors were produced with a wafer scale tunnel junction process. We present how the different on-chip filtering schemes affect the limiting saturation temperatures and show that CBT sensors with proper on-chip filtering work at temperatures below 20 mK and are tolerant to noisy environment.

Exploration within the Network-on-Chip Paradigm

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wolkotte, P.T.

2009-01-01

A general purpose processor used to consist of a single processing core, which performed and controlled all tasks on the chip. Its functionality and maximum clock frequency grew steadily over the years. Due to the continuous increase of the number of transistors available on-chip and the operational

Ultra-high resolution protein crystallography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takeda, Kazuki; Hirano, Yu; Miki, Kunio

2010-01-01

Many protein structures have been determined by X-ray crystallography and deposited with the Protein Data Bank. However, these structures at usual resolution (1.5< d<3.0 A) are insufficient in their precision and quantity for elucidating the molecular mechanism of protein functions directly from structural information. Several studies at ultra-high resolution (d<0.8 A) have been performed with synchrotron radiation in the last decade. The highest resolution of the protein crystals was achieved at 0.54 A resolution for a small protein, crambin. In such high resolution crystals, almost all of hydrogen atoms of proteins and some hydrogen atoms of bound water molecules are experimentally observed. In addition, outer-shell electrons of proteins can be analyzed by the multipole refinement procedure. However, the influence of X-rays should be precisely estimated in order to derive meaningful information from the crystallographic results. In this review, we summarize refinement procedures, current status and perspectives for ultra high resolution protein crystallography. (author)

Real time, high resolution studies of protein adsorption and structure at the solid-liquid interface using dual polarization interferometry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freeman, Neville J; Peel, Louise L; Swann, Marcus J; Cross, Graham H; Reeves, Andrew; Brand, Stuart; Lu, Jian R

2004-01-01

A novel method for the analysis of thin biological films, called dual polarization interferometry (DPI), is described. This high resolution (<1 A), laboratory-based technique allows the thickness and refractive index (density) of biological molecules adsorbing or reacting at the solid-liquid interface to be measured in real time (up to 10 measurements per second). Results from the adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) on to a silicon oxynitride chip surface are presented to demonstrate how time dependent molecular behaviour can be examined using DPI. Mechanistic and structural information relating to the adsorption process is obtained as a function of the solution pH

Study of the ALICE Investigator chip in view of the requirements at CLIC

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(SzGeCERN)754303; Dannheim, Dominik; Fiergolski, Adrian; Van Hoorne, Jacobus Willem; Hynds, Daniel; Klempt, Wolfgang; Nurnberg, Andreas Matthias; Sielewicz, Krzysztof Marek; Snoeys, Walter

2017-01-01

CLIC is an option for a future high energy linear $e^{+}e^{−}$ collider at CERN in the post-LHC era. The CLIC machine is designed to reach centre-of-mass energies ranging from a few hundred GeV up to 3 TeV. To achieve high precision measurements, e.g. of the Higgs- width, challenging requirements are imposed on the CLIC detector. A single point tracking resolution of 7 μm and a material budget of 1-2%$X_{0}$ per layer are required for the tracker. Moreover, to suppress background hits from beam-beam interactions, a precise time slicing of hits of 10 ns is needed. To address these requirements, a large area silicon tracker is foreseen for the detector at CLIC. In this context, integrated technologies are promising candidates to achieve large scale production and low material budget. The Investigator chip is a test chip developed for the ALICE Inner Tracking System upgrade, implemented in a 180 nm CMOS process on a high resistivity substrate. It contains various test-matrices with analogue functionality, whi...

Ultra-thin silicon (UTSi) on insulator CMOS transceiver and time-division multiplexed switch chips for smart pixel integration

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Liping; Sawchuk, Alexander A.

2001-12-01

We describe the design, fabrication and functionality of two different 0.5 micron CMOS optoelectronic integrated circuit (OEIC) chips based on the Peregrine Semiconductor Ultra-Thin Silicon on insulator technology. The Peregrine UTSi silicon- on-sapphire (SOS) technology is a member of the silicon-on- insulator (SOI) family. The low-loss synthetic sapphire substrate is optically transparent and has good thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion properties, which meet the requirements for flip-chip bonding of VCSELs and other optoelectronic input-output components. One chip contains transceiver and network components, including four channel high-speed CMOS transceiver modules, pseudo-random bit stream (PRBS) generators, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) and other test circuits. The transceiver chips can operate in both self-testing mode and networking mode. An on- chip clock and true-single-phase-clock (TSPC) D-flip-flop have been designed to generate a PRBS at over 2.5 Gb/s for the high-speed transceiver arrays to operate in self-testing mode. In the networking mode, an even number of transceiver chips forms a ring network through free-space or fiber ribbon interconnections. The second chip contains four channel optical time-division multiplex (TDM) switches, optical transceiver arrays, an active pixel detector and additional test devices. The eventual applications of these chips will require monolithic OEICs with integrated optical input and output. After fabrication and testing, the CMOS transceiver array dies will be packaged with 850 nm vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs), and metal-semiconductor- metal (MSM) or GaAs p-i-n detector die arrays to achieve high- speed optical interconnections. The hybrid technique could be either wire bonding or flip-chip bonding of the CMOS SOS smart-pixel arrays with arrays of VCSELs and photodetectors onto an optoelectronic chip carrier as a multi-chip module (MCM).

Reversible and long-term immobilization in a hydrogel-microbead matrix for high-resolution imaging of Caenorhabditis elegans and other small organisms

Science.gov (United States)

Cornaglia, Matteo; Krishnamani, Gopalan; Zhang, Jingwei; Mouchiroud, Laurent; Lehnert, Thomas; Auwerx, Johan; Gijs, Martin A. M.

2018-01-01

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is an important model organism for biomedical research and genetic studies relevant to human biology and disease. Such studies are often based on high-resolution imaging of dynamic biological processes in the worm body tissues, requiring well-immobilized and physiologically active animals in order to avoid movement-related artifacts and to obtain meaningful biological information. However, existing immobilization methods employ the application of either anesthetics or servere physical constraints, by using glue or specific microfluidic on-chip mechanical structures, which in some cases may strongly affect physiological processes of the animals. Here, we immobilize C. elegans nematodes by taking advantage of a biocompatible and temperature-responsive hydrogel-microbead matrix. Our gel-based immobilization technique does not require a specific chip design and enables fast and reversible immobilization, thereby allowing successive imaging of the same single worm or of small worm populations at all development stages for several days. We successfully demonstrated the applicability of this method in challenging worm imaging contexts, in particular by applying it for high-resolution confocal imaging of the mitochondrial morphology in worm body wall muscle cells and for the long-term quantification of number and size of specific protein aggregates in different C. elegans neurodegenerative disease models. Our approach was also suitable for immobilizing other small organisms, such as the larvae of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and the unicellular parasite Trypanosoma brucei. We anticipate that this versatile technique will significantly simplify biological assay-based longitudinal studies and long-term observation of small model organisms. PMID:29509812

In situ high-resolution thermal microscopy on integrated circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhuo, Guan-Yu; Su, Hai-Ching; Wang, Hsien-Yi; Chan, Ming-Che

2017-09-04

The miniaturization of metal tracks in integrated circuits (ICs) can cause abnormal heat dissipation, resulting in electrostatic discharge, overvoltage breakdown, and other unwanted issues. Unfortunately, locating areas of abnormal heat dissipation is limited either by the spatial resolution or imaging acquisition speed of current thermal analytical techniques. A rapid, non-contact approach to the thermal imaging of ICs with sub-μm resolution could help to alleviate this issue. In this work, based on the intensity of the temperature-dependent two-photon fluorescence (TPF) of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) material, we developed a novel fast and non-invasive thermal microscopy with a sub-μm resolution. Its application to the location of hotspots that may evolve into thermally induced defects in ICs was also demonstrated. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to present high-resolution 2D thermal microscopic images of ICs, showing the generation, propagation, and distribution of heat during its operation. According to the demonstrated results, this scheme has considerable potential for future in situ hotspot analysis during the optimization stage of IC development.

Quantifying geological processes on Mars - Results of the high resolution stereo camera (HRSC) on Mars express

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jaumann, R.; Tirsch, D.; Hauber, E.; Ansan, V.; Di Achille, G.; Erkeling, G.; Fueten, F.; Head, J.; Kleinhans, M. G.; Mangold, N.; Michael, G. G.; Neukum, G.; Pacifici, A.; Platz, T.; Pondrelli, M.; Raack, J.; Reiss, D.; Williams, D. A.; Adeli, S.; Baratoux, D.; De Villiers, G.; Foing, B.; Gupta, S.; Gwinner, K.; Hiesinger, H.; Hoffmann, H.; Deit, L. Le; Marinangeli, L.; Matz, K. D.; Mertens, V.; Muller, J. P.; Pasckert, J. H.; Roatsch, T.; Rossi, A. P.; Scholten, F.; Sowe, M.; Voigt, J.; Warner, N.

2015-01-01

Abstract This review summarizes the use of High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) data as an instrumental tool and its application in the analysis of geological processes and landforms on Mars during the last 10 years of operation. High-resolution digital elevations models on a local to regional scale

Synthesis of on-chip control circuits for mVLSI biochips

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Potluri, Seetal; Schneider, Alexander Rüdiger; Hørslev-Petersen, Martin

2017-01-01

them to laboratory environments. To address this issue, researchers have proposed methods to reduce the number of offchip pressure sources, through integration of on-chip pneumatic control logic circuits fabricated using three-layer monolithic membrane valve technology. Traditionally, mVLSI biochip......-chip control circuit design and (iii) the integration of on-chip control in the placement and routing design tasks. In this paper we present a design methodology for logic synthesis and physical synthesis of mVLSI biochips that use on-chip control. We show how the proposed methodology can be successfully...... applied to generate biochip layouts with integrated on-chip pneumatic control....

Comparing genome-wide chromatin profiles using ChIP-chip or ChIP-seq

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Johannes, Frank; Wardenaar, Rene; Colomé Tatché, Maria; Mousson, Florence; de Graaf, Petra; Mokry, Michal; Guryev, Victor; Timmers, H. Th. Marc; Cuppen, Edwin; Jansen, Ritsert C.; Bateman, Alex

2010-01-01

Motivation: ChIP-chip and ChIP-seq technologies provide genomewide measurements of various types of chromatin marks at an unprecedented resolution. With ChIP samples collected from different tissue types and/ or individuals, we can now begin to characterize stochastic or systematic changes in

Epoxy Chip-in-Carrier Integration and Screen-Printed Metalization for Multichannel Microfluidic Lab-on-CMOS Microsystems.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Lin; Yin, Heyu; Mason, Andrew J

2018-04-01

The integration of biosensors, microfluidics, and CMOS instrumentation provides a compact lab-on-CMOS microsystem well suited for high throughput measurement. This paper describes a new epoxy chip-in-carrier integration process and two planar metalization techniques for lab-on-CMOS that enable on-CMOS electrochemical measurement with multichannel microfluidics. Several design approaches with different fabrication steps and materials were experimentally analyzed to identify an ideal process that can achieve desired capability with high yield and low material and tool cost. On-chip electrochemical measurements of the integrated assembly were performed to verify the functionality of the chip-in-carrier packaging and its capability for microfluidic integration. The newly developed CMOS-compatible epoxy chip-in-carrier process paves the way for full implementation of many lab-on-CMOS applications with CMOS ICs as core electronic instruments.

A high time resolution x-ray diagnostic on the Madison Symmetric Torus

Science.gov (United States)

DuBois, Ami M.; Lee, John David; Almagri, Abdulgadar F.

2015-07-01

A new high time resolution x-ray detector has been installed on the Madison Symmetric Torus (MST) to make measurements around sawtooth events. The detector system is comprised of a silicon avalanche photodiode, a 20 ns Gaussian shaping amplifier, and a 500 MHz digitizer with 14-bit sampling resolution. The fast shaping time diminishes the need to restrict the amount of x-ray flux reaching the detector, limiting the system dead-time. With a much higher time resolution than systems currently in use in high temperature plasma physics experiments, this new detector has the versatility to be used in a variety of discharges with varying flux and the ability to study dynamics on both slow and fast time scales. This paper discusses the new fast x-ray detector recently installed on MST and the improved time resolution capabilities compared to the existing soft and hard x-ray diagnostics. In addition to the detector hardware, improvements to the detector calibration and x-ray pulse identification software, such as additional fitting parameters and a more sophisticated fitting routine are discussed. Finally, initial data taken in both high confinement and standard reversed-field pinch plasma discharges are compared.

Real-time underwater object detection based on an electrically scanned high-resolution sonar

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henriksen, Lars

1994-01-01

The paper describes an approach to real time detection and tracking of underwater objects, using image sequences from an electrically scanned high-resolution sonar. The use of a high resolution sonar provides a good estimate of the location of the objects, but strains the computers on board, beca...

A high resolution portable spectroscopy system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kulkarni, C.P.; Vaidya, P.P.; Paulson, M.; Bhatnagar, P.V.; Pande, S.S.; Padmini, S.

2003-01-01

Full text: This paper describes the system details of a High Resolution Portable Spectroscopy System (HRPSS) developed at Electronics Division, BARC. The system can be used for laboratory class, high-resolution nuclear spectroscopy applications. The HRPSS consists of a specially designed compact NIM bin, with built-in power supplies, accommodating a low power, high resolution MCA, and on-board embedded computer for spectrum building and communication. A NIM based spectroscopy amplifier and a HV module for detector bias are integrated (plug-in) in the bin. The system communicates with a host PC via a serial link. Along-with a laptop PC, and a portable HP-Ge detector, the HRPSS offers a laboratory class performance for portable applications

An Object-Oriented Classification Method on High Resolution Satellite Data

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Xiaoxia, Sun; Jixian, Zhang; Zhengjun, Liu

2004-01-01

.... Thereby only the spectral information is used for the classification. High spatial resolution sensors involves a general increase of spatial information and the accuracy of results may decrease on a per-pixel basis...

Extension of least squares spectral resolution algorithm to high-resolution lipidomics data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zeng, Ying-Xu [Department of Chemistry, University of Bergen, PO Box 7803, N-5020 Bergen (Norway); Mjøs, Svein Are, E-mail: svein.mjos@kj.uib.no [Department of Chemistry, University of Bergen, PO Box 7803, N-5020 Bergen (Norway); David, Fabrice P.A. [Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Core Facility, School of Life Sciences, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB), Lausanne (Switzerland); Schmid, Adrien W. [Proteomics Core Facility, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), 1015 Lausanne (Switzerland)

2016-03-31

Lipidomics, which focuses on the global study of molecular lipids in biological systems, has been driven tremendously by technical advances in mass spectrometry (MS) instrumentation, particularly high-resolution MS. This requires powerful computational tools that handle the high-throughput lipidomics data analysis. To address this issue, a novel computational tool has been developed for the analysis of high-resolution MS data, including the data pretreatment, visualization, automated identification, deconvolution and quantification of lipid species. The algorithm features the customized generation of a lipid compound library and mass spectral library, which covers the major lipid classes such as glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids. Next, the algorithm performs least squares resolution of spectra and chromatograms based on the theoretical isotope distribution of molecular ions, which enables automated identification and quantification of molecular lipid species. Currently, this methodology supports analysis of both high and low resolution MS as well as liquid chromatography-MS (LC-MS) lipidomics data. The flexibility of the methodology allows it to be expanded to support more lipid classes and more data interpretation functions, making it a promising tool in lipidomic data analysis. - Highlights: • A flexible strategy for analyzing MS and LC-MS data of lipid molecules is proposed. • Isotope distribution spectra of theoretically possible compounds were generated. • High resolution MS and LC-MS data were resolved by least squares spectral resolution. • The method proposed compounds that are likely to occur in the analyzed samples. • The proposed compounds matched results from manual interpretation of fragment spectra.

Extension of least squares spectral resolution algorithm to high-resolution lipidomics data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeng, Ying-Xu; Mjøs, Svein Are; David, Fabrice P.A.; Schmid, Adrien W.

2016-01-01

Lipidomics, which focuses on the global study of molecular lipids in biological systems, has been driven tremendously by technical advances in mass spectrometry (MS) instrumentation, particularly high-resolution MS. This requires powerful computational tools that handle the high-throughput lipidomics data analysis. To address this issue, a novel computational tool has been developed for the analysis of high-resolution MS data, including the data pretreatment, visualization, automated identification, deconvolution and quantification of lipid species. The algorithm features the customized generation of a lipid compound library and mass spectral library, which covers the major lipid classes such as glycerolipids, glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids. Next, the algorithm performs least squares resolution of spectra and chromatograms based on the theoretical isotope distribution of molecular ions, which enables automated identification and quantification of molecular lipid species. Currently, this methodology supports analysis of both high and low resolution MS as well as liquid chromatography-MS (LC-MS) lipidomics data. The flexibility of the methodology allows it to be expanded to support more lipid classes and more data interpretation functions, making it a promising tool in lipidomic data analysis. - Highlights: • A flexible strategy for analyzing MS and LC-MS data of lipid molecules is proposed. • Isotope distribution spectra of theoretically possible compounds were generated. • High resolution MS and LC-MS data were resolved by least squares spectral resolution. • The method proposed compounds that are likely to occur in the analyzed samples. • The proposed compounds matched results from manual interpretation of fragment spectra.

The GenoChip: a new tool for genetic anthropology.

Science.gov (United States)

Elhaik, Eran; Greenspan, Elliott; Staats, Sean; Krahn, Thomas; Tyler-Smith, Chris; Xue, Yali; Tofanelli, Sergio; Francalacci, Paolo; Cucca, Francesco; Pagani, Luca; Jin, Li; Li, Hui; Schurr, Theodore G; Greenspan, Bennett; Spencer Wells, R

2013-01-01

The Genographic Project is an international effort aimed at charting human migratory history. The project is nonprofit and nonmedical, and, through its Legacy Fund, supports locally led efforts to preserve indigenous and traditional cultures. Although the first phase of the project was focused on uniparentally inherited markers on the Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the current phase focuses on markers from across the entire genome to obtain a more complete understanding of human genetic variation. Although many commercial arrays exist for genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, they were designed for medical genetic studies and contain medically related markers that are inappropriate for global population genetic studies. GenoChip, the Genographic Project's new genotyping array, was designed to resolve these issues and enable higher resolution research into outstanding questions in genetic anthropology. The GenoChip includes ancestry informative markers obtained for over 450 human populations, an ancient human (Saqqaq), and two archaic hominins (Neanderthal and Denisovan) and was designed to identify all known Y-chromosome and mtDNA haplogroups. The chip was carefully vetted to avoid inclusion of medically relevant markers. To demonstrate its capabilities, we compared the FST distributions of GenoChip SNPs to those of two commercial arrays. Although all arrays yielded similarly shaped (inverse J) FST distributions, the GenoChip autosomal and X-chromosomal distributions had the highest mean FST, attesting to its ability to discern subpopulations. The chip performances are illustrated in a principal component analysis for 14 worldwide populations. In summary, the GenoChip is a dedicated genotyping platform for genetic anthropology. With an unprecedented number of approximately 12,000 Y-chromosomal and approximately 3,300 mtDNA SNPs and over 130,000 autosomal and X-chromosomal SNPs without any known health, medical, or phenotypic

The GenoChip: A New Tool for Genetic Anthropology

Science.gov (United States)

Elhaik, Eran; Greenspan, Elliott; Staats, Sean; Krahn, Thomas; Tyler-Smith, Chris; Xue, Yali; Tofanelli, Sergio; Francalacci, Paolo; Cucca, Francesco; Pagani, Luca; Jin, Li; Li, Hui; Schurr, Theodore G.; Greenspan, Bennett; Spencer Wells, R.

2013-01-01

The Genographic Project is an international effort aimed at charting human migratory history. The project is nonprofit and nonmedical, and, through its Legacy Fund, supports locally led efforts to preserve indigenous and traditional cultures. Although the first phase of the project was focused on uniparentally inherited markers on the Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), the current phase focuses on markers from across the entire genome to obtain a more complete understanding of human genetic variation. Although many commercial arrays exist for genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, they were designed for medical genetic studies and contain medically related markers that are inappropriate for global population genetic studies. GenoChip, the Genographic Project’s new genotyping array, was designed to resolve these issues and enable higher resolution research into outstanding questions in genetic anthropology. The GenoChip includes ancestry informative markers obtained for over 450 human populations, an ancient human (Saqqaq), and two archaic hominins (Neanderthal and Denisovan) and was designed to identify all known Y-chromosome and mtDNA haplogroups. The chip was carefully vetted to avoid inclusion of medically relevant markers. To demonstrate its capabilities, we compared the FST distributions of GenoChip SNPs to those of two commercial arrays. Although all arrays yielded similarly shaped (inverse J) FST distributions, the GenoChip autosomal and X-chromosomal distributions had the highest mean FST, attesting to its ability to discern subpopulations. The chip performances are illustrated in a principal component analysis for 14 worldwide populations. In summary, the GenoChip is a dedicated genotyping platform for genetic anthropology. With an unprecedented number of approximately 12,000 Y-chromosomal and approximately 3,300 mtDNA SNPs and over 130,000 autosomal and X-chromosomal SNPs without any known health, medical, or phenotypic

Self-powered integrated systems-on-chip (energy chip)

KAUST Repository

Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

2010-04-23

In today\\'s world, consumer driven technology wants more portable electronic gadgets to be developed, and the next big thing in line is self-powered handheld devices. Therefore to reduce the power consumption as well as to supply sufficient power to run those devices, several critical technical challenges need to be overcome: a. Nanofabrication of macro/micro systems which incorporates the direct benefit of light weight (thus portability), low power consumption, faster response, higher sensitivity and batch production (low cost). b. Integration of advanced nano-materials to meet the performance/cost benefit trend. Nano-materials may offer new functionalities that were previously underutilized in the macro/micro dimension. c. Energy efficiency to reduce power consumption and to supply enough power to meet that low power demand. We present a pragmatic perspective on a self-powered integrated System on Chip (SoC). We envision the integrated device will have two objectives: low power consumption/dissipation and on-chip power generation for implementation into handheld or remote technologies for defense, space, harsh environments and medical applications. This paper provides insight on materials choices, intelligent circuit design, and CMOS compatible integration.

Self-powered integrated systems-on-chip (energy chip)

Science.gov (United States)

Hussain, M. M.; Fahad, H.; Rojas, J.; Hasan, M.; Talukdar, A.; Oommen, J.; Mink, J.

2010-04-01

In today's world, consumer driven technology wants more portable electronic gadgets to be developed, and the next big thing in line is self-powered handheld devices. Therefore to reduce the power consumption as well as to supply sufficient power to run those devices, several critical technical challenges need to be overcome: a. Nanofabrication of macro/micro systems which incorporates the direct benefit of light weight (thus portability), low power consumption, faster response, higher sensitivity and batch production (low cost). b. Integration of advanced nano-materials to meet the performance/cost benefit trend. Nano-materials may offer new functionalities that were previously underutilized in the macro/micro dimension. c. Energy efficiency to reduce power consumption and to supply enough power to meet that low power demand. We present a pragmatic perspective on a self-powered integrated System on Chip (SoC). We envision the integrated device will have two objectives: low power consumption/dissipation and on-chip power generation for implementation into handheld or remote technologies for defense, space, harsh environments and medical applications. This paper provides insight on materials choices, intelligent circuit design, and CMOS compatible integration.

High tracking resolution detectors. Final Technical Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasile, Stefan; Li, Zheng

2010-01-01

High-resolution tracking detectors based on Active Pixel Sensor (APS) have been valuable tools in Nuclear Physics and High-Energy Physics research, and have contributed to major discoveries. Their integration time, radiation length and readout rate is a limiting factor for the planed luminosity upgrades in nuclear and high-energy physics collider-based experiments. The goal of this program was to demonstrate and develop high-gain, high-resolution tracking detector arrays with faster readout, and shorter radiation length than APS arrays. These arrays may operate as direct charged particle detectors or as readouts of high resolution scintillating fiber arrays. During this program, we developed in CMOS large, high-resolution pixel sensor arrays with integrated readout, and reset at pixel level. Their intrinsic gain, high immunity to surface and moisture damage, will allow operating these detectors with minimal packaging/passivation requirements and will result in radiation length superior to APS. In Phase I, we designed and fabricated arrays with calorimetric output capable of sub-pixel resolution and sub-microsecond readout rate. The technical effort was dedicated to detector and readout structure development, performance verification, as well as to radiation damage and damage annealing.

Optimization of high frequency flip-chip interconnects for digital superconducting circuits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rafique, M R; Engseth, H; Kidiyarova-Shevchenko, A

2006-01-01

This paper presents the results of theoretical optimization of the multi-chip-module (MCM) contact and driver circuitries for gigabit chip-to-chip communication. Optimization has been done using 3D electromagnetic (EM) simulations of MCM contacts and time domain simulations of drivers and receivers. A single optimized MCM contact has a signal reflection of less than -20 dB for more than 400 GHz bandwidth. The MCM data link with the optimized SFQ driver, receiver and two MCM contacts has operational margins on the global bias current of ± 30% at 30 Gbit s -1 speedand can operate above 100 Gbit s -1 speed. Wide bandwidth transmission requires the realization of an advanced flip-chip process with a small dimension of the MCM contact (less than 30 μm diameter of the contact pad) and small height of the flip-chip contact bumps of the order of 2 μm. Current processes with about 7 μm height of the bumps require the application of a double-flux-quantum (DFQ) driver. The data link with the DFQ driver was also simulated. It has operational margins on the global bias current of ± 30% at 30 Gbit s -1 ; however, the maximum speed of operation is 61 Gbit s -1 . Several test structures have been designed for measurements of signal reflection, bit error rate and operational margins of the data link

Very High Throughput Electrical Cell Lysis and Extraction of Intracellular Compounds Using 3D Carbon Electrodes in Lab-on-a-Chip Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Philippe Renaud

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Here we present an electrical lysis throughput of 600 microliters per minute at high cell density (10⁸ yeast cells per ml with 90% efficiency, thus improving the current common throughput of one microliter per minute. We also demonstrate the extraction of intracellular luciferase from mammalian cells with efficiency comparable to off-chip bulk chemical lysis. The goal of this work is to develop a sample preparation module that can act as a stand-alone device or be integrated to other functions already demonstrated in miniaturized devices, including sorting and analysis, towards a true lab-on-a-chip.

Comparing genome-wide chromatin profiles using ChIP-chip or ChIP-seq

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Johannes, F.; Wardenaar, R.; Colome-Tatche, M.; Mousson, F.; de Graaf, P.; Mokry, M.; Guryev, V.; Timmers, H.T.; Cuppen, E.; Jansen, R.

2010-01-01

MOTIVATION: ChIP-chip and ChIP-seq technologies provide genome-wide measurements of various types of chromatin marks at an unprecedented resolution. With ChIP samples collected from different tissue types and/or individuals, we can now begin to characterize stochastic or systematic changes in

Optimizing Polymer Lab-on-Chip Platforms for Ultrasonic Manipulation: Influence of the Substrate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Itziar González

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The choice of substrate material in a chip that combines ultrasound with microfluidics for handling biological and synthetic microparticles can have a profound effect on the performance of the device. This is due to the high surface-to-volume ratio that exists within such small structures and acquires particular relevance in polymer-based resonators with 3D standing waves. This paper presents three chips developed to perform particle flow-through separation by ultrasound based on a polymeric SU-8 layer containing channelization over three different substrates: Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA; Pyrex; and a cracked PMMA composite-like structure. Through direct observations of polystyrene microbeads inside the channel, the three checked chips exhibit their potential as disposable continuous concentration devices with different spatial pressure patterns at frequencies of resonance close to 1 Mhz. Chips with Pyrex and cracked PMMA substrates show restrictions on the number of pressure nodes established in the channel associated with the inhibition of 3D modes in the solid structure. The glass-substrate chip presents some advantages associated with lower energy requirements to collect particles. According to the results, the use of polymer-based chips with rigid substrates can be advantageous for applications that require short treatment times (clinical tests handling human samples and low-cost fabrication.

Versatile single-chip event sequencer for atomic physics experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Eyler, Edward

2010-03-01

A very inexpensive dsPIC microcontroller with internal 32-bit counters is used to produce a flexible timing signal generator with up to 16 TTL-compatible digital outputs, with a time resolution and accuracy of 50 ns. This time resolution is easily sufficient for event sequencing in typical experiments involving cold atoms or laser spectroscopy. This single-chip device is capable of triggered operation and can also function as a sweeping delay generator. With one additional chip it can also concurrently produce accurately timed analog ramps, and another one-chip addition allows real-time control from an external computer. Compared to an FPGA-based digital pattern generator, this design is slower but simpler and more flexible, and it can be reprogrammed using ordinary `C' code without special knowledge. I will also describe the use of the same microcontroller with additional hardware to implement a digital lock-in amplifier and PID controller for laser locking, including a simple graphics-based control unit. This work is supported in part by the NSF.

On the optical stability of high-resolution transmission electron microscopes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barthel, J.; Thust, A.

2013-01-01

In the recent two decades the technique of high-resolution transmission electron microscopy experienced an unprecedented progress through the introduction of hardware aberration correctors and by the improvement of the achievable resolution to the sub-Ångström level. The important aspect that aberration correction at a given resolution requires also a well defined amount of optical stability has received little attention so far. Therefore we investigate the qualification of a variety of high-resolution electron microscopes to maintain an aberration corrected optical state in terms of an optical lifetime. We develop a comprehensive statistical framework for the estimation of the optical lifetime and find remarkably low values between tens of seconds and a couple of minutes. Probability curves are introduced, which inform the operator about the chance to work still in the fully aberration corrected state. - Highlights: • We investigate the temporal stability of optical aberrations in HRTEM. • We develop a statistical framework for the estimation of optical lifetimes. • We introduce plots showing the success probability for aberration-free work. • Optical lifetimes in sub-Ångström electron microscopy are surprisingly low. • The success of aberration correction depends strongly on the optical stability

Development of a CMOS time memory cell VLSI and CAMAC module with 0.5 ns resolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arai, Y.; Ikeno, M.; Matsumura, T.

1992-01-01

A CMOS time-to-digital converter chip, the Time Memory Cell (TMC), for high-rate wire chamber application has been developed. The chip has a timing resolution of 0.52 ns, dissipates only 7 mW/channel, and contains 4 channels in a chip. Each channel has 1024 memory locations which act as a buffer 1μs deep. The chip was fabricated in a 0.8 μm CMOS process and is 5.0 mm by 5.6 mm. Using the TMC chip, a CAMAC module with 32 input channels was developed. This module is designed to operate in both 'Common Start' and 'Common Stop' modes. The circuit of the module and test results are described in this paper

Biotinylated Photopolymers for 3D-Printed Unibody Lab-on-a-Chip Optical Platforms.

Science.gov (United States)

Credi, Caterina; Griffini, Gianmarco; Levi, Marinella; Turri, Stefano

2018-01-01

The present work reports the first demonstration of straightforward fabrication of monolithic unibody lab-on-a-chip (ULOCs) integrating bioactive micrometric 3D scaffolds by means of multimaterial stereolithography (SL). To this end, a novel biotin-conjugated photopolymer is successfully synthesized and optimally formulated to achieve high-performance SL-printing resolution, as demonstrated by the SL-fabrication of biotinylated structures smaller than 100 µm. By optimizing a multimaterial single-run SL-based 3D-printing process, such biotinylated microstructures are incorporated within perfusion microchambers whose excellent optical transparency enables real-time optical microscopy analyses. Standard biotin-binding assays confirm the existence of biotin-heads on the surfaces of the embedded 3D microstructures and allow to demonstrate that the biofunctionality of biotin is not altered during the SL-printing, thus making it exploitable for further conjugation with other biomolecules. As a step forward, an in-line optical detection system is designed, prototyped via SL-printing and serially connected to the perfusion microchambers through customized world-to-chip connectors. Such detection system is successfully employed to optically analyze the solution flowing out of the microchambers, thus enabling indirect quantification of the concentration of target interacting biomolecules. The successful application of this novel biofunctional photopolymer as SL-material enables to greatly extend the versatility of SL to directly fabricate ULOCs with intrinsic biofunctionality. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Study of silicon chip soldering in high-power transistor housing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasily S. Anosov

2017-09-01

We experimentally assessed the effect of outer housing layer materials and back side chip metallization. For lead-silver soldering of silicon chips, the best housing is that with a nickel outer layer rather than with a gold-plated one, because the resultant thermal resistance is lower and the absence of gold makes the technology cheaper. We obtained a 0.6 K/W thermal resistance for a 24 mm2 chip area.

Simulating the Effect of Modulated Tool-Path Chip Breaking On Surface Texture and Chip Length

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, K.S.; McFarland, J.T.; Tursky, D. A.; Assaid, T. S.; Barkman, W. E.; Babelay, Jr., E. F.

2010-04-30

One method for creating broken chips in turning processes involves oscillating the cutting tool in the feed direction utilizing the CNC machine axes. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the Y-12 National Security Complex have developed and are refining a method to reliably control surface finish and chip length based on a particular machine's dynamic performance. Using computer simulations it is possible to combine the motion of the machine axes with the geometry of the cutting tool to predict the surface characteristics and map the surface texture for a wide range of oscillation parameters. These data allow the selection of oscillation parameters to simultaneously ensure broken chips and acceptable surface characteristics. This paper describes the machine dynamic testing and characterization activities as well as the computational method used for evaluating and predicting chip length and surface texture.

Study of cutting speed on surface roughness and chip formation when machining nickel-based alloy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khidhir, Basim A.; Mohamed, Bashir

2010-01-01

Nickel- based alloy is difficult-to-machine because of its low thermal diffusive property and high strength at higher temperature. The machinability of nickel- based Hastelloy C-276 in turning operations has been carried out using different types of inserts under dry conditions on a computer numerical control (CNC) turning machine at different stages of cutting speed. The effects of cutting speed on surface roughness have been investigated. This study explores the types of wear caused by the effect of cutting speed on coated and uncoated carbide inserts. In addition, the effect of burr formation is investigated. The chip burr is found to have different shapes at lower speeds. Triangles and squares have been noticed for both coated and uncoated tips as well. The conclusion from this study is that the transition from thick continuous chip to wider discontinuous chip is caused by different types of inserts. The chip burr has a significant effect on tool damage starting in the line of depth-of-cut. For the coated insert tips, the burr disappears when the speed increases to above 150 m/min with the improvement of surface roughness; increasing the speed above the same limit for uncoated insert tips increases the chip burr size. The results of this study showed that the surface finish of nickel-based alloy is highly affected by the insert type with respect to cutting speed changes and its effect on chip burr formation and tool failure

Report on the ESO Workshop ''Astronomy at High Angular Resolution''

Science.gov (United States)

Boffin, H.; Schmidtobreick, L.; Hussain, G.; Berger, J.-Ph.

2015-03-01

A workshop took place in Brussels in 2000 on astrotomography, a generic term for indirect mapping techniques that can be applied to a huge variety of astrophysical systems, ranging from planets, single stars and binaries to active galactic nuclei. It appeared to be timely to revisit the topic given the many past, recent and forthcoming improvements in telescopes and instrumentation. We therefore decided to repeat the astrotomography workshop, but to put it into the much broader context of high angular resolution astronomy. Many techniques, from lucky and speckle imaging, adaptive optics to interferometry, are now widely employed to achieve high angular resolution and they have led to an amazing number of new discoveries. A summary of the workshop themes is presented.

Defect testing of large aperture optics based on high resolution CCD camera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheng Xiaofeng; Xu Xu; Zhang Lin; He Qun; Yuan Xiaodong; Jiang Xiaodong; Zheng Wanguo

2009-01-01

A fast testing method on inspecting defects of large aperture optics was introduced. With uniform illumination by LED source at grazing incidence, the image of defects on the surface of and inside the large aperture optics could be enlarged due to scattering. The images of defects were got by high resolution CCD camera and microscope, and the approximate mathematical relation between viewing dimension and real dimension of defects was simulated. Thus the approximate real dimension and location of all defects could be calculated through the high resolution pictures. (authors)

Power and Thermal Management of System-on-Chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liu, Wei

, are necessary at the chip design level. In this work, we investigate the power and thermal management of System-on- Chips (SoCs). Thermal analysis is performed in a SPICE simulation approach based on the electrical-thermal analogy. We investigate the impact of inter- connects on heat distribution...

Microfluidic organ-on-chip technology for blood-brain barrier research.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Helm, Marinke W; van der Meer, Andries D; Eijkel, Jan C T; van den Berg, Albert; Segerink, Loes I

2016-01-01

Organs-on-chips are a new class of microengineered laboratory models that combine several of the advantages of current in vivo and in vitro models. In this review, we summarize the advances that have been made in the development of organ-on-chip models of the blood-brain barrier (BBBs-on-chips) and the challenges that are still ahead. The BBB is formed by specialized endothelial cells and separates blood from brain tissue. It protects the brain from harmful compounds from the blood and provides homeostasis for optimal neuronal function [corrected]. Studying BBB function and dysfunction is important for drug development and biomedical research. Microfluidic BBBs-on-chips enable real-time study of (human) cells in an engineered physiological microenvironment, for example incorporating small geometries and fluid flow as well as sensors. Examples of BBBs-on-chips in literature already show the potential of more realistic microenvironments and the study of organ-level functions. A key challenge in the field of BBB-on-chip development is the current lack of standardized quantification of parameters such as barrier permeability and shear stress. This limits the potential for direct comparison of the performance of different BBB-on-chip models to each other and existing models. We give recommendations for further standardization in model characterization and conclude that the rapidly emerging field of BBB-on-chip models holds great promise for further studies in BBB biology and drug development.

Real-time two-photon lithography in controlled flow to create a single-microparticle array and particle-cluster array for optofluidic imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Bing; Shi, Yang; Lao, Zhaoxin; Ni, Jincheng; Li, Guoqiang; Hu, Yanlei; Li, Jiawen; Chu, Jiaru; Wu, Dong; Sugioka, Koji

2018-01-30

Microarray technology provides an excellent platform for biomedical and biochemical research including basic scientific studies, drug discovery, and diagnostics. Here, we develop a novel method referred to as real-time two-photon lithography in a controlled flow in which femtosecond laser two-photon lithography is performed in situ in the sequential mode stopping and flowing the flow of liquid resin containing microparticles to achieve 100% trapping on a one-bead-to-one-trap basis. Polydisperse particles can be all trapped to form a desired array by freely designing trap structures, resulting in an unprecedentedly high capture efficiency of ∼100%. No persistent pressure is needed after trapping which reduces the complexity of the system. In addition, trapping of particle-cluster arrays with a controlled number of particles is also achieved via this method. The trapped particles inside the microchip are successfully applied as microlenses for high quality imaging. The present technology marks an essential step towards a versatile platform for the integration of bead-based assays and paves the way for developing innovative microfluidics, optofluidics, micro-optics and single-cell analysis devices.

The Design and Implementation in $0.13\\mu m$ CMOS of an Algorithm Permitting Spectroscopic Imaging with High Spatial Resolution for Hybrid Pixel Detectors

CERN Document Server

Ballabriga, Rafael; Vilasís-Cardona, Xavier

2009-01-01

Advances in pixel detector technology are opening up new possibilities in many fields of science. Modern High Energy Physics (HEP) experiments use pixel detectors in tracking systems where excellent spatial resolution, precise timing and high signal-to-noise ratio are required for accurate and clean track reconstruction. Many groups are working worldwide to adapt the hybrid pixel technology to other fields such as medical X-ray radiography, protein structure analysis or neutron imaging. The Medipix3 chip is a 256x256 channel hybrid pixel detector readout chip working in Single Photon Counting Mode. It has been developed with a new front-end architecture aimed at eliminating the spectral distortion produced by charge diffusion in highly segmented semiconductor detectors. In the new architecture neighbouring pixels communicate with one another. Charges can be summed event-by-event and the incoming quantum can be assigned as a single hit to the pixel with the biggest charge deposit. In the case where incoming X-...

A low-frequency chip-scale optomechanical oscillator with 58 kHz mechanical stiffening and more than 100th-order stable harmonics.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yongjun; Flores, Jaime Gonzalo Flor; Cai, Ziqiang; Yu, Mingbin; Kwong, Dim-Lee; Wen, Guangjun; Churchill, Layne; Wong, Chee Wei

2017-06-29

For the sensitive high-resolution force- and field-sensing applications, the large-mass microelectromechanical system (MEMS) and optomechanical cavity have been proposed to realize the sub-aN/Hz 1/2 resolution levels. In view of the optomechanical cavity-based force- and field-sensors, the optomechanical coupling is the key parameter for achieving high sensitivity and resolution. Here we demonstrate a chip-scale optomechanical cavity with large mass which operates at ≈77.7 kHz fundamental mode and intrinsically exhibiting large optomechanical coupling of 44 GHz/nm or more, for both optical resonance modes. The mechanical stiffening range of ≈58 kHz and a more than 100 th -order harmonics are obtained, with which the free-running frequency instability is lower than 10 -6 at 100 ms integration time. Such results can be applied to further improve the sensing performance of the optomechanical inspired chip-scale sensors.

High-Resolution Electronics: Spontaneous Patterning of High-Resolution Electronics via Parallel Vacuum Ultraviolet (Adv. Mater. 31/2016).

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xuying; Kanehara, Masayuki; Liu, Chuan; Sakamoto, Kenji; Yasuda, Takeshi; Takeya, Jun; Minari, Takeo

2016-08-01

On page 6568, T. Minari and co-workers describe spontaneous patterning based on the parallel vacuum ultraviolet (PVUV) technique, enabling the homogeneous integration of complex, high-resolution electronic circuits, even on large-scale, flexible, transparent substrates. Irradiation of PVUV to the hydrophobic polymer surface precisely renders the selected surface into highly wettable regions with sharply defined boundaries, which spontaneously guides a metal nanoparticle ink into a series of circuit lines and gaps with the widths down to a resolution of 1 μm. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A mixed signal multi-chip module with high speed serial output links for the ATLAS Level-1 trigger

CERN Document Server

Pfeiffer, U

2000-01-01

We have built and tested a mixed signal multi-chip module (MCM) to be used in the Level-1 Pre-Processor system for the Calorimeter Trigger of the ATLAS experiment at CERN. The MCM performs high speed digital signal processing on four analogue input signals. Results are transmitted serially at a serial data rate of 800 MBd. Nine chips of different technologies are mounted on a four layer Cu substrate. ADC converters and serialiser chips are the major consumers of electrical power on the MCM, which amounts to 9 W for all dies. Special cut-out areas are used to dissipate heat directly to the copper substrate. In this paper we report on design criteria, chosen MCM technology for substrate and die mounting, experiences with the MCM operation and measurement results. (4 refs).

Microfluidic organ-on-chip technology for blood-brain barrier research

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Helm, Marieke Willemijn; van der Meer, Andries Dirk; Eijkel, Jan C.T.; van den Berg, Albert; Segerink, Loes Irene

2016-01-01

Organs-on-chips are a new class of microengineered laboratory models that combine several of the advantages of current in vivo and in vitro models. In this review, we summarize the advances that have been made in the development of organ-on-chip models of the blood-brain barrier (BBBs-on-chips) and

High spatial and temporal resolution cell manipulation techniques in microchannels.

Science.gov (United States)

Novo, Pedro; Dell'Aica, Margherita; Janasek, Dirk; Zahedi, René P

2016-03-21

The advent of microfluidics has enabled thorough control of cell manipulation experiments in so called lab on chips. Lab on chips foster the integration of actuation and detection systems, and require minute sample and reagent amounts. Typically employed microfluidic structures have similar dimensions as cells, enabling precise spatial and temporal control of individual cells and their local environments. Several strategies for high spatio-temporal control of cells in microfluidics have been reported in recent years, namely methods relying on careful design of the microfluidic structures (e.g. pinched flow), by integration of actuators (e.g. electrodes or magnets for dielectro-, acousto- and magneto-phoresis), or integrations thereof. This review presents the recent developments of cell experiments in microfluidics divided into two parts: an introduction to spatial control of cells in microchannels followed by special emphasis in the high temporal control of cell-stimulus reaction and quenching. In the end, the present state of the art is discussed in line with future perspectives and challenges for translating these devices into routine applications.

A system-level multiprocessor system-on-chip modeling framework

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Virk, Kashif Munir; Madsen, Jan

2004-01-01

We present a system-level modeling framework to model system-on-chips (SoC) consisting of heterogeneous multiprocessors and network-on-chip communication structures in order to enable the developers of today's SoC designs to take advantage of the flexibility and scalability of network-on-chip and...... SoC design. We show how a hand-held multimedia terminal, consisting of JPEG, MP3 and GSM applications, can be modeled as a multiprocessor SoC in our framework....

High-resolution 3D laser imaging based on tunable fiber array link

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Sisi; Ruan, Ningjuan; Yang, Song

2017-10-01

Airborne photoelectric reconnaissance system with the bore sight down to the ground is an important battlefield situational awareness system, which can be used for reconnaissance and surveillance of complex ground scene. Airborne 3D imaging Lidar system is recognized as the most potential candidates for target detection under the complex background, and is progressing in the directions of high resolution, long distance detection, high sensitivity, low power consumption, high reliability, eye safe and multi-functional. However, the traditional 3D laser imaging system has the disadvantages of lower imaging resolutions because of the small size of the existing detector, and large volume. This paper proposes a high resolution laser 3D imaging technology based on the tunable optical fiber array link. The echo signal is modulated by a tunable optical fiber array link and then transmitted to the focal plane detector. The detector converts the optical signal into electrical signals which is given to the computer. Then, the computer accomplishes the signal calculation and image restoration based on modulation information, and then reconstructs the target image. This paper establishes the mathematical model of tunable optical fiber array signal receiving link, and proposes the simulation and analysis of the affect factors on high density multidimensional point cloud reconstruction.

Berkeley High-Resolution Ball

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Diamond, R.M.

1984-10-01

Criteria for a high-resolution γ-ray system are discussed. Desirable properties are high resolution, good response function, and moderate solid angle so as to achieve not only double- but triple-coincidences with good statistics. The Berkeley High-Resolution Ball involved the first use of bismuth germanate (BGO) for anti-Compton shield for Ge detectors. The resulting compact shield permitted rather close packing of 21 detectors around a target. In addition, a small central BGO ball gives the total γ-ray energy and multiplicity, as well as the angular pattern of the γ rays. The 21-detector array is nearly complete, and the central ball has been designed, but not yet constructed. First results taken with 9 detector modules are shown for the nucleus 156 Er. The complex decay scheme indicates a transition from collective rotation (prolate shape) to single- particle states (possibly oblate) near spin 30 h, and has other interesting features

Prototyping of thermoplastic microfluidic chips and their application in high-performance liquid chromatography separations of small molecules.

Science.gov (United States)

Wouters, Sam; De Vos, Jelle; Dores-Sousa, José Luís; Wouters, Bert; Desmet, Gert; Eeltink, Sebastiaan

2017-11-10

The present paper discusses practical aspects of prototyping of microfluidic chips using cyclic olefin copolymer as substrate and the application in high-performance liquid chromatography. The developed chips feature a 60mm long straight separation channel with circular cross section (500μm i.d.) that was created using a micromilling robot. To irreversibly seal the top and bottom chip substrates, a solvent-vapor-assisted bonding approach was optimized, allowing to approximate the ideal circular channel geometry. Four different approaches to establish the micro-to-macro interface were pursued. The average burst pressure of the microfluidic chips in combination with an encasing holder was established at 38MPa and the maximum burst pressure was 47MPa, which is believed to be the highest ever report for these polymer-based microfluidic chips. Porous polymer monolithic frits were synthesized in-situ via UV-initiated polymerization and their locations were spatially controlled by the application of a photomask. Next, high-pressure slurry packing was performed to introduce 3μm silica reversed-phase particles as the stationary phase in the separation channel. Finally, the application of the chip technology is demonstrated for the separation of alkyl phenones in gradient mode yielding baseline peak widths of 6s by applying a steep gradient of 1.8min at a flow rate of 10μL/min. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Rapid, highly sensitive and highly specific gene detection by combining enzymatic amplification and DNA chip detection simultaneously

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koji Hashimoto

2016-05-01

Full Text Available We have developed a novel gene detection method based on the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP reaction and the DNA dissociation reaction on the same DNA chip surface to achieve a lower detection limit, broader dynamic range and faster detection time than are attainable with a conventional DNA chip. Both FAM- and thiol-labeled DNA probe bound to the complementary sequence accompanying Dabcyl was immobilized on the gold surface via Au/thiol bond. The LAMP reaction was carried out on the DNA probe fixed gold surface. At first, Dabcyl molecules quenched the FAM fluorescence. According to the LAMP reaction, the complementary sequence with Dabcyl was competitively reacted with the amplified targeted sequence. As a result, the FAM fluorescence increased owing to dissociation of the complementary sequence from the DNA probe. The simultaneous reaction of LAMP and DNA chip detection was achieved, and 103 copies of the targeted gene were detected within an hour by measuring fluorescence intensity of the DNA probe. Keywords: Biosensor, DNA chip, Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP, Fluorescence detection, Gold substrate, Au/thiol bond

Microfluidic Platform for the Long-Term On-Chip Cultivation of Mammalian Cells for Lab-On-A-Chip Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Bunge, Frank; Driesche, Sander van den; Vellekoop, Michael J

2017-07-10

Lab-on-a-Chip (LoC) applications for the long-term analysis of mammalian cells are still very rare due to the lack of convenient cell cultivation devices. The difficulties are the integration of suitable supply structures, the need of expensive equipment like an incubator and sophisticated pumps as well as the choice of material. The presented device is made out of hard, but non-cytotoxic materials (silicon and glass) and contains two vertical arranged membranes out of hydrogel. The porous membranes are used to separate the culture chamber from two supply channels for gases and nutrients. The cells are fed continuously by diffusion through the membranes without the need of an incubator and low requirements on the supply of medium to the assembly. The diffusion of oxygen is modelled in order to find the optimal dimensions of the chamber. The chip is connected via 3D-printed holders to the macroscopic world. The holders are coated with Parlyene C to ensure that only biocompatible materials are in contact with the culture medium. The experiments with MDCK-cells show the successful seeding inside the chip, culturing and passaging. Consequently, the presented platform is a step towards Lab-on-a-Chip applications that require long-term cultivation of mammalian cells.

Classification of high resolution remote sensing image based on geo-ontology and conditional random fields

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Liang

2013-10-01

The availability of high spatial resolution remote sensing data provides new opportunities for urban land-cover classification. More geometric details can be observed in the high resolution remote sensing image, Also Ground objects in the high resolution remote sensing image have displayed rich texture, structure, shape and hierarchical semantic characters. More landscape elements are represented by a small group of pixels. Recently years, the an object-based remote sensing analysis methodology is widely accepted and applied in high resolution remote sensing image processing. The classification method based on Geo-ontology and conditional random fields is presented in this paper. The proposed method is made up of four blocks: (1) the hierarchical ground objects semantic framework is constructed based on geoontology; (2) segmentation by mean-shift algorithm, which image objects are generated. And the mean-shift method is to get boundary preserved and spectrally homogeneous over-segmentation regions ;(3) the relations between the hierarchical ground objects semantic and over-segmentation regions are defined based on conditional random fields framework ;(4) the hierarchical classification results are obtained based on geo-ontology and conditional random fields. Finally, high-resolution remote sensed image data -GeoEye, is used to testify the performance of the presented method. And the experimental results have shown the superiority of this method to the eCognition method both on the effectively and accuracy, which implies it is suitable for the classification of high resolution remote sensing image.

Generation, transmission, and detection of terahertz photons on an electrically driven single chip

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ikushima, Kenji; Ito, Atsushi; Okano, Shun [Department of Applied Physics, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, 2-24-16 Nakacho, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588 (Japan)

2014-02-03

We demonstrate single photon counting of terahertz (THz) waves transmitted from a local THz point source through a coplanar two-wire waveguide on a GaAs/AlGaAs single heterostructure crystal. In the electrically driven all-in-one chip, quantum Hall edge transport is used to achieve a noiseless injection current for a monochromatic point source of THz fields. The local THz fields are coupled to a coplanar two-wire metal waveguide and transmitted over a macroscopic scale greater than the wavelength (38 μm in GaAs). THz waves propagating on the waveguide are counted as individual photons by a quantum-dot single-electron transistor on the same chip. Photon counting on integrated high-frequency circuits will open the possibilities for on-chip quantum optical experiments.

DIVERSITY in binding, regulation, and evolution revealed from high-throughput ChIP.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitra, Sneha; Biswas, Anushua; Narlikar, Leelavati

2018-04-23

Genome-wide in vivo protein-DNA interactions are routinely mapped using high-throughput chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP). ChIP-reported regions are typically investigated for enriched sequence-motifs, which are likely to model the DNA-binding specificity of the profiled protein and/or of co-occurring proteins. However, simple enrichment analyses can miss insights into the binding-activity of the protein. Note that ChIP reports regions making direct contact with the protein as well as those binding through intermediaries. For example, consider a ChIP experiment targeting protein X, which binds DNA at its cognate sites, but simultaneously interacts with four other proteins. Each of these proteins also binds to its own specific cognate sites along distant parts of the genome, a scenario consistent with the current view of transcriptional hubs and chromatin loops. Since ChIP will pull down all X-associated regions, the final reported data will be a union of five distinct sets of regions, each containing binding sites of one of the five proteins, respectively. Characterizing all five different motifs and the corresponding sets is important to interpret the ChIP experiment and ultimately, the role of X in regulation. We present diversity which attempts exactly this: it partitions the data so that each partition can be characterized with its own de novo motif. Diversity uses a Bayesian approach to identify the optimal number of motifs and the associated partitions, which together explain the entire dataset. This is in contrast to standard motif finders, which report motifs individually enriched in the data, but do not necessarily explain all reported regions. We show that the different motifs and associated regions identified by diversity give insights into the various complexes that may be forming along the chromatin, something that has so far not been attempted from ChIP data. Webserver at http://diversity.ncl.res.in/; standalone (Mac OS X/Linux) from https

Lipoid pneumonia in adults: findings on high-resolution computed tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marchiori, Edson; Escuissato, Dante L.; Souza Junior, Arthur Soares; Araujo Neto, Cesar; Nobre, Luiz Felipe; Irion, Klaus L.; Rodrigues, Rosana; Mancano, Alexandre Dias; Capone, Domenico; Fialho, Suzane Mansur; Souza, Carolina Althoff

2007-01-01

Objective: The present study was aimed at describing the findings on high-resolution computed tomography in patients with exogenous lipoid pneumonia secondary to mineral oil aspiration. Materials and methods: Eight adult patients - four men and four women - with mean age of 69.4 years were studied. All of the patients were users of mineral oil for treating intestinal constipation. High-resolution computed tomography studies of these patients were blindly evaluated by two radiologists. Results: Air-space consolidation with areas of fat density and crazy paving pattern were the most frequent findings. The lesions were bilateral in six cases and unilateral in two. Conclusion: Air-space consolidation with areas of fat density, associated with a clinical history of mineral oil ingestion virtually indicates a diagnosis of exogenous lipoid pneumonia. (author)

Lipoid pneumonia in adults: findings on high-resolution computed tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marchiori, Edson [Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), Niteroi, RJ (Brazil). Dept. of Radiology]. E-mail: edmarchiori@gmail.com; Zanetti, Glaucia [Faculdade de Medicina de Petropolis, RJ (Brazil); Escuissato, Dante L. [Universidade Federal do Parana (UFPR), Curitiba, PR (Brazil); Souza Junior, Arthur Soares [Faculdade de Medicina de Sao Jose do Rio Preto (FAMERP), SP (Brazil); Araujo Neto, Cesar [Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, BA (Brazil); Nobre, Luiz Felipe [Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianopolis, SC (Brazil); Irion, Klaus L. [The Cardiothoracic Centre NHS Trust, Liverpool (United Kingdom); Rodrigues, Rosana [Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), RJ (Brazil). Hospital Universitario Clementino Fraga Filho (HUCFF); Mancano, Alexandre Dias [Hospital Regional de Taguatinga, Brasilia, DF (Brazil); Capone, Domenico [Universidade Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), RJ (Brazil); Fialho, Suzane Mansur [Centro Nuclear da Guanabara, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Souza, Carolina Althoff [University of Ottawa (Canada)

2007-09-15

Objective: The present study was aimed at describing the findings on high-resolution computed tomography in patients with exogenous lipoid pneumonia secondary to mineral oil aspiration. Materials and methods: Eight adult patients - four men and four women - with mean age of 69.4 years were studied. All of the patients were users of mineral oil for treating intestinal constipation. High-resolution computed tomography studies of these patients were blindly evaluated by two radiologists. Results: Air-space consolidation with areas of fat density and crazy paving pattern were the most frequent findings. The lesions were bilateral in six cases and unilateral in two. Conclusion: Air-space consolidation with areas of fat density, associated with a clinical history of mineral oil ingestion virtually indicates a diagnosis of exogenous lipoid pneumonia. (author)

On-chip photonic particle sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Robin; Ma, Danhao; Agarwal, Anu; Anthony, Brian

2018-02-01

We propose an on-chip photonic particle sensor design that can perform particle sizing and counting for various environmental applications. The sensor is based on micro photonic ring resonators that are able to detect the presence of the free space particles through the interaction with their evanescent electric field tail. The sensor can characterize a wide range of the particle size ranging from a few nano meters to micron ( 1 micron). The photonic platform offers high sensitivity, compactness, fast response of the device. Further, FDTD simulations are performed to analyze different particle-light interactions. Such a compact and portable platform, packaged with integrated photonic circuit provides a useful sensing modality in space shuttle and environmental applications.

A simple clockless Network-on-Chip for a commercial audio DSP chip

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stensgaard, Mikkel Bystrup; Bjerregaard, Tobias; Sparsø, Jens

2006-01-01

We design a very small, packet-switched, clockless Network-on-Chip (NoC) as a replacement for the existing crossbar-based communication infrastructure in a commercial audio DSP chip. Both solutions are laid out in a 0.18 um process, and compared in terms of area, power consumption and routing...... to the existing crossbar, it allows all blocks to communicate. The total wire length is decreased by 22% which eases the layout process and makes the design less prone to routing congestion. Not least, the communicating blocks are decoupled by means of the NoC, providing a Globally-Asynchronous, Locally...

Cache aware mapping of streaming apllications on a multiprocessor system-on-chip

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moonen, A.J.M.; Bekooij, M.J.G.; Berg, van den R.M.J.; Meerbergen, van J.; Sciuto, D.; Peng, Z.

2008-01-01

Efficient use of the memory hierarchy is critical for achieving high performance in a multiprocessor system- on-chip. An external memory that is shared between processors is a bottleneck in current and future systems. Cache misses and a large cache miss penalty contribute to a low processor

High-resolution mapping of European fishing pressure on the benthic habitats

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eigaard, Ole Ritzau; Bastardie, Francois; Hintzen, Niels T.

effort. Consequently, most logbook information is not well suited for quantitative estimation of seafloor impact (swept area and impact severity) of the different gears and trips. We present a method to overcome this information deficiency of official statistics and develop high-resolution large......) and gear width estimates were assigned to individual interpolated vessel tracks based on VMS data. The outcome was European wide highresolution fishing intensity maps (total yearly swept area within grid cells of 1*1 minutes longitude and latitude) for 2010, 2011 and 2012. Finally the high-resolution...... fishing pressure maps were overlaid with existing marine habitat maps to identify areas of potential ecosystem service conflicts...

Ring resonator-based on-chip modulation transformer for high-performance phase-modulated microwave photonic links.

Science.gov (United States)