The effect of differently sized Ag catalysts on the fabrication of a silicon nanowire array using Ag-assisted electroless etching

A simple and low cost method to generate single-crystalline, well-aligned silicon nanowires (SiNWs) of large area, using Ag-assisted electroless etching, is presented and the effect of differently sized Ag catalysts on the fabrication of SiNWs arrays is investigated. The experimental results show that the size of the Ag catalysts can be controlled by adjusting the pre-deposition time in the AgNO₃/HF solution. The optimum pre-deposition time for the fabrication of a SiNWs array is 3 min (about 162.04 ± 38.53 nm Ag catalyst size). Ag catalysts with smaller sizes were formed in a shorter pre-deposition time (0.5 min), which induced the formation of silicon holes. In contrast, a large amount of Ag dendrites were formed on the silicon substrate, after a longer pre-deposition time (4 min). The existence of these Ag dendrites is disadvantageous to the fabrication of SiNWs. Therefore, a proper pre-deposition time for the Ag catalyst is beneficial to the formation of SiNWs.SiNWs were synthesized in the H₂O₂/HF solution system for different periods of time, using Ag-assisted electroless etching (pre-deposition of the Ag catalyst for 3 min). The length of the SiNWs increases linearly with immersion time. From TEM, SAED and HRTEM analysis, the axial orientation of the SiNWs is identified to be along the [001] direction, which is the same as that of the initial Si wafer. The use of HF may induce Si–H_x bonds onto the SiNW array surface. Overall, the Ag-assisted electroless etching technique has advantages, such as low temperature, operation without the need for high energy and the lack of a need for catalysts or dopants.     

Improved Stabilities of Labeling Probes for the Selective Modification of Endogenous Proteins in Living Cells and In Vivo

To date, various affinity-based protein labeling probes have been developed and applied in biological research to modify endogenous proteins in cell lysates and on the cell surface. However, the reactive groups on the labeling probes are also the cause of probe instability and nonselective labeling in a more complex environment, e. g., intracellular and in vivo. Here, we show that labeling probes composed of a sterically stabilized difluorophenyl pivalate can achieve efficient and selective labeling of endogenous proteins on the cell surface, inside living cells and in vivo. As compared with the existing protein labeling probes, probes with the difluorophenyl pivalate exhibit several advantages, including long-term stability in stock solutions, resistance to enzymatic hydrolysis and can be customized easily with diverse fluorophores and protein ligands. With this probe design, endogenous hypoxia biomarker in living cells and nude mice were successfully labeled and validated by in vivo, ex vivo, and immunohistochemistry imaging.     

Thermally-induced order-order transition of DNA-cationic surfactant complexes

Polyanionic DNA interacts with cationic amphiphiles to form electrostatic complexes exhibiting rich self-assembled structures. This type of complex has been considered as a nonviral carrier in gene therapy and as a template for nanostructure construction. Here we report a thermally-induced phase transition of the complexes of DNA with the mixtures of a cationic surfactant, dodecyltrimethyl bromide (DTAB), and a neutral lipid, dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DOPE), in fully hydrated state. An order-order transition between a multilamellar (L(c)alpha) phase and an inverted hexagonal (H(c)II) phase was found to occur with the transition temperature adjustable by the DTAB-to-DNA base pair molar ratio (x) and DOPE-to-DTAB molar ratio (m). The stability of the L(c)alpha phase was enhanced at lower m and x, as the L(c)alpha-to-H(c)II transition temperature increased with the decreases of these two parameters. The suppression of -to- transition at lower x was attributed to the lower entropic gain from the counterion release due to the presence of uncomplexed DNA in the bulk solution.     

Monitoring of PAHs in air by collection on XAD-2 adsorbent then microwave-assisted thermal desorption coupled with headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection

Microwave-assisted thermal desorption (MAD) coupled to headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) has been studied for in-situ, one-step, sample preparation for PAHs collected on XAD-2 adsorbent, before gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection. The PAHs on XAD-2 were desorbed into the extraction solution, evaporated into the headspace by use of microwave irradiation, and absorbed directly on a solid-phase microextraction fiber in the headspace. After desorption from the SPME fiber in the hot GC injection port, PAHs were analyzed by GC–MS. Conditions affecting extraction efficiency, for example extraction solution, addition of salt, stirring speed, SPME fiber coating, sampling temperature, microwave power and irradiation time, and desorption conditions were investigated. Experimental results indicated that extraction of 275 mg XAD-2, containing 10–200 ng PAHs, with 10-mL ethylene glycol–1 mol L⁻¹ NaCl solution, 7:3, by irradiation with 120 W for 40 min (the same as the extraction time), and collection with a PDMS–DVB fiber at 35 °C, resulted in the best extraction efficiency. Recovery was more than 80% and RSD was less than 14%. Optimum desorption was achieved by heating at 290 °C for 5 min. Detection limits varied from 0.02 to 1.0 ng for different PAHs. A real sample was obtained by using XAD-2 to collect smoke from indoor burning of joss sticks. The amounts of PAHs measured varied from 0.795 to 2.53 ng. The method is a simple and rapid procedure for determination of PAHs on XAD-2 absorbent, and is free from toxic organic solvents.     

Ultrafast motion of liquids C2H4Cl2 and C2H4Br2 studied with a femtosecond laser

Transient optical Kerr effect of liquids C₂H₄Cl₂ and C₂H₄Br₂ is investigated, for the first time to our knowledge, with a femtosecond (fs) probe laser delayed with respect to a coherent fs pump laser. Coherent coupling and electronic Kerr signals are observed around zero delay when pump and probe overlap. Persisting after the pump-probe overlap are Kerr signals arising from the torsional and other intramolecular vibrations of the trans and gauche conformations; Kerr signals arising from the intermolecular motion are also observed. Vibrational quantum interference is only observed in liquid C₂H₄Br₂ and the related beats data are fitted with the torsional vibrations, 91 cm⁻¹ (gauche) and 132 cm⁻¹ (trans), and the CCBr angle-bending vibrations, 231 cm⁻¹ (gauche) and 190 cm⁻¹ (trans), with dephasing times, 0.45 ps, 0.45 ps, 2 ps, and 1.5 ps, respectively. These vibrational frequencies agree with those obtained in the frequency-domain. That no vibrational mode is observed for C₂H₄Cl₂ might be attributed to ineffective Raman-pumping. Kerr signals observed after the pump-probe overlap are Fourier transformed to give the spectra of the intermolecular motion and the vibrational spectrum, which agrees with the one observed in the infrared absorption and/or Raman scattering heretofore.     

Very high coercivities of top-layer diffusion Au/FePt thin films

The Au/FePt samples were prepared by depositing a gold cap layer at room temperature onto a fully ordered FePt layer, followed by an annealing at 800 °C for the purpose of interlayer diffusion. After the deposition of the gold layer and the high-temperature annealing, the gold atoms do not dissolve into the FePt Ll₀ lattice. Compared with the continuous FePt film, the TEM photos of the bilayer Au(60 nm)/FePt(60 nm) show a granular structure with FePt particles embedded in Au matrix. The coercivity of Au(60 nm)/FePt(60 nm) sample is 23.5 kOe, which is 85% larger than that of the FePt film without Au top layer. The enhancement in coercivity can be attributed to the formation of isolated structure of FePt ordered phase.     

An optimum design and fabrication of lens on luminous uniformity and light extraction of high-power light-emitting diode

The effect of lens inner structure on radiation pattern and light extraction efficiency of light-emitting diode (LED) and the application to artificial light in compact greenhouse is demonstrated. A commercial software package of Trace Pro and one-factor at-a-time (OFAT) method are used to simulate the lens with different inner structure. The optimum parameters of lens inner structure design for the maximum light extraction efficiency and the best uniform luminous are described by the corner radius of curvature, lens width, and lens height, respectively. For a real single LED module, base on the optimum parameters of lens inner structure, the corresponding best luminous uniformity is 62% and corresponding output extraction is 14.11 lm. The maximum uniformity of illumination for LED matrix assembled by LED modules with optimum lens is 88% and corresponding light extraction 1141 lm. In comparison with a commercial artificial light of LED matrix used in agriculture, the high-power LED module with proposed lens inner structure exhibit good improvement in uniformity of illumination and light extraction. This study may provide a practical guideline for design and fabrication of a high-performance lens used in various compact agricultural applications.     

Volume polarization holographic recording in thick phenanthrenequinone-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) photopolymer

Volume polarization holographic recording in phenanthrenequinone-doped poly (methyl methacrylate) photopolymer is obtained. Photoinduced birefringence in a 2 mm thick sample is measured by a phase-modulated ellipsometry. The birefringence induced in this material by linearly polarized beam at 514 nm reaches 1.2×10(-5). In addition, ability for recording volume polarization grating using two different polarization configurations is demonstrated and compared. The experimental results show that the diffraction efficiency of the hologram reaches to ～40% by using two orthogonal circularly polarized beams.