Steady-State Kinetics of Aminopeptidase Catalysis: A Stopped-Flow Radiationless Energy Transfer Study

Stopped-flow radiationless energy transfer experiments have been carried out to investigate the hydrolysis of some dansyl peptide substrates (S) catalyzed by aminopeptidase (E). RET between enzyme tryptophanyl residues and the dansyl group in the substrate allowed direct observation and quantitation of the enzyme-substrate (ES) complexes. Analysis of the stopped-flow RET traces gives k_cat = 1.32 s^?1 and K_M = 47 μM for Leu-Ala-NH(CH₂)₂NH-Dns (Leu-Ala-DED) and k_cat = 4.80 s^?1 and K_M = 196 μM for Leu-Gly-NH(CH₂)₂NH-Dns (Leu-Gly-DED). The activation energies of the enzymatic reactions were determined from the Arrhenius plots to be 57 and 38 kJ mol^?1 for Leu-Ala-DED and Leu-Gly-DED, respectively. The kinetic results indicate that the enzyme binds Leu-Ala-DED more tightly than Leu-Gly-DED as revealed by a small value of K_M. That this enzyme catalyzes the turnover of Leu-Gly-DED more efficiently than Leu-Ala-DED is reflected in a large value of k_cat and a small activation energy. The RET signals during the hydrolysis of Leu-Val-NH(CH₂)₂NH-Dns were extremely weak probably because of the inefficient energy transfer in the ES complex or the retention of the product in the enzyme after completion of the reaction. Aminopeptidase was inactive towards the dansyl compounds of the single amino acid studied. This fact may be due to an unfavorable conformation of these compounds in the ES complexes (small k_cat) or a weak binding of the substrates to the enzyme (large K_M) or both.     

Development of cube textured Ni–5 at.%W alloy substrates for coated conductor application using a melting process

Biaxially textured Ni–5 at.%W substrates have been prepared by cold rolling, followed by three different annealing routes. In this paper, the processes of melting Ni and W metals, flat rolling, various annealing methods are described in detail. The Ni–5 at.%W tapes annealed under either high vacuum or flowing Ar (7% H₂) gas were characterized by X-ray pole figures, ODF, EBSD as well as AFM analysis. The texture analysis indicated that as fabricated tapes have a sharp cube texture formed after annealing at a wide temperature range of 800–1100 °C. The high quality of cube orientation on tapes was obtained after a two-step annealing (TSA), where the percentage of the cube texture component was as high as 93.5% within a misorientation angle smaller than 8° from EBSD analysis. Furthermore, it was also observed that the number of twin boundaries in this tape decreased with respect to that of tapes annealed both in vacuum and one-step gas annealing. From AFM on 1 μm² areas, it was concluded that the roughness (RMS) on the tape surface reached 0.98 nm.     

氧化铝陶瓷基板过孔的新型激光打孔工艺

陶瓷基板激光打孔一固有缺点即孔周围会形成大量不规则堆溅物。提出一种直接在凝胶注模成型陶瓷素坯上激光打孔的新工艺。Nd:YAG激光在氧化铝上打孔的研究表明,该方法能大大减少堆溅物的形成,从而得到分布致密、形状规则的微孔。     

Footprint study of ultrasonic wedge-bonding with aluminum wire on copper substrate

The effects of the process parameters of ultrasonic power and normal bonding force on bond formation at ambient temperatures have been investigated with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive x-ray (EDX) analysis. A model was developed based on classical microslip theory¹ to explain the general phenomena observed in the evolution of bond footprints left on the substrate. Modifications to the model are made due to the inherent differences in geometry between ball-bonding and wedge-bonding. Classical microslip theory describes circular contacts undergoing elastic deformation. It is shown in this work that a similar microslip phenomenon occurs for elliptical wire-to-flat contacts with plastically deformed wire. It is shown that relative motion exists at the bonding interface as peripheral microslip at lower powers, transitioning into gross sliding at higher powers. With increased normal bonding forces, the transition point into gross sliding occurs at higher ultrasonic bonding powers. These results indicate that the bonding mechanisms in aluminum wire wedge-bonding are very similar to those of gold ball-bonding, both on copper substrate. In ultrasonic wedge-bonding onto copper substrates, the ultrasonic energy is essential in forming bonding by creating relative interfacial motion, which removes the surface oxides.     

Thin films of metal-organic compounds and metal nanoparticle-embedded polymers for nonlinear optical applications

Thin films based on two very different metal-organic systems are developed and some nonlinear optical applications are explored. A family of zinc complexes which form perfectly polar assemblies in their crystalline state are found to organize as uniaxially oriented crystallites in vapor deposited thin films on glass substrate. Optical second harmonic generation from these films is investigated. A simple protocol is developed for thein-situ fabrication of highly monodisperse silver nanoparticles in a polymer film matrix. The methodology can be used to produce free-standing films. Optical limiting capability of the nanoparticle-embedded polymer film is demonstrated     

Annealing effects of a high-quality ZnTe substrate

The sharp photoluminescence (PL) and optical-reflection spectra in the bandedge region of the high-quality nondoped ZnTe substrate (100) were observed at 4.2 K. Free exciton, associated with lower and upper polaritons (EX^L and EX^U) at 2.382 eV and 2.381 eV, respectively, were clearly observed. This meant that this substrate was high quality. The intensity of a bound exciton peak (2.375 eV), which is caused by a Zn vacancy, of a neutral acceptor decreased with an increase of the Zn vapor pressures.     

Molecular beam epitaxy growth of high-quality HgCdTe LWIR layers on polished and repolished CdZnTe substrates

We report here molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) layers grown on polished and repolished substrates that showed state-of-the-art optical, structural, and electrical characteristics. Many polishing machines currently available do not take into account the soft semiconductor materials, CdZnTe (CZT) being one. Therefore, a polishing jig was custom designed and engineered to take in account certain physical parameters (pressure, substrate rotational frequency, drip rate of solution onto the polishing pad, and polishing pad rotational velocity). The control over these parameters increased the quality, uniformity, and the reproducibility of each polish. EPIR also investigated several bromine containing solutions used for polishing CZT. The concentration of bromine, as well as the mechanical parameters, was varied in order to determine the optimal conditions for polishing CZT.     

Dual-band infrared detectors made on high-quality HgCdTe epilayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on CdZnTe or CdTe/Ge substrates

In this paper, we present all the successive steps for realizing dual-band infrared detectors operating in the mid-wavelength infrared (MWIR) band. High crystalline quality HgCdTe multilayer stacks have been grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on CdZnTe and CdTe/Ge substrates. Material characterization in the light of high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) results and dislocation density measurements are exposed in detail. These characterizations show some striking differences between structures grown on the two kinds of substrates. Device processing and readout circuit for 128×128 focal-plane array (FPA) fabrication are described. The electro-optical characteristics of the devices show that devices grown on Ge match those grown on CdZnTe substrates in terms of responsivity, noise measurements, and operability.     

Synthesis and characterization of surface‐initiated polymer brushes on silicon substrates by reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer polymerization

Polymer brushes were prepared by using the reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) technique. The silicon substrates (Si (111) surface) were modified with ethyl xanthate groups which were introduced by the treatment of Si (111) surface with sodium ethyl xanthate. The polymer brushes were then prepared under RAFT conditions from the Si (111) wafer. Its “living” characteristics were determined by a series of characterizations including gel permeation chromatography (GPC), ellipsometry, and contact angle measurements. The results showed a well‐defined graft layer consisting of polymer brushes with low‐polydispersity could be prepared directly on Si (111)‐X surface (where X represents an ethyl xanthate groups). The structure of the polymer brushes was characterized and confirmed with the surface sensitive techniques such as X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning probe microscopy (SPM). Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Substrate issues for the growth of mercury cadmium telluride

Close lattice matching and lattice compatibility with mercury cadmium telluride (MCT) make CdTe and related alloys ideal substrate materials for growth of MCT layers for the purpose of making high-performance second-generation infrared detectors. However, the limitations in the properties of CdTe and the difficulties in its bulk growth have prompted extensive research in the area of alternative substrates. Some basic relevant characteristics of substrates such as sapphire, GaAs, and silicon are compared and the possibilities and problems associated with each material are analyzed in the light of the most recent results in the field.