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We have investigated a magnet-free, nonreciprocal surface wave absorber based on high impedance surfaces (HISs) using a spatial-temporal modulation approach. By controlling embedded switches with a travelling wave, the HIS metasurface is modulated to break the time and spatial symmetry, which enables surface waves to propagate in one direction but be absorbed when propagating in the reverse direction. The nonreciprocity has been demonstrated by an EM-circuit co-simulation. We envision that this could be possibly applied in future communication systems that preferably transmit unidirectionally but absorb interference from the reverse direction caused by reflections or other devices.

The vast majority of modern microelectronic devices rely on carriers within semiconductors due to their integrability. Therefore, the performance of these devices is limited due to natural semiconductor properties such as band gap and electron velocity. Replacing the semiconductor channel in conventional microelectronic devices with a gas or vacuum channel may scale their speed, wavelength and power beyond what is available today. However, liberating electrons into gas/vacuum in a practical microelectronic device is quite challenging. It often requires heating, applying high voltages, or using lasers with short wavelengths or high powers. Here, we show that the interaction between an engineered resonant surface and a low-power infrared laser can cause enough photoemission via electron tunnelling to implement feasible microelectronic devices such as transistors, switches and modulators. The proposed photoemission-based devices benefit from the advantages of gas-plasma/vacuum electronic devices while preserving the integrability of semiconductor-based devices.

A high power (~ 1W) continuous wave (CW) laser was focused on argon microplasma generated in the microgap between two electrodes with submillimeter diameters. Dependence of breakdown (V(BD)) and quench (V(Q)) voltages of microplasma to the laser power, wavelength, and spot location were studied as the gap size and pressure varied. It was observed that the laser-plasma interaction can only occur thermally through the electrodes. Also, the thermal effect of the laser was noticeable at relatively higher pressures (> 10Torr), and in most cases led to a decrease in V(BD), proportional to the pressure.

Receptor coated resonant nanoparticles and quantum dots are proposed to provide a cellular-level resolution image of neural activities inside the brain. The functionalized nanoparticles and quantum dots in this approach will selectively bind to different neurotransmitters in the extra-synaptic regions of neurons. This allows us to detect neural activities in real time by monitoring the nanoparticles and quantum dots optically. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) with two different geometries (sphere and rod) and quantum dots (QDs) with different sizes were studied along with three different neurotransmitters: dopamine, gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA), and glycine. The absorption/emission spectra of GNPs and QDs before and after binding of neurotransmitters and their corresponding receptors are reported. The results using QDs and nanorods with diameter 25nm and aspect rations larger than three were promising for the development of the proposed functional brain mapping approach.

Electromagnetic absorption and subsequent heating of nanoparticle solutions and simple NaCl ionic solutions is examined for biomedical applications in the radiofrequency range at 13.56 MHz. It is shown via both theory and experiment that for in vitro measurements the shape of the solution container plays a major role in absorption and heating.