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An SU-8 polymer microdisk resonator coated with a palladium (Pd) layer and coupled to a single-mode optical waveguide is used to as a hydrogen (H-2) gas sensor. In the presence of H2 a red shift is observed in the spectral positions of the microdisk whispering gallery modes (WGMs) due to the expansion in the Pd lattice. H-2 concentrations below the flammable limit (4%) down to 0.3% could be detected in nitrogen atmosphere at room temperature. For H-2 concentrations between 0.3 1%, WGM spectral positions shifted linearly with H-2 concentration at a rate of 32 pm/%H-2. Average response time of the devices was measured to be 50 s for 1% H-2. The proposed device concept can also be used to detect different chemical gases by using appropriate sensing layers., NA

Superhydrophobic nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide (alumina) surfaces were prepared using treatment with vapor-phase hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS). Nanoporous alumina substrates were first made using a two-step anodization process. Subsequently, a repeated modification procedure was employed for efficient incorporation of the terminal methyl groups of HMDS to the alumina surface. Morphology of the surfaces was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, showing hexagonally ordered circular nanopores with approximately 250 nm in diameter and 300 nm of interpore distances. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflectance analysis showed the presence of chemically bound methyl groups on the HMDS-modified nanoporous alumina surfaces. Wetting properties of these surfaces were characterized by measurements of the water contact angle which was found to reach 153.2 ± 2°. The contact angle values on HMDS-modified nanoporous alumina surfaces were found to be significantly larger than the average water contact angle of 82.9 ± 3° on smooth thin film alumina surfaces that underwent the same HMDS modification steps. The difference between the two cases was explained by the Cassie-Baxter theory of rough surface wetting., Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK)

We determine contact angles of micrometer-sized NaCl-water droplets on superhydrophobic surfaces by analyzing their lowest-order axisymmetric vibrational resonances driven by vertical oscillations of the surface. Fluorescence spectra of the dye-doped droplets excited by laser light feature whisperinggallery modes (WGMs) whose spectral widths depend on the droplet vibration amplitude, thus enabling precise measurements of the droplet mechanical resonant frequency. Following droplet size determination byWGM mode-matching, we calculate the contact angles from the dependence of the measured mechanical resonant frequency on the droplet size for two surfaces with different superhydrophobicity levels, and find a good correlation with the values measured by direct imaging of millimeter-sized droplets., Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK); European Commission Marie Curie IEF; FABED Young Investigator Research Award; Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) postdoctoral fellowship program