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The integration of gallium nitride (GaN) nanowire light-emitting diodes (nanoLEDs) on flexible substrates offers opportunities for applications beyond rigid solid-state lighting (e.g., for wearable optoelectronics and bendable inorganic displays). Here, we report on a fast physical transfer route based on femtosecond laser lift-off (fs-LLO) to realize wafer-scale top–down GaN nanoLED arrays on unconventional platforms. Combined with photolithography and hybrid etching processes, we successfully transferred GaN blue nanoLEDs from a full two-inch sapphire substrate onto a flexible copper (Cu) foil with a high nanowire density (~107 wires/cm2), transfer yield (~99.5%), and reproducibility. Various nanoanalytical measurements were conducted to evaluate the performance and limitations of the fs-LLO technique as well as to gain insights into physical material properties such as strain relaxation and assess the maturity of the transfer process. This work could enable the easy recycling of native growth substrates and inspire the development of large-scale hybrid GaN nanowire optoelectronic devices by solely employing standard epitaxial LED wafers (i.e., customized LED wafers with additional embedded sacrificial materials and a complicated growth process are not required).

Conventional chemoresistive gas sensors based on inorganic metal oxide semiconductors work typically at an elevated temperature (200–500 °C) to facilitate the chemical reaction between the target gas molecules and the sensing oxide layer. Besides their high operating temperature, these sensors are often found to possess poor selectivity towards a specific analyte. Here, we report on the fabrication and functionalization of electrospun citric acid-doped polyvinyl acetate (PVAc/CA) nanofibers on a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) chip, which is used as a highly sensitive and selective gravimetric trimethylamine (TMA) gas sensor operating at room temperature. The structural morphology and chemical composition of both undoped and CA-doped PVAc nanofibers were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, respectively. During exposure to TMA vapors, the PVAc/CA nanofiber sensor could obtain a sensing sensitivity of 85.4 Hz ppm−1 with a limit of detection (LOD) of 19 ppb. Cross-sensitivity tests involving different analytes/gases (i.e., TMA, dimethylamine (DMA), methylamine (MA), ammonia, and water) revealed the high selectivity characteristic of the sensor towards TMA molecules. Besides, decent reversibility and repeatability of the sensor with response and recovery times of 7 and 20 s, respectively, were also demonstrated. Compared to the other recently reported QCM-based TMA gas sensors, the proposed device is superior in terms of sensitivity and LOD. This simple yet low-cost alternative improvement technique based on chemical modification of nanofibers can potentially be employed in food-freshness monitoring systems, especially for fishery and seafood products where TMA is used as their quality indicator (i.e., the primary marker of the fishy odor).

With a remarkable theoretical specific capacity of ∼4200 mA h g−1, silicon anodes are at the forefront of enabling lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) with ultra-high energy density. However, we have yet to see the wide utilization of silicon anodes in commercial LIBs due to several challenges, categorized as intrinsic and extrinsic problems. The intrinsic problems originate from the intrinsic properties of silicon, which include its low conductivity and massive volume expansion upon alloying with lithium. The extrinsic problems of silicon anodes are primarily associated with the laborious fabrication processes. Instead of bottom-up approaches, which involve relatively expensive and complicated synthesis routes, the top-down methods provide an affordable, controllable, and simple procedure for large-scale fabrication. The present review aims to collate the recent studies on the fabrication of silicon anodes via top-down approaches that involve etching, metallothermic reduction, and high energy ball milling. Extensive synthesis routes along with their synthesis parameters are reviewed. The morphology and the electrochemical performances of the silicon anodes prepared from various starting materials are also highlighted. Finally, perspectives on the potential future challenges and development of the top-down synthesis of silicon-based anodes are presented.

In this report, we study nonlinear electrical behaviors found in vertical-architecture transistors based on wrap-around-gated gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires (NWs) by extending a one-dimensional case of the Landauer-Buttiker formula. Here, the GaN NWs are considered “almost” one-dimensional ideal wires connecting the drain and source terminals, with the gate terminal serving to control the flowing current. Unlike previous models, which require several parameters and complex calculations, our proposed model only needs three parameters and simple calculations to match the experimental data. With this model, we confirm that the maximum current before saturation is a consequence of quasi-ballistic drain current. Thus, electron mobility has no effect in this device. Using a simple formulation, we discuss gating hysteresis in the device that is mediated by the selected oxide layer interface. We show that the memory effect of the device is attributed to time-delay current. The shorter gate length increases the transmission coefficient. As a result, the model can be employed to predict the next-generation NW transistor performance.

In this work, wearable resistive gas sensors based on hybrid graphene/zinc oxide (ZnO) nanocomposites were fabricated on a flexible cotton fabric and employed to monitor odorless and colorless carbon monoxide (CO). Dip-coating and chemical bath deposition (CBD) was used to deposit the graphene layer and grow the ZnO nanorods, respectively. The films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-Ray diffraction (XRD) to investigate their morphological structures, elemental composition, and crystal phase, respectively. Those characterizations were also confirming the growth of ZnO nanorods on the already-deposited graphene layer on fabrics. From the gas sensor measurements at room temperature, it was revealed that these graphene/ZnO nanocomposites were highly sensitive and selective towards CO gas at low concentration down to 10 ppm. The shortest response and recovery times of the sensors were measured to be 280 s and 45 s, respectively. Moreover, in comparison to bare graphene sensors, the surface modification by ZnO nanorods could obviously enhance the sensing response by up to 40% (i.e., doubled sensitivity). These flexible hybrid sensors are therefore expected to be a promising alternative for the existing rigid CO sensors in the market by offering unique nanostructures, low-cost fabrication, high flexibility, and good sensing performances.

An electrothermal piezoresistive cantilever (EPC) sensor is a low-cost MEMS resonance sensor that provides self-actuating and self-sensing capabilities. In the platform, which is of MEMS-cantilever shape, the EPC sensor offers several advantages in terms of physical, chemical, and biological sensing, e.g., high sensitivity, low cost, simple procedure, and quick response. However, a crosstalk effect is generated by the coupling of parasitic elements from the actuation part to the sensing part. This study presents a parasitic feedthrough subtraction (PFS) method to mitigate a crosstalk effect in an electrothermal piezoresistive cantilever (EPC) resonance sensor. The PFS method is employed to identify a resonance phase that is, furthermore, deployed to a phase-locked loop (PLL)-based system to track and lock the resonance frequency of the EPC sensor under cigarette smoke exposure. The performance of the EPC sensor is further evaluated and compared to an AFM-microcantilever sensor and a commercial particle counter (DC1100-PRO). The particle mass–concentration measurement result generated from cigarette-smoke puffs shows a good agreement between these three detectors.

We present self-consistent electrothermal simulations of the GaN nanowire-based field-effect transistor (NWFET) and vertical fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) by taking into account all major heat flux paths. Simulation results of a NWFET validated by experimental data are compared to the results of a vertical FinFET designed with same sizes that ensures a fair comparison of their thermal performance. It is found that the peak temperature in the NWFET is close to the uppermost contact, which facilitates heat removal from top. As a result, NWFETs have the potential to achieve a higher power density at a temperature limit compared with the FinFETs, especially when the heat removal from the top contact is eased. The impact of the thermal surface resistance of the top contact and substrate thinning on the thermal performance of these two vertical structures is also investigated.

Performing long-term cell observations is a non-trivial task for conventional optical microscopy, since it is usually not compatible with environments of an incubator and its temperature and humidity requirements. Lensless holographic microscopy, being entirely based on semiconductor chips without lenses and without any moving parts, has proven to be a very interesting alternative to conventional microscopy. Here, we report on the integration of a computational parfocal feature, which operates based on wave propagation distribution analysis, to perform a fast autofocusing process. This unique non-mechanical focusing approach was implemented to keep the imaged object staying in-focus during continuous long-term and real-time recordings. A light-emitting diode (LED) combined with pinhole setup was used to realize a point light source, leading to a resolution down to 2.76 μm. Our approach delivers not only in-focus sharp images of dynamic cells, but also three-dimensional (3D) information on their (x, y, z)-positions. System reliability tests were conducted inside a sealed incubator to monitor cultures of three different biological living cells (i.e., MIN6, neuroblastoma (SH-SY5Y), and Prorocentrum minimum). Altogether, this autofocusing framework enables new opportunities for highly integrated microscopic imaging and dynamic tracking of moving objects in harsh environments with large sample areas.

In this study, we investigate the performance of two piezoresistive micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS)-based silicon cantilever sensors for measuring target analytes (i.e., ultrafine particulate matters). We use two different types of cantilevers with geometric dimensions of 1000 &times, 170 &times, 19.5 &micro, m3 and 300 &times, 100 &times, 4 &micro, m3, which refer to the 1st and 2nd types of cantilevers, respectively. For the first case, the cantilever is configured to detect the fundamental in-plane bending mode and is actuated using a resistive heater. Similarly, the second type of cantilever sensor is actuated using a meandering resistive heater (bimorph) and is designed for out-of-plane operation. We have successfully employed these two cantilevers to measure and monitor the changes of mass concentration of carbon nanoparticles in air, provided by atomizing suspensions of these nanoparticles into a sealed chamber, ranging from 0 to several tens of &micro, g/m3 and oversize distributions from ~10 nm to ~350 nm. Here, we deploy both types of cantilever sensors and operate them simultaneously with a standard laboratory system (Fast Mobility Particle Sizer, FMPS, TSI 3091) as a reference.

A piezo resistive, phase locked loop (PLL) controlled micro tactile measurement system for on-the-machine contact resonance spectroscopy (CRS) mapping of square centimetre-sized areas is developed and characterized. The CRS uses the influence of material parameters like the Young’s modulus on the contact stiffness between probing tip and sample surface and thus, the resonance frequency of the in-contact cantilever. Recently, we showed a robust, large-dimension, piezo resistive silicon cantilever (5 mm × 200 μm × 50 μm) with a silicon tip at its free end for tactile probing of high-aspect-ratio geometries and high-speed topography scans (i.e., up to 15 mm/s). For CRS-based layer and material analysis, this cantilever can be excited into resonance by a piezo chip actuator as described in this work. A compact, LabVIEW-controlled, fully automated scanning system using a homemade, μ-controller-implemented software PLL for resonance frequency tracking and out-reading was realized. To verify the measurement principle, analytical modelling was done. Different layer thicknesses of photo resist (PR) on silicon (11 ± 2 nm to 1653 ± 76 nm), point-by-point line scans of material transitions with various Young’s moduli (Si-PR-Si), bulk materials and nano-/micro-structures were investigated to validate the system. For optimization of the sensor sensitivity and efficiency, amplitude and phase were analysed under different conditions (contact force, excitation amplitudes). On-the-machine CRS with tools and work pieces can be a valuable method for quality assurance and reproducibility of future industrial manufacturing and just-in-time production.

This paper reports on the normally off GaN vertical MOSFETs based on nanowires (NWs) with an inverted p-GaN channel and a wrap-around-gate structure for the first time. Both inductively coupled plasma dry reactive-ion etching and wet-chemical etching were employed to fabricate the vertically aligned GaN NWs from epitaxial thin films with a specified doping profile. During the wet etching, the influence of p-doping on the NW morphology was investigated, and the results could be explained by the proposed model. In comparison with other c-axis NW transistors, an enhancement-mode (E-mode) operation with a superior threshold voltage ( $V_{{\text {th}}}$ ) of 2.5 V has been reached in the fabricated GaN MOSFETs. Furthermore, a high driving-current density of 101 kA/cm2 as well as a high ON-/OFF-current ratio of 109 was obtained in the NWs, predicting a potential approach toward future GaN electronics with vertical and smart architecture.

Gallium nitride (GaN) nanowire transistors are analyzed using hydrodynamic simulation. Both p-body and n-body devices are compared in terms of threshold voltage, saturation behavior and transconductance. The calculations are calibrated using experimental data. The threshold voltage can be tuned from enhancement to depletion mode with wire doping. Surface states cause a shift of threshold voltage and saturation current. The saturation current depends on the gate design, with a composite gate acting as field plate in the p-body device.

Laser lift‐off (LLO) is commonly applied to separate functional thin films from the underlying substrate, in particular light‐emitting diodes (LEDs) on a gallium nitride (GaN) basis from sapphire. By transferring the LED layer stack to foreign carriers with tailored characteristics, for example, highly reflective surfaces, the performance of optoelectronic devices can be drastically improved. Conventionally, LLO is conducted with UV laser pulses in the nanosecond regime. When directed to the sapphire side of the wafer, absorption of the pulses in the first GaN layers at the sapphire/GaN interface leads to detachment. In this work, a novel approach towards LLO based on femtosecond pulses at 520 nm wavelength is demonstrated for the first time. Despite relying on two‐photon absorption with sub‐bandgap excitation, the ultrashort pulse widths may reduce structural damage in comparison to conventional LLO. Based on a detailed study of the laser impact as a function of process parameters, a two‐step process scheme is developed to create freestanding InGaN/GaN LED chips with up to 1.2 mm edge length and ≈5 μm thickness. The detached chips are assessed by scanning electron microscopy and cathodoluminescence, revealing similar emission properties before and after LLO.

This paper reports on the fabrication of 3D silicon nanopillars (NPLs) modified with ZnO nanorods (NRs) (i.e., ZnO-NRs@Si-NPLs) on a piezoresistive Si microcantilever (MC) for sensing application. A monolayer-colloidal-crystal film of polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles (NPs) was deposited and used as physical mask for cryogenic Si dry etching. Vertically aligned Si-NPLs were selectively etched on the MC backside-surface. In addition, ZnO-NRs were grown in-situ on the Si NPLs using a sputtering/oxidizing and chemical bath deposition two-step method, resulting in a 3D ZnO-NRs@Si-NPLs on the MC backside.

Based on the recently reported "micro-light-plate" configuration, we have implemented a light activated gas sensor for NO 2 operating at room temperature. With this conductometric device, we achieved detection limits down to a few parts per billion (ppb) with power consumption in the tens of microwatt range (µW). These are record values for conductometric metal-oxides (MOX) sensors activated with light (instead of heat).

This paper reports the fabrication and characterization of GaN nanorods (NRs) with a bottom contact and freestanding top contact. A top-down approach was adopted to produce an ordered array of high surface-to-volume NRs elements of GaN for gas sensing applications [1]. The GaN NRs were then used both as sensitive beams for conductometric gas sensing and as nanosized heating elements to activate their own response to gases (self-heating). GaN NRs with a diameter of 300 nm in arbitrarily large and regular arrays of 1 × 1, 3 × 3, 9 × 10 were fabricated. With power levels in the range of microwatts, these structures reach highly enough temperatures to develop a gas sensing response towards ethanol. In summary, this is one of the first systems showing efficient self-heating that can be produced using conventional microelectronic processing at a wafer scale.

A novel, highly sensitive and selective safrole sensor has been developed using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) coated with polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) nanofibers. The nanofibers were collected on the QCM sensing surface using an electrospinning method with an average diameter ranging from 612 nm to 698 nm and relatively high Q–factors (rigid coating). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to analyze the PVAc nanofiber surface morphology, confirming its high surface area and roughness, which are beneficial in improving the sensor sensitivity compared to its thin-film counterpart. The as-spun PVAc nanofiber sensor could demonstrate a safrole limit of detection (LOD) of down to 0.7 ppm with a response time of 171 s and a sensitivity of 1.866 Hz/ppm. It also showed good reproducibility, rapid response time, and excellent recovery. Moreover, cross-interference of the QCM sensor response to non-target gases was investigated, yielding very low cross-sensitivity and high selectivity of the safrole sensor. Owing to its high robustness and low fabrication cost, this proposed sensing device is expected to be a promising alternative to classical instrumental analytical methods for monitoring safrole-based drug precursors.

A film of gas sensitive ZnO nanoparticles has been coupled with a low-power micro light plate (μLP) to achieve a NO2-parts-per-billion conductometric gas sensor operating at room temperature. In this μLP configuration, an InGaN-based LED (emitting at 455 nm) is integrated at a few hundred nanometers distance from the sensor material, leading to sensor photoactivation with well controlled, uniform, and high irradiance conditions, and very low electrical power needs. The response curves to different NO2 concentrations as a function of the irradiance displayed a bell-like shape. Responses of 20% to 25 ppb of NO2 were already observed at irradiances of 5 mWatts·cm-2 (applying an electrical power as low as 30 μW). In the optimum illumination conditions (around 60 mWatts·cm-2, or 200 μW of electric power), responses of 94% to 25 ppb were achieved, corresponding to a lower detection limit of 1 ppb of NO2. Higher irradiance values worsened the sensor response in the parts-per-billion range of NO2 concentrations. The responses to other gases such as NH3, CO, and CH4 were much smaller, showing a certain selectivity toward NO2. The effects of humidity on the sensor response are also discussed.

We report a miniaturized device integrating a photoactive material with a highly efficient Light Emitting Diode light source. This so-called micro light plate configuration allows for maximizing the irradiance impinging on the photoactive material, with a minimum power consumption, excellent uniformity, and accurate control of the illumination. We demonstrate these advantages with an example application: photoactivated gas sensors with a power consumption as low as 30 μW (this is 1000 times lower than the best figures reported to date). The letter also presents a quantitative model and a set of design rules to implement it in further integrated applications.

The asymmetric resonance response in electro-thermal piezoresistive cantilever resonators causes a need of an optimization treatment for taking parasitic actuation-sensing effects into account. An electronic reference circuit for signal subtraction, integrated with the cantilever resonator has the capability to reduce the effect of parasitic coupling. Measurement results demonstrated that a symmetric amplitude shape (Lorentzian) and an optimized phase characteristic (i.e., monotonically decreasing) were successfully extracted from an asymmetric resonance response. With the monotonic phase response, real-time frequency tracking can be easier to implement using a phase-locked loop (PLL) system. In this work, an electro-thermal piezoresistive cantilever resonator functionalized with self-assembled monolayers of chitosan-covered ZnO nanorod arrays as sensitive layers has been investigated under different relative humidity (rH) levels. Enhancement of resonance phase response has been demonstrated by implementing the reference signal subtraction. Subsequently, a lock-in amplifier integrated with PLL system (MFLI, Zurich Instruments, Zurich, Switzerland) was then employed for continuously tracking the resonant frequency. As a result, we find a good correlation of frequency shift (∆f0) with change in rH monitored using a commercial reference sensor.

This work presents a first prototype for a new approach to microscopy: a system basing its resolving power on the light emitters instead of the sensors, without using lenses. This new approach builds on the possibility of making LEDs smaller than current technology sensors, offering a new approach to microscopy we plan on developing towards superresolution. The microscope consists on a SPAD based camera, a 8x8 LED array with 5x5 μm LEDs distributed with a pitch of 10 μm, and discrete driving electronics to control them. We present simulations of the system, as well as the first microscope prototype implementing the method, and the results obtained through it.

Gallium Nitride (GaN) light-emitting-diode (LED) technology has been the revolution in modern lighting. In the last decade, a huge global market of efficient, long-lasting and ubiquitous white light sources has developed around the inception of the Nobel-price-winning blue GaN LEDs. Today GaN optoelectronics is developing beyond lighting, leading to new and innovative devices, e.g. for micro-displays, being the core technology for future augmented reality and visualization, as well as point light sources for optical excitation in communications, imaging, and sensing. This explosion of applications is driven by two main directions: the ability to produce very small GaN LEDs (microLEDs and nanoLEDs) with high efficiency and across large areas, in combination with the possibility to merge optoelectronic-grade GaN microLEDs with silicon microelectronics in a fully hybrid approach. GaN LED technology today is even spreading into the realm of display technology, which has been occupied by organic LED (OLED) and liquid crystal display (LCD) for decades. In this review, the technological transition towards GaN micro- and nanodevices beyond lighting is discussed including an up-to-date overview on the state of the art.

Stability is one of the crucial sensor properties to be applicable in real condition and yet hardly investigated. In this communication, we evaluated the stability of butanol vapor sensors that were constructed using quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) platforms coated with electrospun polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) nanofibers. The reliability test was performed by monitoring the sensor frequency characteristics in a long-term measurement, in which the frequency shift was found to decrease by ∼7% after the sensors have been tested for 100 times. This performance degradation was mainly attributed to the reduction of active membrane surface area caused by swelling of the nanofibers, which was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. This finding does not only allow us to better understand the nanofiber-coated QCM sensor limitation and degradation process, but also to design appropriate strategies for mitigating the device stability issues.

Gravimetric humidity sensing performance is described with piezoresistive silicon cantilevers covered by ZnO nanorods in a low-cost wet chemical deposition process. High sensitivity at small hysteresis between increasing and decreasing humidity loading is observed as well as a good temporal stability at constant humidity and temperature. Due to ease of interfacing with electronics and low-power operation promoted by resonant devices, we expect that the developed sensors will be highly attractive for wearable environmental monitoring applications.

An electrophoretic cantilever-based nanoparticle (NP) sensor was described and evaluated for personal monitoring of occupational exposure at indoor environment. Measurements performed under defined NP concentrations in a conditioned chamber confirmed the feasibility of the measurement principle. For the first laboratory sample of the sensor cyclic switching between NP sampling and frequency tracking revealed settling times of 5 min and 1.5 min, respectively, until stable conditions were reached. Using an enhanced design of the sampling head this response time was considerably reduced to 20 s. With a total device volume of 540 cm3, weight of 375 g, and power consumption of 1.25 W the fully integrated pocket-sized system can be easily held or worn, e. g., by workmen in nanotechnology industry during their working shifts.

We present an extensive investigation of the charge-trapping processes in vertical GaN nanowire FETs with a gate-all-around structure. Two sets of devices were investigated: Gen1 samples have unipolar (n-type) epitaxy, whereas Gen2 samples have a p-doped channel and an n-p-n gate stack. From experimental results, we demonstrate the superior performance of the transistor structure with a p-GaN channel/Al2O3 gate insulator in terms of dc performance. In addition, we demonstrate that Gen2 devices have highly stable threshold voltage, thus representing ideal devices for power electronic applications. Insight into the trapping processes in the two generations of devices was obtained by modeling the threshold voltage variations via differential rate equations.

In this work, we devised hybrid humidity sensors by integrating quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) platforms with polyethyleneimine (PEI)-grafted polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibrous mats (i.e., PAN/PEI nanofibers) as active layers. The produced devices were characterized using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), an atomic force microscope (AFM), and a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer to investigate their morphologies, roughness, and molecular compositions, respectively. To understand the humidity sensing mechanism, an exponential kinetic model was developed for the adsorption and desorption processes of water molecules on nanofibers. The viscoelasticity of the active layer started to increase when the sensor was exposed to relative humidity (RH) of > 60 %rH. The PAN/PEI nanofiber-functionalized QCM sensors exhibited a sensitivity of up to 164 Hz/%rH with the response and recovery times of 13 and 7 s, respectively, during humidity exposure assessments performed at room temperature of (30 ± 1) °C. Moreover, they also provided high selectivity, long-term stability, and excellent repeatability with low error rates. Among the other existing QCM-based humidity sensors that were coated with various materials (e.g., metal oxides, carbon, and polymers), our unique electrospun PAN/PEI nanofibrous mat-functionalized QCM sensing devices have demonstrated the most superior performances in terms of their sensitivity and responsivity, which could then offer an alternative for high-sensing-performance yet low-cost humidity sensors.

Cell registration by artificial neural networks (ANNs) in combination with principal component analysis (PCA) has been demonstrated for cell images acquired by light emitting diode (LED)-based compact holographic microscopy. In this approach, principal component analysis was used to find the feature values from cells and background, which would be subsequently employed as neural inputs into the artificial neural networks. Image datasets were acquired from multiple cell cultures using a lensless microscope, where the reference data was generated by a manually analyzed recording. To evaluate the developed automatic cell counter, the trained system was assessed on different data sets to detect immortalized mouse astrocytes, exhibiting a detection accuracy of ~81% compared with manual analysis. The results show that the feature values from principal component analysis and feature learning by artificial neural networks are able to provide an automatic approach on the cell detection and registration in lensless holographic imaging.

Pinhole‐shaped light‐emitting diode (LED) arrays with dimension ranging from 100 μm down to 5 μm have been developed as point illumination sources. The proposed microLED arrays, which are based on gallium nitride (GaN) technology and emitting in the blue spectral region (λ = 465 nm), are integrated into a compact lensless holographic microscope for a non‐invasive, label‐free cell sensing and imaging. From the experimental results using single pinhole LEDs having a diameter of 90 μm, the reconstructed images display better resolution and enhanced image quality compared to those captured using a commercial surface‐mount device (SMD)‐based LED.

Transferable substrate-less InGaN/GaN light-emitting diode (LED) chips have successfully been fabricated in a laser lift-off (LLO) process employing high power ultrashort laser pulses with a wavelength of 520 nm. The irradiation of the sample was conducted in two sequential steps involving high and low pulse energies from the backside of the sapphire substrate, which led to self-detachment of the GaN stack layer without any additional tape release procedure. To guarantee their optoelectrical function and surface quality, the lifted LED chips were assessed in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and electroluminescence (EL) measurements. Moreover, surface characterizations were done using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Auger Electron Spectroscopy (AES).

In this work we studied the influence of light emitting diode (LED) generated light on living cells which were cultivated in common cell culture microtiter plates. In detail we investigated signaling side effects including apoptosis by the use of a cell permeable peroxide activatable fluorescent dye (5,6-Chloromethyl-2′,7′-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate). A high level production of peroxides in UV and blue light exposed cells was measured while the light of longer wavelengths caused only minor effects on the cells.

In this work, a novel multispectral sensing system consisting of nanostructured filter matrix and a charge-coupled device (CCD)-based image sensor has been developed to overcome the limitation of the conventional pigment filtered sensors, which are difficult to be fabricated at a microscale and usually showing a pronounced degradation. By designing the filters in guided-mode resonance (GMR) architecture, light transmission efficiencies of ~90% with low sidebands and sharp peaks can be obtained, which are critical characteristics for realizing precise optical measurement systems. To optimize the transmission functions, various materials and structural parameters have been simulated. Electron beam nanolithography is employed in the device fabrication to fabricate pixel-wise independent filter functions. After being characterized in terms of their wavelength filtering capability, the developed GMR filters are then combined with image sensors, particularly for addressing biological applications.

Self-diffusion experiments in single crystalline isotopically controlled silicon nanowires with diameters of 70 and 400 nm at 850 and 1000 °C are reported. The isotope structures were first epitaxially grown on top of silicon substrate wafers. Nanowires were subsequently fabricated using a nanosphere lithography process in combination with inductively coupled plasma dry reactive ion etching. Three-dimensional profiling of the nanosized structure before and after diffusion annealing was performed by means of atom probe tomography (APT). Self-diffusion profiles obtained from APT analyses are accurately described by Fick's law for self-diffusion. Data obtained for silicon self-diffusion in nanowires are equal to the results reported for bulk silicon crystals, i.e., finite size effects and high surface-to-volume ratios do not significantly affect silicon self-diffusion. This shows that the properties of native point defects determined from self-diffusion in bulk crystals also hold for nanosized silicon structures with diameters down to 70 nm.Self-diffusion experiments in single crystalline isotopically controlled silicon nanowires with diameters of 70 and 400 nm at 850 and 1000 °C are reported. The isotope structures were first epitaxially grown on top of silicon substrate wafers. Nanowires were subsequently fabricated using a nanosphere lithography process in combination with inductively coupled plasma dry reactive ion etching. Three-dimensional profiling of the nanosized structure before and after diffusion annealing was performed by means of atom probe tomography (APT). Self-diffusion profiles obtained from APT analyses are accurately described by Fick's law for self-diffusion. Data obtained for silicon self-diffusion in nanowires are equal to the results reported for bulk silicon crystals, i.e., finite size effects and high surface-to-volume ratios do not significantly affect silicon self-diffusion. This shows that the properties of native point defects determined from self-diffusion in bulk crystals also hold for nanosized silicon struc...

A compact lensless microscope comprising a custom-made LED engine and a CMOS imaging sensor has been developed for live-cell culture imaging inside a cell incubator environment. The imaging technique is based on digital inline-holographic microscopy, while the image reconstruction is carried out by angular spectrum approach with a custom written software. The system was tested with various biological samples including immortalized mouse astrocyte cells inside a petri dish. Besides the imaging possibility, the capability of automated cell counting and tracking could be demonstrated. By using image sensors capable of video frame rate, time series of cell movement can be captured.

A laser lift-off (LLO) process has been developed for detaching thin InGaN/GaN lightemitting diodes (LED) from their original sapphire substrates by applying an ultrafast laser. LLO is usually based on intense UV irradiation, which is transmitted through the sapphire substrate and subsequently absorbed at the interface to the epitaxially grown GaN stack. Here, we present a successful implementation of a two-step LLO process with 350 fs short pulses in the green spectral range (520 nm) based on a two-photon absorption mechanism. Cathodo- and electroluminescence experiments have proven the functionality of the LLO-based chips. The impact of radiation on the material quality was analysed with scanning (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), revealing structural modifications inside the GaN layer in some cases.

International audience; An improved nanofabrication processing technique for realization of vertically aligned silicon nanowires (SiNW5) by colloidal lithography is reported in this work. Microstructure pattern arrays are prepared on the substrate allowing selective deposition of polystyrene (PS) nanoparticles. Using PSS/PDDA/PSS-layer, surface properties can be modified resulting in an enhanced hydrophilicity of the silicon substrate, which is followed by high surface coverage up to-83% after particle transfer. During the fabrication, we demonstrate full control of the mask dimension providing excellent control of nanostructure feature size by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) reactive ion etching (RIE) process at cryogenic temperature. Finally, this combined approach of bottom-up and top-down methods offers simple and direct nanoscale processing steps with low-cost and great reproducibility, enabling high density fabrication of nanostructure (similar to 10(9) SiNW/cm(2)) within certain area. This preparation route of the SiNWs was applied to isotopically controlled silicon layers grown epitaxially on Si substrates. Atom probe tomography of these SiNWs reveal that the isotope layer ordering is preserved by the NW fabrication route. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A ZnO nanorods film covered silicon resonant cantilever sensor is developed for atmosphere humidity detection by monitoring the resonant frequency shifts induced by the additional weight of adsorbed water molecules. Two different crystalline seed-layer deposition methods were applied to grow different nanorods films. The morphology of the ZnO films were characterized and the sensor sensitivities were measured under different relative humidity (RH) levels. The experiments results showed that this novel humidity sensor with ZnO nanorods has a sensitivity of 101.5 ± 12.0 ppm/RH% (amount of adsorbed water of 36.9 ± 4.4 ng/RH%), indicating its potential for portable sensing applications.

The asymmetric resonance responses of a thermally actuated silicon microcantilever of a portable, cantilever-based nanoparticle detector (Cantor) is analysed. For airborne nanoparticle concentration measurements, the cantilever is excited in its first in-plane bending mode by an integrated p-type heating actuator. The mass-sensitive nanoparticle (NP) detection is based on the resonance frequency (f0) shifting due to the deposition of NPs. A homemade phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit is developed for tracking of f0. For deflection sensing the cantilever contains an integrated piezo-resistive Wheatstone bridge (WB). A new fitting function based on the Fano resonance is proposed for analysing the asymmetric resonance curves including a method for calculating the quality factor Q from the fitting parameters. To obtain a better understanding, we introduce an electrical equivalent circuit diagram (ECD) comprising a series resonant circuit (SRC) for the cantilever resonator and voltage sources for the parasitics, which enables us to simulate the asymmetric resonance response and discuss the possible causes. Furthermore, we compare the frequency response of the on-chip thermal excitation with an external excitation using an in-plane piezo actuator revealing parasitic heating of the WB as the origin of the asymmetry. Moreover, we are able to model the phase component of the sensor output using the ECD. Knowing and understanding the phase response is crucial to the design of the PLL and thus the next generation of Cantor.

This paper reports the size-selective sampling and removal of airborne nanoparticles (NP) using a silicon resonant micro cantilever mass balance combined with a miniaturized electrostatic precipitator (ESP). This allows to design an overnight-refreshable, pocket-sized, autarkic monitor for NP mass concentration and size in the range below 300 nm.

A developed transferable micro force sensor was evaluated by comparing its response with an industrially manufactured device. In order to pre-identify sensor properties, three-dimensional (3-D) sensor models were simulated with a vertically applied force up to 1000 µN. Then, controllable batch fabrication was performed by alternately utilizing inductively coupled plasma (ICP) reactive ion etching (RIE) and photolithography. The assessments of sensor performance were based on sensor linearity, stiffness and sensitivity. Analysis of the device properties revealed that combination of a modest stiffness value (i.e., (8.19 ± 0.07) N m−1) and high sensitivity (i.e., (15.34 ± 0.14) V N−1) at different probing position can be realized using a meander-spring configuration. Furthermore, lower noise voltage is obtained using a double-layer silicon on insulator (DL-SOI) as basic material to ensure high reliability and an excellent performance of the sensor.

In this paper, the asymmetric resonance frequency (f 0) responses of thermally in-plane excited silicon cantilevers for a pocket-sized, cantilever-based airborne nanoparticle detector (Cantor) are analysed. By measuring the shift of f 0 caused by the deposition of nanoparticles (NPs), the cantilevers are used as a microbalance. The cantilever sensors are low cost manufactured from silicon by bulk-micromachining techniques and contain an integrated p-type heating actuator and a sensing piezoresistive Wheatstone bridge. f 0 is tracked by a homemade phase-locked loop (PPL) for real-time measurements. To optimize the sensor performance, a new cantilever geometry was designed, fabricated and characterized by its frequency responses. The most significant characterisation parameters of our application are f 0 and the quality factor (Q), which have high influences on sensitivity and efficiency of the NP detector. Regarding the asymmetric resonance signal, a novel fitting function based on the Fano resonance replacing the conventionally used function of the simple harmonic oscillator and a method to calculate Q by its fitting parameters were developed for a quantitative evaluation. To obtain a better understanding of the resonance behaviours, we analysed the origin of the asymmetric line shapes. Therefore, we compared the frequency response of the on-chip thermal excitation with an external excitation using an in-plane piezo actuator. In correspondence to the Fano effect, we could reconstruct the measured resonance curves by coupling two signals with constant amplitude and the expected signal of the cantilever, respectively. Moreover, the phase of the measurement signal can be analysed by this method, which is important to understand the locking process of the PLL circuit. Besides the frequency analysis, experimental results and calibration measurements with different particle types are presented. Using the described analysis method, decent results to optimize a next generation of Cantor are expected.

Microbial electrochemical technologies (METs) are one of the emerging green bioenergy domains that are utilizing microorganisms for wastewater treatment or electrosynthesis. Real-time monitoring of bioprocess during operation is a prerequisite for understanding and further improving bioenergy harvesting. Optical methods are powerful tools for this, but require transparent, highly conductive and biocompatible electrodes. Whereas indium tin oxide (ITO) is a well-known transparent conductive oxide, it is a non-ideal platform for biofilm growth. Here, a straightforward approach of surface modification of ITO anodes with gold (Au) is demonstrated, to enhance direct microbial biofilm cultivation on their surface and to improve the produced current densities. The trade-off between the electrode transmittance (critical for the underlying integrated sensors) and the enhanced growth of biofilms (crucial for direct monitoring) is studied. Au-modified ITO electrodes show a faster and reproducible biofilm growth with three times higher maximum current densities and about 6.9 times thicker biofilms compared to their unmodified ITO counterparts. The electrochemical analysis confirms the enhanced performance and the reversibility of the ITO/Au electrodes. The catalytic effect of Au on the ITO surface seems to be the key factor of the observed performance improvement since the changes in the electrode conductivity and their surface wettability are relatively small and in the range of ITO. An integrated platform for the ITO/Au transparent electrode with light-emitting diodes was fabricated and its feasibility for optical biofilm thickness monitoring is demonstrated. Such transparent electrodes with embedded catalytic metals can serve as multifunctional windows for biofilm diagnostic microchips.

Vertically aligned gallium nitride (GaN) nanowire (NW) arrays have attracted a lot of attention because of their potential for novel devices in the fields of optoelectronics and nanoelectronics. In this work, GaN NW arrays have been designed and fabricated by combining suitable nanomachining processes including dry and wet etching. After inductively coupled plasma dry reactive ion etching, the GaN NWs are subsequently treated in wet chemical etching using AZ400K developer (i.e., with an activation energy of 0.69 ± 0.02 eV and a Cr mask) to form hexagonal and smooth a-plane sidewalls. Etching experiments using potassium hydroxide (KOH) water solution reveal that the sidewall orientation preference depends on etchant concentration. A model concerning surface bonding configuration on crystallography facets has been proposed to understand the anisotropic wet etching mechanism. Finally, NW array-based vertical field-effect transistors with wrap-gated structure have been fabricated. A device composed of 99 NWs exhibits enhancement mode operation with a threshold voltage of 1.5 V, a superior electrostatic control, and a high current output of >10 mA, which prevail potential applications in next-generation power switches and high-temperature digital circuits.

The asymmetric resonance frequency analysis of silicon cantilevers for a low-cost wearable airborne nanoparticle detector (Cantor) is described in this paper. The cantilevers, which are operated in the fundamental in-plane resonance mode, are used as a mass-sensitive microbalance. They are manufactured out of bulk silicon, containing a full piezoresistive Wheatstone bridge and an integrated thermal heater for reading the measurement output signal and stimulating the in-plane excitation, respectively. To optimize the sensor performance, cantilevers with different cantilever geometries are designed, fabricated and characterized. Besides the resonance frequency, the quality factor (Q) of the resonance curve has a high influence concerning the sensor sensitivity. Because of an asymmetric resonance behaviour, a novel fitting function and method to extract the Q is created, different from that of the simple harmonic oscillator (SHO). For testing the sensor in a long-term frequency analysis, a phase- locked loop (PLL) circuit is employed, yielding a frequency stability of up to 0.753 Hz at an Allan variance of 3.77 × 10-6. This proposed asymmetric resonance frequency analysis method is expected to be further used in the process development of the next-generation Cantor.

A transferable force calibration standard based on a silicon microelectromechanical sensor has been designed, fabricated, and characterized for micrometrology applications. Two essential elements of double-meander springs and full piezoresistive etched p-silicon-on-insulator Wheatstone bridges (WBs) are integrated to the sensor for enhancing the device’s sensitivity and eliminating the current leakage during an active sensing operation, respectively. The design process is supported by three-dimensional finite element modeling to select the optimal proposed sensors as well as simulating their mechanical and electrical properties in the desired force range (≤1000 μN). To fabricate the microforce sensors, a bulk micromachining technology is used by frequently involving an inductively coupled plasma deep reactive ion etching at cryogenic temperature. Several optical and electrical characterization techniques have been utilized to ensure the quality of the fabricated WBs, where their measured offset voltage can be down to 0.03±0.071 mV/V. In terms of its linearity, the fabricated device exhibits a small nonlinearity of

The demonstration of vertical GaN wrap-around gated field-effect transistors using GaN nanowires is reported. The nanowires with smooth a-plane sidewalls have hexagonal geometry made by top-down etching. A 7-nanowire transistor exhibits enhancement mode operation with threshold voltage of 1.2 V, on/off current ratio as high as 108, and subthreshold slope as small as 68 mV/dec. Although there is space charge limited current behavior at small source-drain voltages (Vds), the drain current (Id) and transconductance (gm) reach up to 314 mA/mm and 125 mS/mm, respectively, when normalized with hexagonal nanowire circumference. The measured breakdown voltage is around 140 V. This vertical approach provides a way to next-generation GaN-based power devices.