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We developed a simple and rapid method for terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) assay on the basis of the polymerization-directed exonuclease-assisted construction of a single quantum dot (QD)-based fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) nanosensor. This method is very sensitive with a detection limit as low as 1 × 10−6 U μL−1, and it can be used for the screening of TDT inhibitors and accurate quantification of TdT activity even in 5 cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We design a 3-bit adder or a radix-8 full adder (FA) in quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA), where the 3-bit carry propagation path can be accommodated in one clock-zone. To achieve this, we introduce group majority signals similar to group propagate and generate signals in parallel prefix computations, use them to reformulate the carry expressions of a previous radix-4 FA, and as such we could extend it to higher radix FAs. Applying the aforementioned new interpretation of carry expressions (via group majority signals) on 3-bit adders, results in that only a single clock cycle is required for 12-bit (vs. the previous 8-bit) carry propagation, across four radix-8 FAs. Based on the proposed radix-8 QCA-FA, we realized 8-, 16-, 32-, 64, and 128-bit QCA adders via QCADesigner. Comparison of these adders with the previous radix-4 experiment, showed 9–41% speed up, and 57–76% area saving, for 16–128-bit adders, respectively. On the other hand, compared to the best previous radix-2 design, for the same bit widths, we experienced 57–172% speed up, but at the cost of 138–4% area increase, except for the 64 and 128-bit cases, where we also experienced 19% and 41% area saving, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches offers great opportunities for the production of complex materials and devices. We demonstrate this approach by incorporating luminescent CdSe-ZnS nanopartides into macroscopic tube structures that form as the result of externally controlled self-organization. The 1-2 mm wide hollow tubes consist of silica-supported zinc oxide/hydroxide and are formed by controlled injection of aqueous zinc sulfate into a sodium silicate solution. The primary growth region at the top of the tube is pinned to a robotic arm that moves upward at constant speed. Dispersed within the injected zinc solution are 3.4 nm CdSe-ZnS quantum dots (QDs) capped by DHLA-PEG-OCH3 ligands. Fluorescence measurements of the washed and dried tubes reveal the presence of trapped QDs at an estimated number density of 1010 QDs per millimeter of tube length. The successful inclusion of the nanopartides is further supported by electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, with the latter suggesting a nearly homogeneous QDs distribution across the tube wall. Exposure of the samples to copper sulfate solution induces quenching of aljout 90% of the tubes' fluorescence intensity. This quenching shows that the large majority of the QDs is chemically accessible within the microporous, about 15-μm-wide tube wall. We suggest possible applications of such QD-hosting tube systems as convenient sensors in microfluidic and related applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding of Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) in thin films composed of quantum dots (QDs) is of fundamental and technological significance in optimal design of QD based optoelectronic devices. The separation between QDs in the densely packed films is usually smaller than the size of QDs, so that the simple point-dipole approximation, widely used in the conventional approach, can no longer offer quantitative description of the FRET dynamics in such systems. Here, we report the investigations of the FRET dynamics in densely packed films composed of multisized CdSe QDs using ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy and theoretical modeling. Pairwise interdot transfer time was determined in the range of LS to 2 ns by spectral analyses which enable separation ofthe FRET contribution from intrinsic exciton decay. A rational model is suggested by taking into account the distribution of the electronic transition densities in the dots and using the film morphology revealed by AFM images. The FRET dynamics predicted by the model are in good quantitative agreement with experimental observations without adjustable parameters. Finally, we use our theoretical model to calculate dynamics of directed energy transfer in ordered multilayer QD films, which we also observe experimentally. The Monte Carlo simulations reveal that three ideal QD monolayers can provide exciton funneling efficiency above 80% from the most distant layer. Thereby, utilization of directed energy transfer can significantly improve light harvesting efficiency of QD devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we fabricate an oriented luminescent quantum dot (QD)-layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanocomposite material by the highly orderly and alternate assembly of trace CdTe QDs in dodecylbenzene sulfonate bilayer bunches on the organo-modified LDH exterior surfaces. Interestingly, the novel QD-LDH nanocomposites can remarkably amplify chemiluminescence (CL) of the luminol-H2O2 system, which is attributed to an inhibition of QD oxidation by H2O2, an increase in the radiative decay rate, and an inhibition in the nonradiative relaxation of QDs. In addition, a novel flow-through column-based CL resonance energy transfer is fabricated using luminol as energy donors and the solid luminescent QD-LDH nanocomposites as energy acceptors for signal amplification. The applicability of this flow-through column is evaluated by determining H2O2 using luminol-H2O2 CL system. The CL intensity exhibits a stable response to H2O2 over a concentration range from 0.5 to 60 μM with a detection limit as low as 0.3 μM. Finally, the proposed method has been successfully applied to detect H2O2 in snow samples, and the results agreed with those obtained by the standard spectrophotometric method. Our findings indicate that the new luminescent QD-LDH nanocomposite material would be used for high throughput screening of complex systems with different sized QDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A four-terminal donor quantum dot (QD) is used to characterize potential barriers between degenerately doped nanoscale contacts. The QD is fabricated by hydrogen-resist lithography on Si(001) in combination with n-type doping by phosphine. The four contacts have different separations (d = 9, 12, 16 and 29 nm) to the central 6 nm × 6 nm QD island, leading to different tunnel and capacitive coupling. Cryogenic transport measurements in the Coulomb-blockade (CB) regime are used to characterize these tunnel barriers. We find that field enhancement near the apex of narrow dopant leads is an important effect that influences both barrier breakdown and the magnitude of the tunnel current in the CB transport regime. From CB-spectroscopy measurements, we extract the mutual capacitances between the QD and the four contacts, which scale inversely with the contact separation d. The capacitances are in excellent agreement with numerical values calculated from the pattern geometry in the hydrogen resist. Furthermore, we show that by engineering the source–drain tunnel barriers to be asymmetric, we obtain a much simpler excited-state spectrum of the QD, which can be directly linked to the orbital single-particle spectrum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we show that efficiency of quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSCs) can be systematically enhanced by simply doping the semiconductor quantum dots with various transition metals. A general study is conducted on the effect of various doping materials like Zn, Co, and Mn on the performance of QDSCs. For the first reported CdS:Zn/CdSe, and CdS:Co/CdSe sensitized cells, the cell performance with 2.82% and 3.42 % (Voc = 609 mV, Jsc = 11.25 mA cm−2, FF = 0.5) efficiency is obtained respectively which is enhanced compared with the photovoltaic properties of the cells with conventional CdS/CdSe sensitized cells (η = 2.24%, Voc = 545 mV, Jsc = 9.12 mA cm−2, FF = 0.45). Impedance spectroscopy (IS) and open circuit voltage decay is performed on the doped QDSCs in order to understand the origin of the performance increment. Results indicate that the electron recombination loss is reduced in the case of doped QDs, while reduced electron conductivity in the cells is a limiting factor that should be considered for further efficiency improvements. Mechanism of charge transport in the doped cells is explained based on electron trapping/detrapping through midgap trap states in the doped QDs. This general study indicates that QDs doping could be introduced as a simple effective method for increasing the performance of QDSCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]