CA – Page 9 – TechConnect Briefs

Experimental investigation of the possibility of transporting a droplet over a hydrophilic spot in digital microfluidics

Samiei E., Hoorfar M., University of British Columbia, CA

This paper studies the transport of a water droplet over a hydrophilic spot (representing the sensing surface of a biosensor) created on the top plate of a digital microfluidic chip. For this purpose, a closed [...]

3-axis Capacitive Low-Gravity MEMS Accelerometer with Zero Cross-Axis Sensitivity in a Commercial Process

Merdassi A., Chodavarapu V.P., McGill University, CA

We describe integrated multi-axis low-g MEMS accelerometer devices fabricated in a commercial SOIMUMPS process available from MEMSCAP. We employ capacitive transduction mechanism which provides high reliability, low temperature sensitivity, low drift, and low power consumption. [...]

Fabrication of electrical microfluidic chip for electroporation of mammalian cells

Shahini M., Wijngaarden F.V., Yeow J.T.W., University of Waterloo, CA

The point of this paper is to demonstrate the use of a quick and cheap fabrication method to realize a laser-ablated microfluidic channel for single cell electroporation. Traditional lithography of microchannel with electrode in MEMS [...]

Dual Helix Dielectrophoretic Cell Separator Fabricated Using the Direct-Write Spindle Deposition Technique

Guérin N., Lévesque M., Therriault D., École Polytechnique de Montréal, CA

Many biomedical procedures necessitating the separation of cells would benefit from the miniaturization of cell separators. This miniaturization effort has led to the development of 2D dielectrophoretic separators. The use of a 3D dielectrophoretic cell [...]

Transient and steady-state dark current in amorphous selenium avalanche radiation detectors

Kabir M.Z., Imam S.-A., Concordia University, CA

Amorphous selenium (a-Se) is currently the only commercially viable X-ray photoconductor in direct conversion detectors. However, the a-Se detector is not perfect and it has low conversion gain (X-ray to free electron-hole pair, EHP, generation) [...]

Structural Color Generation in Silicon Nanowires Enable Low-Cost Refractive Index Sensors

Walia J., Khorasaninejad M., Dhindsa N., Saini S.S., University of Waterloo, CA

Structural colors are generated using waveguiding and diffractive effects in ordered silicon nanowire arrays. Tunable colors can be achieved by changing the angle of incidence. The generated colors are used for refractive index sensors with [...]

Surface Passivation of GaAs Nanowires Ensembles for Photovoltaic Applications

Chia A.C.E., LaPierre R.R., McMaster University, CA

Fabrication, electrical characterization and analytical modeling of an AlInP-passivated GaAs NW ensemble is presented. Novel processing steps were used to fabricate NW ensemble devices which were subsequently characterized electrically and fit with an analytical model, [...]

Reversible Long-Range Assemblies in Gold Nanoparticles – Liquid Crystal Composites: Molecular Dynamics of the Gold Capping Layer

Milette J., Toader V., Scheffer L.-P., Lennox R.B., Reven L., McGill University, CA

Highly miscible mesogenic ligand capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) [1] that produce reversible long-range assemblies in nematic and smectic liquid crystal (LC) [2-3] were recently developed by our group. At the isotropic-to-nematic phase transition of cyanobiphenyl [...]

The Coupled Electro-Mechanical Behaviour of Nanocomposites

Wernik J.M., Meguid S.A., University of Toronto, CA

In the past two decades, practical realisation of composites began to shift from microscale-reinforced composites to nano-reinforced composites using carbon nanotubes (CNTs). There are a number of advantages that result from dispersing CNTs into polymeric [...]

Carbon Nanotube Dispersion : Science or Art?

Nguendia Zeuna J., Zhong W., Claverie J., Quebec Center for Functional Materials, NanoQAM, CA

We have developed a series of strategies to unravel the mechanism of adsorption of surfactants and polymeric dispersants onto SWNT and MWNT. Using these guidelines, we have prepared a novel series of polymeric surfactants that [...]