The effect of gas‐dynamic factors on selective carbon‐nanotube synthesis by injection CVD method for field‐emission cathodes

Abstract— Reversible selective growth of carbon‐nanotube (CNT) arrays on Si/SiO₂ topologies was investigated for field‐emission‐display applications. The method used was that of high‐temperature pyrolysis of fluid hydrocarbon (p‐xylene [C₈H₁₀]) in a mixture with volatile catalyst (ferrocene [Fe(C₅H₅)₂]) using Ar as the gas carrier. The synthesized CNT arrays were analyzed by SEM, TEM, Raman, and TGA analyses. Reversible CNT growth both on Si and SiO₂ surfaces was found to be sensitive to the gas‐carrier flow rate and the catalyst/hydrocarbon solution injection rate into the synthesis zone. This phenomenon can be explained by inverse domination of active sites on Si and SiO₂ surfaces at different flow rates of gas mixture, causing different types of catalyst precipitation followed by subsequent CNT growth. In principle, the possibility of growing CNTs using the proposed technology will allow the creation of precise geometries of field‐emission cathodes excluding the step of catalyst localization.     

Breast cancer biomarker measurements and standards

Cancer is a heterogeneous disease characterized by changes in the levels and activities of important cellular proteins, including oncogenes and tumor suppressors. Genetic mutations cause changes in protein activity and protein expression levels that result in the altered metabolism, proliferation, and metastasis seen in cancer cells. The identification of the critical biochemical changes in cancer has led to advances in its detection and treatment. An important example of this is the measurement of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), where increased expression occurs in approximately 20–30% of breast cancer tumors. HER2 is a member of the epidermal growth factor receptor family and is an important biomarker expressed on the cell surface. Measurement of the HER2 levels in tumor cells provides diagnostic, prognostic, and treatment information, because a targeted therapeutic is available. The most common methods to measure HER2 levels are immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization assays. The accurate and reliable measurements of the specific changes in protein biomarkers for detection and treatment of cancer are important challenges. This review is focused on efforts to improve the quantitation and reliability of cancer biomarkers by using standards and reference materials.     

Global finite‐time stabilization for a class of high‐order switched nonlinear systems via sampled‐data control

This paper investigates the global finite‐time stabilization for a class of high‐order switched nonlinear systems via the sampled‐data output feedback control. Firstly, we design a continuous‐time output feedback controller for the nominal part via adding a power integrator technique. Based on the homogeneous theory, together with the Gronwall‐Bellman inequality, a sampled‐data output feedback controller is designed with suitable sampling periods to ensure that the closed‐loop system can be globally stabilized in finite time. In the meantime, the proposed control method can be extended to the switched nonlinear systems with an upper‐triangular growth condition. Finally, two examples are presented to illustrate the validity of the proposed control scheme.     

Nano‐emissive display technology for large‐area HDTV

Abstract— Using nano‐emissive display (NED) technology, Motorola labs has successfully developed 5‐in. full‐color display prototypes. Carbon‐nanotube‐based field‐emission displays with a pixel size of 0.726 mm for a 42‐in. HDTV exhibit video image quality comparable to CRT displays and demonstrate a luminance of 350 cd/m². These novel low‐drive‐voltage NEDs take advantage of selective growth of CNTs to obtain the desired electron‐emission performance while maintaining inexpensive manufacturing due to a simple self‐focusing and self‐regulating planar structure. Improved video image quality and color purity are achieved with very low power consumption and without the need for an expensive focusing grid.     

High‐performance thin‐film transistor using silicide‐mediated crystallization

Abstract— We studied the silicide‐mediated crystallization of a‐Si for low‐temperature polycrystalline‐silicon (LTPS) on glass. By controling the heating method and Ni density on the a‐Si, the grain size could be increased to 40 μm. Radial grain growth from a NiSi₂ crystalline nucleus gives rise to a large‐grain poly‐Si without amorphous phase inside. A field‐effect mobility of over 200 cm²/V‐sec was achieved by using LTPS.     

Young children’s computer skills development from kindergarten to third grade

This investigation explores young children’s computer skills development from kindergarten to third grade using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten (ECLS–K) dataset. The sample size of the study was 8642 children. Latent growth curve modeling analysis was used as an analytical tool to examine the development of children’s computer skills using LISREL software version 8.80. Results indicated, not surprisingly, that the availability of a computer at home and a high socio-economic status were statistically significant predictors of children’s baseline computer skills in kindergarten. The availability of computers in kindergarten, however, was a statistically significant predictor of the development of children’s computer skills from kindergarten to third grade. Although there was no difference between girls and boys in their baseline computer skills in kindergarten, the rate of development in computer skills was higher for girls than boys. Results suggest that the availability of an adequate level of computers in kindergarten classrooms can help close the initial gap in children’s computer skills due to socio-economic status and lack of computer access prior to entering school. Supplying kindergarten classrooms with adequate computers could positively contribute to children’s long-term development of computer skills.     

Crystallization of amorphous‐Si using nanosecond laser interference method

Laser crystallization of a 50‐nm thick amorphous‐Si (a‐Si) thin film on glass substrate was examined by a Nd:YAG (λ = 1064 nm) nanosecond laser and a two‐beam laser interference method. In spite of the low absorption rate of the laser wavelength in the a‐Si, crystallized Si ripple patterns were observed following a single laser pulse irradiation. The atomic force microscope (AFM) measurement revealed that surface ripple arrays are protruded as high as 120 nm at the positions corresponding to the maximum laser intensity and the ripples are composed of narrow double peaks with a separation of 1 μm. Raman image mapping was used to plot the spatial distribution of the crystallized Si phase. It was found that a 1064‐nm‐wavelength nanosecond laser could crystallize an a‐Si thin film into polycrystalline‐Si (poly‐Si) by nonlinear absorption under high laser energy irradiation.     

Microcrystalline silicon: An emerging material for stable thin‐film transistors

Abstract— Top‐gate and bottom‐gate microcrystalline‐silicon thin‐film transistors (TFTs) have been produced at low temperature (150–250°C) by the standard radio‐frequency glow‐discharge technique using three preparation methods: the hydrogen dilution of silane in hydrogen, the layer‐by‐layer technique, and the use of SiF₄‐Ar‐H₂ feedstock. In all cases, a stable top‐gate TFT with mobility values around 1 cm²/V‐sec have been achieved, making them suitable for basic circuit on glass applications. Moreover, the use of SiF₄ gas combined with specific plasma treatments of the a‐SiN:H dielectric produces large columns, even at the interface with the dielectric. This leads to stable bottom‐gate TFTs, fully compatible with today's a‐Si:H production facilities, reaching mobility values up to 3 cm²/V‐sec. These devices are an interesting alternative to laser‐crystallized polysilicon thin films in a growing number of applications.     

Submicron full‐color LED pixels for microdisplays and micro‐LED main displays

We demonstrate a bottom‐up approach to the construction of micro‐LEDs as small as 150 nm in lateral dimension. Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is used to fabricate such nanostructured LEDs from InGaN, from the blue to red regions of the spectrum, providing a single material set useful for an entire RGB display.     

A dual‐observer approach for global output feedback stabilization of planar nonlinear systems with output‐dependent growth rates

In this paper, we investigate the problem of global output feedback stabilization for a class of planar nonlinear systems under a more general growth condition, which encompasses both lower‐order and higher‐order state growths with output‐dependent rates. For more accurate estimation, two new observers with nonlinear gains are constructed to estimate the states on the lower‐order and higher‐order scales, respectively. The estimates produced from the dual‐observer are used delicately in the output feedback control law with both lower‐order and higher‐order modes. The overall stability of the system is guaranteed by rigorously choosing these nonlinear gains in the control law and the dual‐observer.     

Growth of uniform carbon‐nanotube arrays with sandwich technology

Abstract— In this work, a novel approach to grow structured, highly oriented carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which are vertically aligned to the substrate and show large field emission is reported. Growth is performed on lithographically defined dots of catalysts, which can be deposited on metallic, semiconducting, and glass substrates. A sandwiched catalyst structure and microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition enables the formation of uniform CNT arrays of 1.6 × 1.6 μm². The method is easily scalable to large areas. The CNT arrays exhibit a stable field emission of 20 mA and a macroscopic current density of 50 mA/cm² at a rather low electric field of 5.33 V/μm. Modeling of space charge indicates that space charge reduces the magnitude of the CNT emission at high field strength: this agrees satisfactorily with the measurements.     

Detection of EGFR on living human gastric cancer BGC823 cells using surface plasmon resonance phase sensing

Label-free and real-time information acquisition of molecular phenotype and its function on living cells plays a significant role in disease diagnosis and drug development. In this paper, SPR phase sensing was applied to monitor the interactions between EGFR antibody, EGFR1, and membrane proteins EGFR on living human gastric cancer BGC823 cells. When 50 μg/mL EGFR1 was added onto the fixed cells chip and the living cells chip, a significant difference in the binding amount could be observed from the immunofluorescence images. Quantitative results were obtained by following SPR detection, which were 722 RU and 438 RU, respectively. On the same living cells chip, SPR detection also showed markedly different results of cellular responses when it was stimulated by EGFR1 at different concentrations, such as adhesion and/or morphology variation, revealing the EGFR1's cytotoxic effect on the BGC823 cells. The results demonstrate SPR phase sensing is capable of real-time detection of molecular interactions and cellular responses on living cells, and suggest that further studies on the mechanism and the technique may allow SPR sensing become a powerful tool not only for the basic research of cell biology, but also for medical diagnosis and drug development.     

A novel tree‐shaped antenna with wideband and end‐fire properties designed by competitive algorithm of simulating natural tree growth

This article presents a novel tree‐shaped antenna with wideband and end‐fire properties designed by the Competitive Algorithm of Simulating Natural Tree Growth. The antenna has an impedance bandwidth of 27.2% for S11 < ?10dB, maintains end‐fire radiation pattern and achieves a high gain over the entire frequency band from 5.4 GHz to 7.1 GHz. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2010.     

Evaluation of carsharing network’s growth strategies through discrete event simulation

Carsharing organizations are nowadays faced with the emergence of new markets due to the growing popularity of their services. To keep up with the growing demand, they have to constantly adapt their network and balance their stations’ capacities by implementing new strategies. These strategies involve creation of new carsharing stations, increasing the capacity of stations, merging or demerging carsharing stations etc. Currently, the decision makers rely on an intuitive strategy selection process which often results in inadequate decisions being made representing an immediate loss in resources, time and market penetration. This paper presents a discrete event simulation based decision support tool that assists the decision makers in selecting best network growth strategies to implement for meeting adequately the demand growth while maximizing the members’ satisfaction level and minimizing the number of vehicles used. Our discrete event simulation model allows modeling the activities at any given set of carsharing stations, regardless of their number and capacities. A benchmarking comparison of different potential strategies is done. An application of the proposed model on a region of Communauto’s Montréal (Québec, Canada) carsharing network is provided.     

基于L系统的植物生长方程应用研究

以基本的L系统模拟植物生长过程为基础,根据植物生长的特性,将Logistics生长方程运用到植物的节间生长过程,并结合参数L系统与随机L系统的虚拟植物模拟特点,更好地体现植物的真实性生长。最后,利用VC6.0环境模拟实现了L系统的植物生长过程。     

Global output‐feedback stabilization for high‐order nonlinear systems with unknown growth rate

This paper considers the global stabilization via time‐varying output‐feedback for a class of high‐order uncertain nonlinear systems with rather weak assumptions. Essentially different from the existing literature, the systems under investigation simultaneously have more serious nonlinearities, unknowns, immeasurableness, and time‐variations, which are indicated from the unknown time‐varying control coefficients and the higher‐order and lower‐order unmeasured states dependent growth with the rate of unknown function of time and output. Recognizing that adaptive technique is quite hard to apply, a time‐varying design scheme is proposed by combining time‐varying approach, certainty equivalence principle and homogeneous domination approach. One key point in the design scheme is the selection of the design functions of time, in order to compensate/capture the serious unknowns and serious time‐variations, and another one is the design of a time‐varying observer to rebuild the unmeasured system states. With the appropriate choice of the involved design functions, the designed controller makes all the signals of the closed‐loop system globally bounded and ultimately converge to zero. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimal control of convection–diffusion process with time-varying spatial domain: Czochralski crystal growth

This paper considers the optimal control of convection–diffusion systems modeled by parabolic partial differential equations (PDEs) with time-dependent spatial domains for application to the crystal temperature regulation problem in the Czochralski (CZ) crystal growth process. The parabolic PDE model describing the temperature dynamics in the crystal region arising from the first principles continuum mechanics is defined on the time-varying spatial domain. The dynamics of the domain boundary evolution, which is determined by the mechanical subsystem pulling the crystal from the melt, are described by an ordinary differential equation for rigid body mechanics and unidirectionally coupled to the convection–diffusion process described by the PDE system. The representation of the PDE as an evolution system on an appropriate infinite-dimensional space is developed and the analytic expression and properties of the associated two-parameter semigroup generated by the nonautonomous operator are provided. The LQR control synthesis in terms of the two-parameter semigroup is considered. The optimal control problem setup for the PDE coupled with the finite-dimensional subsystem is presented and numerical results demonstrate the regulation of the two-dimensional crystal temperature distribution in the time-varying spatial domain.     

Adaptive Output‐Feedback Control of Nonlinear Systems with Multiple Uncertainties

This paper addresses the global stabilization via adaptive output‐feedback for a class of uncertain nonlinear systems. Remarkably, the systems under investigation are with multiple uncertainties: unknown control directions, unknown growth rates and unknown input bias, and can be used to describe more physical plants. Multiple uncertainties, which usually cannot be compensated by a sole compensation technique, may give rise to big technical difficulty for controller design. To overcome such difficulty and to achieve the global stabilization, a new adaptive output‐feedback scheme is proposed in this paper, by flexibly combining Nussbaum‐type function, tuning function technique and extended state observer. It is shown that, under the designed controller, the system states globally converge to zero. A simulation example on non‐zero set‐point regulation is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the theoretical results.