Research on inherently nanolaminated transition metal carbides is inspired by their unique properties combining metals and ceramics, such as higher damage tolerance, better machinability and lower brittleness compared to the binary counterparts, yet retaining the metallic conductivity. The interesting properties are related to their laminated structure, composed of transition-metal carbide laye...

A paper-based colorimetric biosensor suitable for point-of-care bioassay of blood samples is developed using highly stable enzyme thin-film coatings confined within inkjet printed polymeric microwells. The microwells are developed through a simple one-step inkjet printing of hydrophobic polystyrene on paper, with walls formed by the polymer that fills the gaps inside the paper body. The microwe...

A view of contemporary systems and control challenges in PV cell manufacturing is given in this paper, with emphasis on developing a modeling strategy for the optimization of thin-film silicon nitride SiNx:H films used for passivation and anti-reflection coatings in single (sc-) and multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cells. The overall framework integrates three modeling modules: a remote p...

A study has been made of high-cycle fatigue in 2-μm thick structural films of ntype, polycrystalline silicon for MEMS applications. Using an “on-chip” test structure resonating at ~40 kHz, such thin-film polysilicon is shown to display “metal-like” stress-life fatigue behavior in room air environments, with failures occurring after lives in excess of 10 cycles at stresses as low as half the fra...

In the push to build high-efficiency solar cells with less materials usage, thin-film solar cells have attracted an increasing amount of interest. Thin films are particularly attractive if they could exhibit light trapping and photon recycling capabilities exceeding those of traditional wafer-based cells. Recent work by Alta Devices demonstrating a record single-junction efficiency of 28.8% wit...

The wettability of reactively sputtered Y₂O₃, thermally oxidized Y-Y₂O₃ and Cd-CdO template assisted Y₂O3 coatings has been studied. The wettability of as-deposited Y₂O3 coatings was determined by contact angle measurements. The water contact angles for reactively sputtered, thermally oxidized and template assisted Y₂O3 nanostructured coatings were 99°, 117° and 155°, respectively. The average ...

We report on the use of polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) coatings as a non-biological surface preparation to facilitate uniform cell attachment and growth on patterned thin-film gold (Au) electrodes on glass for impedance-based measurements. Extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins are commonly utilized as cell adhesion promoters for electrodes; however, they exhibit degradation over time, thereby i...

Laser-induced technological chemical processes can significantly contribute to the development of new methods for micro treatment of materials and hence to the broadening of the application spectrum of laser microtechnology. In this paper three typical laser-activated chemical technological methods in liquids, gases and solids and their possible applications are presented and discussed: First, ...

The paper discusses the testing methods of ultra thin film-forming fluorocontained polymer compositions, which form surface modifying structures, long-life coatings and nanosize films, giving treated anti-icing, tribological hydrophobic properties.