Sensors and Biosensors Related to Magnetic Nanoparticles

This book describes interesting examples of magnetic materials with magnetic nanoparticles or compact devices using composites with nanoparticles, including new engineering solutions and theoretical contributions on the magnetic biosensing of soft matter composites. Authors from different countries formed international team of experts sharing 10 contributed papers, 1 feature paper, and 1 topical review

Investigations in Nanotechnology: Tailoring of Magnetic Nanomaterials for Electromagnetic Wave Absorption

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in magnetic nanomaterials used as microwave-absorbing materials due to military and civil applications such as stealth technology and electromagnetic interference. They are used in portable electronic devices such as smart phones and mobile PCs to protect humans from exposure to electromagnetic pollution, which could increase the risk of cancer or other neural illnesses. In defense applications, the surface of ships, submarines, and aircrafts are coated with electromagnetic absorbing materials to reduce the radar cross section (RCS) and increase stealth capabilities. Magnetic materials have long been used as radar absorbers on aircrafts, e.g., in the form of iron ball paint. The absorber is usually applied by painting the metal surface with mixtures of carbonyl iron and polymer which generates magnetic iron or ferrite particles in situ by decomposition and/or oxidation of iron carbonyl. While this approach has been demonstrated to be successful in reduction of the RCS, it can be expected that the poorly defined synthetic approach produces inhomogeneous layers of magnetic materials with a wide distribution of particle sizes and may also generate magnetic particles containing impurities. This lack of control over material structure makes it challenging to systematically study and improve magnetic materials for electromagnetic wave absorption. This research explores the application of magnetic nanomaterials for electromagnetic wave absorption. We present organic solution synthesis routes towards preparation of a wide range of magnetic nanoparticles, including soft and hard magnetic materials. We have been able to manipulate the synthetic conditions to tune the particle size, shape, and composition to tailor the magnetic properties in terms of coercivity (Hc) and magnetization (M0). We have evaluated the dependence of the permittivity (ε) and permeability (μ) of the nanoparticle assemblies on these parameters, based on which we have further derived the correlation between the electromagnetic wave absorption characteristics and the nanoscale architectures of the materials. Our research will substantially advance the fundamental understanding of the electromagnetic wave absorption behavior of magnetic nanomaterials. The materials and technology developed in this research will also have great applications in both civilian and defense industries

Wireless Applications of Radio Frequency Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems

With mass proliferation of wireless communication technologies, there is a continuous demand on fast data transmission rate and efficient use of frequency spectrum. As a result, reconfigurable systems are of significant importance and research is being conducted in numerous universities. The purpose of this research is to develop novel RF MEMS based reconfigurable wireless systems. By utilizing the RF MEMS switches as a basic building block, this thesis focus on developing a unique design technique for the design and development of RF MEMS delay line phase shifter, frequency reconfigurable antennas and pattern reconfigurable antennas. This thesis work is divided into four parts: 1. Investigation and development of nano-electro-mechanical systems (NEMS) based 3-bit phase shifter. Analyzing the slow wave structure to further reduce the size of delay line phase shifter. 2. Development of frequency reconfigurable antennas to compete with broadband and multi-band antennas. Two novel MEMS-loaded frequency reconfigurable antennas were designed with spectrum switchable between WPAN band (57 to 66 GHz) and the whole E-band (71 to 86 GHz). 3. Investigation of microstrip-to-coplanar striplines (CPS) transition balun used for antennas to explain the inherent phase delay of this type of structure. Based on the discovery, a pattern reconfigurable quasi-Yagi antenna was designed. The antenna exhibits excellent RF performance, compact size and switchable end-fire radiation pattern with the goal to replacing existing phased array antennas. It has the full functionality of a multi-antenna phased array plus phase shifting network while its size is same as a fixed single Yagi antenna. 4. Development of full seven masks all metal fabrication process of the RF MEMS integrated reconfigurable antennas. The fabrication processes are optimized based on Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF) New South Wales node’s equipment

EUROSENSORS XVII : book of abstracts

Fundação Calouste Gulbenkien (FCG).Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)

A History of Materials and Technologies Development

The purpose of the book is to provide the students with the text that presents an introductory knowledge about the development of materials and technologies and includes the most commonly available information on human development. The idea of the publication has been generated referring to the materials taken from the organic and non-organic evolution of nature. The suggested texts might be found a purposeful tool for the University students proceeding with studying engineering due to the fact that all subjects in this particular field more or less have to cover the history and development of the studied object. It is expected that studying different materials and technologies will help the students with a better understanding of driving forces, positive and negative consequences of technological development, etc

Far-Infrared Photometry with an 0.4-Meter Liquid Helium Cooled Balloon-Borne Telescope

A 0.4-meter aperture, liquid helium cooled multichannel far-infrared balloon-borne telescope was constructed to survey the galactic plane. Nine new sources, above a 3-sigma confidence level of 1300 Jy, were identified. Although two-thirds of the scanned area was more than 10 degrees from the galactic plane, no sources were detected in that region; all nine fell within 10 degrees and eight of those within 4 degrees of the galactic equator. Correlations with visible, compact H lines associated with radio continuum and with sources displaying spectra steeply rising between 11 and 20 microns were noted, while stellar objects were not detected