FABRICATION OF ULTRA LONG NECKLACE OF NANOPARTICLES

The present invention provides a single-electron device com posed of a necklace of about 5000 nanoparticles. The linear necklace is self-assembled by interfacial phenomena along a triple-phase line of fiber, a substrate and electrolyte containing nanoparticles. A variety of combinations of nanoparticles, Such as Au and CdS nanoparticles, may be used to form a necklace. The I-V measurements on the system show both coulomb blockade and Staircase, with high currents and high threshold voltage of 1-3 V. The present invention also provides methods for constructing Such a device

Selective assembly of nanoparticles on block copolymer by surface modification

We have developed a method to selectively deposit nanoparticles on the ordered nanoscale elements of PS–PI–PS (polystyrene– polyisoprene–polystyrene) block copolymer film. The process utilizes reactive ion plasma to selectively modify the PS surface with amine groups to electrostatically attract negatively charged Au nanoparticles. In spite of the strong interparticle Coulombic repulsion, the deposition on PS domains is significantly high. It is observed that the deposition at the edges of the domain is particularly high, forming a percolating nanoparticle necklace. The latter may lead to interesting avenues to fabricate electronic devices

Stability of Order in Solvent-Annealed Block Copolymer Thin Films

ABSTRACT: One way to produce high order in a block copolymer thin film is by solution casting a thin film and slowly evaporating the solvent in a sealed vessel. Such a solvent-annealing process is a versatile method to produce a highly ordered thin film of a block copolymer. However, the ordered structure of the film degrades over time when stored under ambient conditions. Remarkably, this aging process occurs in mesoscale thin films of polystyrene-polyisoprene triblock copolymer where the monolayer of vitrified 15 nm diameter polystyrene cylinders sink in a 20 nm thick film at 22 °C. The transformation is studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). We describe the phenomena, characterize the aging process, and propose a semiquantitative model to explain the observations. The residual solvent effects are important but not the primary driving force for the aging process. The study may lead to effective avenue to improve order and make the morphology robust and possibly the solvent-annealing process more effective

An approach to sequence DNA without tagging

Microarray technology is playing an increasingly important role in biology and medicine and its application to genomics for gene expression analysis has already reached the market with a variety of commercially available instruments. In these combinatorial analysis methods, known probe single-strand DNA (ssDNA) ‘primers’ are attached in clusters of typically 100 μm × 100 μm pixels. Each pixel of the array has a slightly different sequence. On exposure to ‘unknown’ target ssDNA, the pixels with the right complementary probe ssDNA sequence convert to double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) by a hybridization reaction. To transduct the conversion of the pixel to dsDNA, the target ssDNA is labelled with a photoluminescent tag during the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification process. Due to the statistical distribution of the tags in the target ssDNA, it becomes significantly difficult to implement these methods as a diagnostic tool in a pathology laboratory. A method to sequence DNA without tagging the molecule is developed. The fabrication process is compatible with current microelectronics and (emerging) soft-material fabrication technologies, allowing the method to be integrable with micro-lectromechanical systems (MEMS) and lab-on-a-chip devices. An estimated sensitivity of 10−12 g on a 1 cm2 device area is obtained

Spontaneous Planarization of Nanoscale Phase Separated Thin Film

Structure of complex fluid at mesoscales is influenced by interfacial effects. We describe the dynamic response in such films to sudden change in interfacial tension. In a self-assembled block copolymer film, the monolayer of 15 nm diam cylindrical discrete phases close to the surface commence to sink at an average rate of 0.16 nm/day in response to the interfacial tension change. Surprisingly, this spontaneous planarization occurs, even though the cylinders are covalently stitched to the matrix. A simple model explains the observed behavior. The observation may lead to approaches to tailor the structure of mesoscale thin films of complex fluids for long-range order that are desirable for nanoscale device fabrication

FABRICATION OF ULTRA LONG NECKLACE OF NANOPARTICLES

The present invention provides a single-electron device com posed of a necklace of about 5000 nanoparticles. The linear necklace is self-assembled by interfacial phenomena along a triple-phase line of fiber, a substrate and electrolyte containing nanoparticles. A variety of combinations of nanoparticles, Such as Au and CdS nanoparticles, may be used to form a necklace. The I-V measurements on the system show both coulomb blockade and Staircase, with high currents and high threshold voltage of 1-3 V. The present invention also provides methods for constructing Such a device

Stability of Order in Solvent-Annealed Block Copolymer Thin Films

One way to produce high order in a block copolymer thin film is by solution casting a thin film and slowly evaporating the solvent in a sealed vessel. Such a solvent-annealing process is a versatile method to produce a highly ordered thin film of a block copolymer. However, the ordered structure of the film degrades over time when stored under ambient conditions. Remarkably, this aging process occurs in mesoscale thin films of polystyrene-polyisoprene triblock copolymer where the monolayer of vitrified 15 nm diameter polystyrene cylinders sink in a 20 nm thick film at 22 °C. The transformation is studied by atomic force microscopy (AFM). We describe the phenomena, characterize the aging process, and propose a semiquantitative model to explain the observations. The residual solvent effects are important but not the primary driving force for the aging process. The study may lead to effective avenue to improve order and make the morphology robust and possibly the solvent-annealing process more effective