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Description
Within the last decade there has been remarkable interest in single-cell metabolic analysis as a key technology for understanding cellular heterogeneity, disease initiation, progression, and drug resistance. Technologies have been developed for oxygen consumption rate (OCR) measurements using various configurations of microfluidic devices. The technical challenges of current approaches include:

Within the last decade there has been remarkable interest in single-cell metabolic analysis as a key technology for understanding cellular heterogeneity, disease initiation, progression, and drug resistance. Technologies have been developed for oxygen consumption rate (OCR) measurements using various configurations of microfluidic devices. The technical challenges of current approaches include: (1) deposition of multiple sensors for multi-parameter metabolic measurements, e.g. oxygen, pH, etc.; (2) tedious and labor-intensive microwell array fabrication processes; (3) low yield of hermetic sealing between two rigid fused silica parts, even with a compliance layer of PDMS or Parylene-C. In this thesis, several improved microfabrication technologies are developed and demonstrated for analyzing multiple metabolic parameters from single cells, including (1) a modified "lid-on-top" configuration with a multiple sensor trapping (MST) lid which spatially confines multiple sensors to micro-pockets enclosed by lips for hermetic sealing of wells; (2) a multiple step photo-polymerization method for patterning three optical sensors (oxygen, pH and reference) on fused silica and on a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) surface; (3) a photo-polymerization method for patterning tri-color (oxygen, pH and reference) optical sensors on both fused silica and on the PET surface; (4) improved KMPR/SU-8 microfabrication protocols for fabricating microwell arrays that can withstand cell culture conditions. Implementation of these improved microfabrication methods should address the aforementioned challenges and provide a high throughput and multi-parameter single cell metabolic analysis platform.
ContributorsSong, Ganquan (Author) / Meldrum, Deirdre R (Thesis advisor) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Wang, Hong (Committee member) / Tian, Yanqing (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been identified as a potential ingredient for grain boundary passivation of multicrystalline silicon. Sulfur is already established as a good surface passivation material for crystalline silicon (c-Si). Sulfur can be used both from solution and hydrogen sulfide gas. For multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cells, increasing efficiency

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has been identified as a potential ingredient for grain boundary passivation of multicrystalline silicon. Sulfur is already established as a good surface passivation material for crystalline silicon (c-Si). Sulfur can be used both from solution and hydrogen sulfide gas. For multicrystalline silicon (mc-Si) solar cells, increasing efficiency is a major challenge because passivation of mc-Si wafers is more difficult due to its randomly orientated crystal grains and the principal source of recombination is contributed by the defects in the bulk of the wafer and surface.

In this work, a new technique for grain boundary passivation for multicrystalline silicon using hydrogen sulfide has been developed which is accompanied by a compatible Aluminum oxide (Al2O3) surface passivation. Minority carrier lifetime measurement of the passivated samples has been performed and the analysis shows that success has been achieved in terms of passivation and compared to already existing hydrogen passivation, hydrogen sulfide passivation is actually better. Also the surface passivation by Al2O3 helps to increase the lifetime even more after post-annealing and this helps to attain stability for the bulk passivated samples. Minority carrier lifetime is directly related to the internal quantum efficiency of solar cells. Incorporation of this technique in making mc-Si solar cells is supposed to result in higher efficiency cells. Additional research is required in this field for the use of this technique in commercial solar cells.
ContributorsSaha, Arunodoy, Ph.D (Author) / Tao, Meng (Thesis advisor) / Vasileska, Dragica (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
There will always be a need for high current/voltage transistors. A transistor that has the ability to be both or either of these things is the silicon metal-silicon field effect transistor (MESFET). An additional perk that silicon MESFET transistors have is the ability to be integrated into the standard silicon

There will always be a need for high current/voltage transistors. A transistor that has the ability to be both or either of these things is the silicon metal-silicon field effect transistor (MESFET). An additional perk that silicon MESFET transistors have is the ability to be integrated into the standard silicon on insulator (SOI) complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process flow. This makes a silicon MESFET transistor a very valuable device for use in any standard CMOS circuit that may usually need a separate integrated circuit (IC) in order to switch power on or from a high current/voltage because it allows this function to be performed with a single chip thereby cutting costs. The ability for the MESFET to cost effectively satisfy the needs of this any many other high current/voltage device application markets is what drives the study of MESFET optimization. Silicon MESFETs that are integrated into standard SOI CMOS processes often receive dopings during fabrication that would not ideally be there in a process made exclusively for MESFETs. Since these remnants of SOI CMOS processing effect the operation of a MESFET device, their effect can be seen in the current-voltage characteristics of a measured MESFET device. Device simulations are done and compared to measured silicon MESFET data in order to deduce the cause and effect of many of these SOI CMOS remnants. MESFET devices can be made in both fully depleted (FD) and partially depleted (PD) SOI CMOS technologies. Device simulations are used to do a comparison of FD and PD MESFETs in order to show the advantages and disadvantages of MESFETs fabricated in different technologies. It is shown that PD MESFET have the highest current per area capability. Since the PD MESFET is shown to have the highest current capability, a layout optimization method to further increase the current per area capability of the PD silicon MESFET is presented, derived, and proven to a first order.
ContributorsSochacki, John (Author) / Thornton, Trevor J (Thesis advisor) / Schroder, Dieter (Committee member) / Vasileska, Dragica (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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Description
The high cut-off frequency of deep sub-micron CMOS technologies has enabled the integration of radio frequency (RF) transceivers with digital circuits. However, the challenging point is the integration of RF power amplifiers, mainly due to the low breakdown voltage of CMOS transistors. Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) metal semiconductor field effect transistors (MESFETs)

The high cut-off frequency of deep sub-micron CMOS technologies has enabled the integration of radio frequency (RF) transceivers with digital circuits. However, the challenging point is the integration of RF power amplifiers, mainly due to the low breakdown voltage of CMOS transistors. Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) metal semiconductor field effect transistors (MESFETs) have been introduced to remedy the limited headroom concern in CMOS technologies. The MESFETs presented in this thesis have been fabricated on different SOI-CMOS processes without making any change to the standard fabrication steps and offer 2-30 times higher breakdown voltage than the MOSFETs on the same process. This thesis explains the design steps of high efficiency and wideband RF transmitters using the proposed SOI-CMOS compatible MESFETs. This task involves DC and RF characterization of MESFET devices, along with providing a compact Spice model for simulation purposes. This thesis presents the design of several SOI-MESFET RF power amplifiers operating at 433, 900 and 1800 MHz with ~40% bandwidth. Measurement results show a peak power added efficiency (PAE) of 55% and a peak output power of 22.5 dBm. The RF-PAs were designed to operate in Class-AB mode to minimize the linearity degradation. Class-AB power amplifiers lead to poor power added efficiency, especially when fed with signals with high peak to average power ratio (PAPR) such as wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA). Polar transmitters have been introduced to improve the efficiency of RF-PAs at backed-off powers. A MESFET based envelope tracking (ET) polar transmitter was designed and measured. A low drop-out voltage regulator (LDO) was used as the supply modulator of this polar transmitter. MESFETs are depletion mode devices; therefore, they can be configured in a source follower configuration to have better stability and higher bandwidth that MOSFET based LDOs. Measurement results show 350 MHz bandwidth while driving a 10 pF capacitive load. A novel polar transmitter is introduced in this thesis to alleviate some of the limitations associated with polar transmitters. The proposed architecture uses the backgate terminal of a partially depleted transistor on SOI process, which relaxes the bandwidth and efficiency requirements of the envelope amplifier in a polar transmitter. The measurement results of the proposed transmitter demonstrate more than three times PAE improvement at 6-dB backed-off output power, compared to the traditional RF transmitters.
ContributorsGhajar, Mohammad Reza (Author) / Thornton, Trevor (Thesis advisor) / Aberle, James T., 1961- (Committee member) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Description
Biosensors aiming at detection of target analytes, such as proteins, microbes, virus, and toxins, are widely needed for various applications including detection of chemical and biological warfare (CBW) agents, biomedicine, environmental monitoring, and drug screening. Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), as a surface-sensitive analytical tool, can very sensitively respond to minute

Biosensors aiming at detection of target analytes, such as proteins, microbes, virus, and toxins, are widely needed for various applications including detection of chemical and biological warfare (CBW) agents, biomedicine, environmental monitoring, and drug screening. Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), as a surface-sensitive analytical tool, can very sensitively respond to minute changes of refractive index occurring adjacent to a metal film, offering detection limits up to a few ppt (pg/mL). Through SPR, the process of protein adsorption may be monitored in real-time, and transduced into an SPR angle shift. This unique technique bypasses the time-consuming, labor-intensive labeling processes, such as radioisotope and fluorescence labeling. More importantly, the method avoids the modification of the biomarker’s characteristics and behaviors by labeling that often occurs in traditional biosensors. While many transducers, including SPR, offer high sensitivity, selectivity is determined by the bio-receptors. In traditional biosensors, the selectivity is provided by bio-receptors possessing highly specific binding affinity to capture target analytes, yet their use in biosensors are often limited by their relatively-weak binding affinity with analyte, non-specific adsorption, need for optimization conditions, low reproducibility, and difficulties integrating onto the surface of transducers. In order to circumvent the use of bio-receptors, the competitive adsorption of proteins, termed the Vroman effect, is utilized in this work. The Vroman effect was first reported by Vroman and Adams in 1969. The competitive adsorption targeted here occurs among different proteins competing to adsorb to a surface, when more than one type of protein is present. When lower-affinity proteins are adsorbed on the surface first, they can be displaced by higher-affinity proteins arriving at the surface at a later point in time. Moreover, only low-affinity proteins can be displaced by high-affinity proteins, typically possessing higher molecular weight, yet the reverse sequence does not occur. The SPR biosensor based on competitive adsorption is successfully demonstrated to detect fibrinogen and thyroglobulin (Tg) in undiluted human serum and copper ions in drinking water through the denatured albumin.
ContributorsWang, Ran (Author) / Chae, Junseok (Thesis advisor) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Committee member) / Tsow, Tsing (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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Description
Total dose sensing systems (or radiation detection systems) have many applications,

ranging from survey monitors used to supervise the generated radioactive waste at

nuclear power plants to personal dosimeters which measure the radiation dose

accumulated in individuals. This dissertation work will present two different types of

novel devices developed at Arizona State University for

Total dose sensing systems (or radiation detection systems) have many applications,

ranging from survey monitors used to supervise the generated radioactive waste at

nuclear power plants to personal dosimeters which measure the radiation dose

accumulated in individuals. This dissertation work will present two different types of

novel devices developed at Arizona State University for total dose sensing applications.

The first detector technology is a mechanically flexible metal-chalcogenide glass (ChG)

based system which is fabricated on low cost substrates and are intended as disposable

total dose sensors. Compared to existing commercial technologies, these thin film

radiation sensors are simpler in form and function, and cheaper to produce and operate.

The sensors measure dose through resistance change and are suitable for applications

such as reactor dosimetry, radiation chemistry, and clinical dosimetry. They are ideal for

wearable devices due to the lightweight construction, inherent robustness to resist

breaking when mechanically stressed, and ability to attach to non-flat objects. Moreover,

their performance can be easily controlled by tuning design variables and changing

incorporated materials. The second detector technology is a wireless dosimeter intended

for remote total dose sensing. They are based on a capacitively loaded folded patch

antenna resonating in the range of 3 GHz to 8 GHz for which the load capacitance varies

as a function of total dose. The dosimeter does not need power to operate thus enabling

its use and implementation in the field without requiring a battery for its read-out. As a

result, the dosimeter is suitable for applications such as unattended detection systems

destined for covert monitoring of merchandise crossing borders, where nuclear material

tracking is a concern. The sensitive element can be any device exhibiting a known

variation of capacitance with total ionizing dose. The sensitivity of the dosimeter is

related to the capacitance variation of the radiation sensitive device as well as the high

frequency system used for reading. Both technologies come with the advantage that they

are easy to manufacture with reasonably low cost and sensing can be readily read-out.
ContributorsMahmud, Adnan, Ph.D (Author) / Barnaby, Hugh J. (Thesis advisor) / Kozicki, Michael N (Committee member) / Gonzalez-Velo, Yago (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Alford, Terry (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
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Description
In this project, current-voltage (I-V) and Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements are used to (a) characterize the electrical properties of Nb/p-type Si Schottky barriers, (b) identify the concentration and physical character of the electrically active defects present in the depletion region, and (c) use thermal processing to reduce the

In this project, current-voltage (I-V) and Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) measurements are used to (a) characterize the electrical properties of Nb/p-type Si Schottky barriers, (b) identify the concentration and physical character of the electrically active defects present in the depletion region, and (c) use thermal processing to reduce the concentration or eliminate the defects. Barrier height determinations using temperature-dependent I-V measurements indicate that the barrier height decreases from 0.50 eV to 0.48 eV for anneals above 200 C. The electrically-active defect concentration measured using DLTS (deep level transient spectroscopy) drops markedly after anneals at 250 C.

A significant increase in leakage currents is almost always observed in near-ideal devices upon annealing. In contrast, non-ideal devices dominated by leakage currents annealed at 150 C to 250 C exhibit a significant decrease in such currents.
ContributorsKrishna Murthy, Madhu (Author) / Newman, Nathan (Thesis advisor) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Alford, Terry (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
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Description
Over the past several decades, there has been a growing interest in the use of fluorescent probes in low-cost diagnostic devices for resource-limited environments. This dissertation details the design, development, and deployment of an inexpensive, multiplexed, and quantitative, fluorescence-based lateral flow immunoassay platform, in light of the specific constraints associated

Over the past several decades, there has been a growing interest in the use of fluorescent probes in low-cost diagnostic devices for resource-limited environments. This dissertation details the design, development, and deployment of an inexpensive, multiplexed, and quantitative, fluorescence-based lateral flow immunoassay platform, in light of the specific constraints associated with resource-limited settings.

This effort grew out of the need to develop a highly sensitive, field-deployable platform to be used as a primary screening and early detection tool for serologic biomarkers for the high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) infection. A hrHPV infection is a precursor for developing high-grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN 2/3+). Early detection requires high sensitivity and a low limit-of-detection (LOD). To this end, the developed platform (DxArray) takes advantage of the specificity of immunoassays and the selectivity of fluorescence for early disease detection. The long term goal is to improve the quality of life for several hundred million women globally, at risk of being infected with hrHPV.

The developed platform uses fluorescent labels over the gold-standard colorimetric labels in a compact, high-sensitivity lateral flow assay configuration. It is also compatible with POC settings as it substitutes expensive and bulky light sources for LEDs, low-light CMOS cameras, and photomultiplier tubes for photodiodes, in a transillumination architecture, and eliminates the need for expensive focusing/transfer optics. The platform uses high-quality interference filters at less than $1 each, enabling a rugged and robust design suitable for field use.

The limit of detection (LOD) of the developed platform is within an order of magnitude of centralized laboratory diagnostic instruments. It enhances the LOD of absorbance or reflectometric and visual readout lateral flow assays by 2 - 3 orders of magnitude. This system could be applied toward any chemical or bioanalytical procedure that requires a high performance at low-cost.

The knowledge and techniques developed in this effort is relevant to the community of researchers and industry developers looking to deploy inexpensive, quantitative, and highly sensitive diagnostic devices to resource-limited settings.
ContributorsObahiagbon, Uwadiae (Author) / Blain Christen, Jennifer M (Thesis advisor) / Anderson, Karen S (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Smith, Barbara S. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
The action/adventure game Grad School: HGH is the final, extended version of a BME Prototyping class project in which the goal was to produce a zombie-themed game that teaches biomedical engineering concepts. The gameplay provides fast paced, exciting, and mildly addicting rooms that the player must battle and survive through,

The action/adventure game Grad School: HGH is the final, extended version of a BME Prototyping class project in which the goal was to produce a zombie-themed game that teaches biomedical engineering concepts. The gameplay provides fast paced, exciting, and mildly addicting rooms that the player must battle and survive through, followed by an engineering puzzle that must be solved in order to advance to the next room. The objective of this project was to introduce the core concepts of BME to prospective students, rather than attempt to teach an entire BME curriculum. Based on user testing at various phases in the project, we concluded that the gameplay was engaging enough to keep most users' interest through the educational puzzles, and the potential for expanding this project to reach an even greater audience is vast.
ContributorsNitescu, George (Co-author) / Medawar, Alexandre (Co-author) / Spano, Mark (Thesis director) / LaBelle, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Guiang, Kristoffer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
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Description
With the progression of different industries moving away from employing secretaries for business professionals and professors, there exists a void in the area of personal assistance. This problem has existing solutions readily available to replace this service, i.e. secretary or personal assistant, tend to range from expensive and useful to

With the progression of different industries moving away from employing secretaries for business professionals and professors, there exists a void in the area of personal assistance. This problem has existing solutions readily available to replace this service, i.e. secretary or personal assistant, tend to range from expensive and useful to inexpensive and not efficient. This leaves a low cost niche into the market of a virtual office assistant or manager to display messages and to help direct people in obtaining contact information. The development of a low cost solution revolves around the software needed to solve the various problems an accessible and user friendly Virtual Interface in which the owner of the Virtual Office Manager/Assistant can communicate to colleagues who are at standby outside of the owner's office and vice versa. This interface will be allowing the owner to describe the status pertaining to their absence or any other message sent to the interface. For example, the status of the owner's work commute can be described with a simple "Running Late" phrase or a message like "Busy come back in 10 minutes". In addition, any individual with an interest to these entries will have the opportunity to respond back because the device will provide contact information. When idle, the device will show supplemental information such as the owner's calendar and name. The scope of this will be the development and testing of solutions to achieve these goals.
ContributorsOffenberger, Spencer Eliot (Author) / Kozicki, Michael (Thesis director) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12