Publications

Electrospun Direct-write Multi-functional Nanofibers

Jiyoung Chang
Liwei Lin
Albert P. Pisano
2012

Multi-functional fibers by means of direct-write near-field electrospinning process have been developed for versatile applications on a wide variety of substrates, including flexible ones. Several mask-less lithographoy techniques have been established by using the direct- write fibers in dry etching, wet etching and lift-off processes. By selecting the proper functional materials, electrospun direct-write fibers have been demonstrated in prototype working devices, such as large array piezoelectric nanogenerators made of polymeric PVDF (Polyvinylidene fluoride) and direct-write micro...

Polymer Microfluidic Device for High-throughput Single-cell Encapsulation, Lysis, and Biological Assay

Timothy Brackbill
Albert P. Pisano
Liwei Lin
Amy Herr
2012

Single cell analysis is the present and future of biological research. It’s becoming clear that sub-populations of cells within a larger group can often be the culprit for diseases or malfunctions. In this work we aim to provide a tool that allows biological researchers to better analyze single cells within cell populations by removing the barrier to observing analytes contained within the cell’s membrane. By providing physical access to the intracellular compounds in a single cell, we can analyze individual cells for levels of analytes that were previously only available through...

MEMS Materials and Temperature Sensors for Down Hole Geothermal System Monitoring

Sarah Wodin-Schwartz
Albert P. Pisano
Liwei Lin
2013

The advancement of renewable energy technologies is critical due to the unsustainable nature of currently used energy sources and the need to meet increasing energy demands. A broad and diverse energy plan is important for long term energy independence and stability. Geothermal energy sources including hydrothermal systems and enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) should play a key role in this energy plan. Geothermal energy is the most reliable, currently developed, schedulable alternative energy source. It is estimated that improvements in these systems have the potential to...

Nanomaterials Processing Toward Large-scale Flexible/Stretchable Electronics

Toshitake Takahashi
Ali Javey
Tsu-Jae King Liu
Liwei Lin
2013

In recent years, there has been tremendous progress in large-scale mechanically flexible electronics, where electrical components are fabricated on non-crystalline substrates such as plastics and glass. These devices are currently serving as the basis for various applications such as flat-panel displays, smart cards, and wearable electronics.

In this thesis, a promising approach using chemically synthesized nanomaterials is explored to overcome various obstacles current technology faces in this field. Here, we use chemically synthesized semiconducting nanowires (...

Microfluidic Modules for Enabling Point-of-Care Biopsy-based Cancer Diagnostics

Debkishore Mitra
Luke P. Lee
Shuvo Roy
Lee W. Riley
2013

The analyses of patient tumor biopsy samples and biopsy-based diagnostics have emerged as important tools for cancer diagnostics. However, the techniques employed currently are restricted to centralized laboratories as they are time-consuming, manual labor intensive and vary considerably in their effectiveness amongst institutions and countries. Point of Care testing (POCT) for cancer with the capacity for multiplexed detection of numerous biomarkers in biopsy samples in a rapid, precise and portable manner is emerging as an area with enormous potential to disseminate universal...

Copper Oxide by Thermal Oxidation for Electrochemical Cells and Gas Sensors

Kevin Limkrailassiri
Liwei Lin
Costas Grigoropoulos
Roya Maboudian
2013

Advances in electrolytic and gas sensing technologies continue to be driven by careful selection and engineering of materials. Copper oxides—both cuprous oxide, Cu2O, and cupric oxide, CuO—are abundant, environmentally friendly, and highly versatile. An attractive feature unique to both copper oxides is the ease of synthesis through a one-step thermal oxidation of copper foil in ambient environment, yielding various oxide compositions and morphologies according to the oxidation temperature and time. There are many possible applications for the copper oxide...

Harsh Environment Silicon Carbide UV Sensor and Junction Field-Effect Transistor

Wei-Cheng Lien
Albert P. Pisano
Tsu-Jae King Liu
Elad Alon
2013

A harsh environment can be defined by one or more of the following: High temperature, high shock, high radiation, erosive flow, and corrosive media. Among all the harsh environment applications, high temperature applications have drawn lots of attention due to the emerging activity in automotive, turbine engine, space exploration and deep-well drilling telemetry. Silicon carbide has become the candidate for these harsh environment applications because of its wide bandgap, excellent chemical and thermal stability, and high breakdown electric field strength. This dissertation details...

High-Resolution μECoG: Design, Fabrication, and Applications

Peter Ledochowitsch
Michel M. Maharbiz
Jose M. Carmena
Robert T. Knight
Christoph E. Schreiner
2013

Since the early 1950s, electrocorticography (ECoG), the measurement of electrical po- tentials on the surface of the brain has become an invaluable tool in neurosurgery for the localization of epileptic foci before resection. The ECoG electrodes used in clinical practice are made in an archaic serial process that involves hand-soldering wires to a stiff, coarse grid of electrodes with a spatial resolution >1 cm, and a tangle of transcranial wires. In this thesis we report a modern microfabrication process based on photolithographic pat- terning of...

Aluminum Nitride Sensors for Harsh Environments

Fabian Goericke
Albert P. Pisano
Tsu-Jae King Liu
Liwei Lin
2013

Harsh environment applications include high temperature, pressure and mechanical shock. Aluminum nitride is a strong ceramic material with very good high temperature survivability. It also has piezoelectric properties that can be used for sensing applications and it can be deposited with good control as thin polycrystalline film for the fabrication of micro-electromechanical systems. In this dissertation, optimized deposition parameters for aluminum nitride films and characterization techniques for film stress gradients are investigated. Furthermore, two diff...

Microfluidic Reactors for the Controlled Synthesis of Nanoparticles

E. Yegan Erdem
Albert P. Pisano
Fiona M. Doyle
Liwei Lin
Tsu-Jae King Liu
2013

Nanoparticles have attracted a lot of attention in the past few decades due to their unique, size-dependent properties. In order to use these nanoparticles in devices or sensors effectively, it is important to maintain uniform properties throughout the system; therefore nanoparticles need to have uniform sizes – or monodisperse. In order to achieve monodispersity, an extreme control over the reaction conditions is required during their synthesis. These reaction conditions such as temperature, concentration of reagents, residence times, etc. affect the...