Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Techniques of fabrication'

ITC/USA 2014 Conference Proceedings / The Fiftieth Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 20-23, 2014 / Town and Country Resort & Convention Center, San Diego, CA
This paper addresses the future military munitions' system requirements for antennas in terms of the existing versus new fabrication technology. The antenna requirements of the future smart munitions will be GPS for precision guidance and TM for system performance testing. The environmental requirements remain the same; large temperature operating range with operation at high temperatures and high shock capable. As usual, the munitions are getting smaller, frequency bandwidth is getting larger, and the cost of the antennas must be minimized in production quantities. In particular this paper compares the existing antenna fabrication technology of Teflon based dielectric printed circuits versus multilayer alumina in the green state, a technology that has been perfected for fabricating microwave integrated circuits (MIC's). The trade-offs that will be addressed are temperature, shock, cost, tunability, loss, size, dielectric constant, and frequency bandwidth. There has been a significant effort to miniaturize the GPS and TM antenna using higher dielectric constant materials. The most popular direction of this effort has been to use ceramic impregnated Teflon. The ultimate temperature performance is the material with a dielectric constant around 2 since this material exhibits a very low coefficient of change with temperature. Materials are available with nominal dielectric constants of 6 and 10 to reduce the size of the antenna but the coefficient of change with temperature is very large and leaves these materials marginal for military temperature ranges. There have also been two other problems with Teflon based printed circuit boards, forming and bonding the boards in a 3D shape and homogeneity of the dielectric constant in the board and after bonding. These problems usually make tuning a requirement and drive the cost of antenna fabrication up. There has been a revolution in MIC's. The circuits are now being made with multiple layers of ceramic (alumina) with interlayer conductive connections and a nominal dielectric constant of 10. The layers are formed in the green state and fired at high temperature and the resulting alumina substrate has a very low coefficient of change with temperature and low loss. Since this procedure is now beyond development, the cost is low and the volume capability is high. Another significant point is that the part can be any shape since the substrate is done in the green state (formable) and then fired.

A saccharide sensor was fabricated using an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure structure and a boronic-acid containing receptor. Parallel to this, photoelectrochemical (PEC) etching of Gallium Nitride (GaN) was employed both as a nanostructuring technique and as a method of rapid dislocation density enumeration. The device fabrication techniques necessary for the development of devices based on n-type GaN and its alloys were successfully implemented. A robust photolithographic mask capable of producing a variety of transistor and sensor structures was designed and fabricated. Surface Charge Lithography (SCL) was studied and implemented as a technique for the nanostructuring of n-type GaN. In contrast to previous work (where patterns with feature sizes down to 100nm were created¹), several shortcomings of the technique were noted and subsequently investigated: a failure to achieve the intended minimum feature size; elongation of features in the direction of FIB instrument rastering; and the loss of thin features perpendicular to the rastering direction. A pattern design scheme to overcome these shortcomings was proposed along with experimental improvements expected to alleviate such issues. A novel receptor molecule employing a phenylboronic acid (BAT) was synthesised and used to functionalise an AlGaN/GaN FET device, thereby creating an electronic saccharide sensor device. The response of the sensor to a panel of saccharides (fructose, galactose and glucose) was investigated, with the order of response confirming previous findings (decreasing from fructose to galactose to glucose). The device was found to have good stability prior to failure, indicating that this type of sensor device shows a great deal of potential for wider use. PEC etching was used as a technique for determining the dislocation density in two distinct GaN on sapphire structures with thick AlN buffer layers. The SRI sample (100nm of GaN with 500nm of AlN) had a dislocation density of 1.9±O.2xl0⁹cm-², while the SH2 sample (500nm of GaN with lOOnm of AIN) had approximately twice this density, at 3.8±O.2xl0⁹cm-². The differences are thought to primarily arise from the difference in AlN thickness.

Marezzo scagliola is a type of artificial marble made by pulling pigmented skeins of raw silk through a wet mixture of pigmented plaster. This material was a popular architectural material used in prominent public building throughout the United States at the turn of the nineteenth century. Most of the marezzo scagliola found in American buildings today is near or more than 100 years old. While it is by nature a very durable material, the negative effects of temperature, moisture and building evolution have all but destroyed some examples of marezzo scagliola. Unfortunately, the original craft techniques used to fabricate marezzo scagliola were never well documented. Recipes and techniques were usually passed down from father to son or were closely coveted by artisans seeking to hold a monopoly in the market. In the last 20 years, a very small number of conservators working to restore all types of scagliola have begun to document the history of scagliola as well as the techniques used in repair and replication. This thesis will expand upon the small amount of information available by documenting in detail the process used to both fabricate and repair marezzo scagliola.
Department of Architecture

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2010.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 50).
This research focuses on the feasibility of using micromilling as a process for fabricating the flexural body of mesoscale nanopositioners. A desire to fabricate non-silicon microflexures for more favorable material properties and flexural responses has led MIT's Precision Compliant Systems lab to investigate the use of various metals in the design of mesoscale six-axis HexFlex nanopositioners. Micromilling is being sought as an alternative method of manufacturing HexFlex flexural bodies due to its inherent process and material flexibility. Cutting forces were approximated (and verified using FEM and previously-measured results) in order to select cutting parameters that would avoid tool failure and ensure workpiece integrity. Several HexFlex devices were successfully micromilled from various aluminum alloys. Total machining time, including setup and tool changes, was around 1.5 hours per part. The integrity of each part was verified using optical microscopy and white-light interferometry to inspect for any microcracks or otherwise unfavorable by-products of the milling process. Ultimately, it was shown that micromilling is a feasible process for manufacturing low-volume to-spec mesoscale nanopositioners (±3 [mu]m) with surface roughnesses of less than 0.300 [mu]m. Process improvements are suggested based on observations before and during the machining process.
by Joshua B. Gafford.
S.B.

The discovery of large, room temperature magnetoresistance (MR) in magnetic tunnel junctions in 1995 sparked great interest in these devices. Their potential applications include hard disk read head sensors and magnetic random access memory (MRAM). However, the fabrication of repeatable, high quality magnetic tunnel junctions is still problematic. This thesis investigates methods to improve and quantify the quality of tunnel junction fabrication. Superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) and superconductor-insulator ferromagnet(SIF) tunnel junctions were used to develop the fabrication route, due to the ease of identifying their faults. The effect on SIF device quality of interchanging the top and bottom electrodes was monitored. The relationship between the superconducting and normal state characteristics of SIS junctions was investigated. Criteria were formulated to identify devices in which tunneling is not the principal conduction mechanism innormal metal-insulator-normal metal junctions. Magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) were produced on the basis of the fabrication route developed with SIS and SIF devices. MTJs in which tunneling is the principal conduction mechanism do not necessarily demonstrate high MR, due to effects such as magnetic coupling between the electrodes and spin scattering. Transmission electron microscope images were used to study magnetic tunnel junction structure, revealing an amorphous barrier and crystalline electrodes. The decoration of pinholes and weak-links by copper electrodeposition was investigated. A new technique is presented to identify the number of copper deposits present in a thin insulating film. The effect of roughness, aluminium thickness and voltage on the number of pinholes and weak-links per unit area was studied. High frequency testing of read heads at wafer level was performed with a network analyser. Design implications for read head geometry were investigated, independent of magnetic performance. This technique has great potential to aid the rapid development of read and write heads whilst improving understanding of the system.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Kentucky, 2005.
Title from document title page (viewed on November 9, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 85 p. : ill. Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-84).

Patterns are a collection of forming units predictably repeated over a defined magnitude. Researchers have used patterns to guarantee the functionality and repeatability of their study. For that, the obtained data is purposely compared over and over in hope that the results are comparable. Two main research approaches are based on patterns: The initial requires a single substrate with localized and repeated units to create multiple testing sites, obtaining a repeated, multi-analysis system. The second approach uses fixed localization with different testing motifs, creating a diverse multi-analysis platform. The miniaturization of these assays provides an alternative to reduce cost, maximize efficiency, and increase repeatability. Micropatterns consist on immobilized (bio)molecular motifs constrained in small areas over a solid substrate. These fixed spots provide up to thousands of reaction sites for parallel detection. Micropatterns were first developed to study the interaction between Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) strands and the study of the genome. Afterwards, this technology was used to create miniaturized protein patterns. Today, this technology is essential for large-scale and high-throughput biological and biochemical studies. Single-feature microarrays are routinely reproduced at many laboratories using various contact, non-contact, or alternatively methods. The foundation is to transfer a (bio)molecule in a solution onto a solid substrate obtaining a defined feature shape. This Thesis aims to expand the current contact replication techniques for microarray fabrication. Initially, an automatized microcontact printing tool was characterized to create complex patterns on a wide range of substrates. Thiols, silanes, and various biomolecules were printed on glass, silicon oxide or gold. The printing properties were explored to create a definitive protocol for further applications. The effect of the printing force and dwell time were thoroughly studied to form a mathematical expression to understand all the variables involved during contact printing. The miniscule resolution provided by the automatized tool allowed the creation of complex micropatterns with single or multiple printings steps. This tool was later upgraded and fitted with new controllers to create smaller patterns. An alternatively contact printing technique called polymer pen lithography was used to pattern the surface of specialized substrates to create micropatterns on constricted areas. The miniaturized microarrays were later liberated to create functionalized microparticles. These microparticles can be tuned for many biochemical applications, such as protein interaction studies, drug discovery or life science. Lastly, a new contact replication method was established to fabricate DNA arrays. An initial DNA master arrays was fabricated with known contact printing techniques. Then, either hybridized or in situ synthesized strands were transported to an intermediate substrate. A second hybridization or synthesis was used to transport a replica of the master array to a new substrate, maintaining the chemical and spatial information present on the original array.
Un patrón es una colección de unidades formadoras que se repiten predeciblemente en una magnitud definida. Los investigadores han utilizado patrones para garantizar la funcionalidad y repetitividad de sus estudios. Para conseguir eso, los datos obtenidos de los estudios se comparan entre varios resultados, esperando así una correlación. Dos métodos de investigación están basados en patrones: uno requiere un sustrato con unidades repetidas localizadas en un plano cartesiano definido, obteniendo una plataforma de análisis múltiple. El segundo método utiliza localizaciones definidas con diferentes áreas de prueba, creando así una plataforma de multianálisis. La miniaturización de estas pruebas permiten reducir el costo, maximizar la eficiencia e incrementar la repetitividad de los ensayos. Los micropatrones consisten en puntos de (bio)moléculas limitados en pequeñas áreas para crear zonas de reacción múltiples. Esta tecnología fue inicialmente utilizada para crear las interacciones del ADN para estudios genómicos. La técnica evolucionó para crear patrones de proteínas y actualmente se utiliza para estudios bioquímicos a gran escala y de muy alto rendimiento. Patrones de una (bio)molécula repetida a través del sustrato son fabricados rutinariamente en muchos laboratorios utilizando técnicas de impresión por contacto, por inyección u otro métodos. El cimiento de estas técnicas es transferir una (bio)molécula de una solución a un sustrato. Esta Tesis pretende expandir los métodos de creación de micropatrones por técnicas de impresión por contacto. Inicialmente se caracterizó una máquina automatizada de impresión por microcontacto para crear patrones y estudiar las variables que afectan al momento de la impresión. Se correlacionaron la presión y el tiempo de impresión para entender la morfología del patrón resultante. Igualmente se caracterizó el posicionamiento micrométrico de los patrones para crear estructuras complejas. Posteriormente, la máquina se modificó para incluir la técnica de impresión con plumas poliméricas. Esta técnica permitió crear micropatrones en superficies minúsculas. Estos micropatrones fueron luego liberados para crear micropartículas que pueden ser personalizadas para aplicaciones diversas. Finalmente, se formuló una nueva técnica de replicación de patrones de ADN desde un patrón inicial, manteniendo la información química y espacial presente en éste.

The development of micro and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS) with entirely new or improved functionalities is typically based on novel or improved designs, materials and fabrication methods. However, today’s micro- and nano-fabrication is restrained by manufacturing paradigms that have been established by the integrated circuit (IC) industry over the past few decades. The exclusive use of IC manufacturing technologies leads to limited material choices, limited design flexibility and consequently to sub-optimal MEMS and NEMS devices. The work presented in this thesis breaks new ground with a multitude of novel approaches for the integration of non-standard materials that enable the fabrication of 3D micro and nanoelectromechanical systems. The objective of this thesis is to highlight methods that make use of non-standard materials with superior characteristics or methods that use standard materials and fabrication techniques in a novel context. The overall goal is to propose suitable and cost-efficient fabrication and integration methods, which can easily be made available to the industry. The first part of the thesis deals with the integration of bulk wire materials. A novel approach for the integration of at least partly ferromagnetic bulk wire materials has been implemented for the fabrication of high aspect ratio through silicon vias. Standard wire bonding technology, a very mature back-end technology, has been adapted for yet another through silicon via fabrication method and applications including liquid and vacuum packaging as well as microactuators based on shape memory alloy wires. As this thesis reveals, wire bonding, as a versatile and highly efficient technology, can be utilized for applications far beyond traditional interconnections in electronics packaging. The second part presents two approaches for the 3D heterogeneous integration based on layer transfer. Highly efficient monocrystalline silicon/ germanium is integrated on wafer-level for the fabrication of uncooled thermal image sensors and monolayer-graphene is integrated on chip-level for the use in diaphragm-based pressure sensors. The last part introduces a novel additive fabrication method for layer-bylayer printing of 3D silicon micro- and nano-structures. This method combines existing technologies, including focused ion beam implantation and chemical vapor deposition of silicon, in order to establish a high-resolution fabrication process that is related to popular 3D printing techniques.

QC 20121207

This thesis presents a range of advances in the fabrication of femtosecond laser textured and hyperdoped silicon, a material platform with potential applications in photovoltaics, photodetectors, light-emitting diodes, lasers, and potentially other optoelectronic devices. After providing background and a review of the state of hyperdoped black silicon research in Chapter 1, we explore a range of fabrication approaches in Chapter 2, including laser texturing near and below the melting threshold of silicon, laser texturing and hyperdoping using scanned pulses, fabrication with thin films, control of the dopant concentration on textured substrates, and removal of surface material using chemical etching. In Chapter 3, we review the material microstructure of hyperdoped black silicon, including the morphology, the presence and origin of high-pressure material phases, and the incorporation of dopants from thin films. In Chapter 4, we explore the use of laser annealing to increase the crystallinity of hyperdoped black silicon, addressing a longstanding challenge in the field. We show that nanosecond laser annealing can be used on a wide variety of textures— from at least 10 micrometers in size to sub-micrometer in size—to produce high crystallinity and high optical absorptance simultaneously. Furthermore, we see that nanosecond laser annealing can reactivate the sub-bandgap absorptance after it has been deactivated by thermal annealing. We close Chapter 4 by exploring the use of fs laser pulses to anneal hyperdoped black silicon. Finally, in Chapter 5, we discuss advances in the thesis, outstanding challenges in the research field, and an outlook for applications.
Engineering and Applied Sciences - Applied Physics

Thesis (MTech (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2005
This dissertation is the reading and display ofDICOM medical images (Digital Imaging and Communication in Medicine) and production ofmodel artifacts of anatomical organs using Rapid Prototyping An algorithm to read these DICOM medical images was developed. It also displays pixel information ofthe image. When the DICOM image has been read and displayed, the information required to produce the anatomical artifact is extracted. These 2D slice images, MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and CT Scan (Computer Tomography) images are written to 3D file in SLC (Slice files) and STL (Stereolithography File Format) format. A 3D softcopy ofthe anatomical structure is created. At this stage, the clinician or surgeon can make any changes or require additional information to be added to the anatomical structure. With the 3D model available in STL format, a physical artifact is produced using Rapid Prototyping. The external edge ofthe anatomical structure can be produced using Rapid Prototyping as well as the outer rim with the internal structures. To produce the external surface ofthe structure, an outer rim edge detection algorithm has been developed. This will only extract the external surface ofthe structure. In addition to the softcopy ofthe structure, multiple organs can be displayed on the same image and this will give a representation ofthe interaction ofneighboring organs and structures. This is useful as both the normal anatomy as well as the infiltration ofthe abnormal pathology can be viewed simultaneously. One of the major limitations ofdisplaying the information in a 3D image is that the files are very large. Since 3D STL files use triangles to display the outer surface ofa structure, a method to reduce the file size and still keep the image information was developed. The triangle reduction method is a method to display the 3D information and to decrease the STL file size depending on the complexity ofthe outer surface ofthe structure. To ensure that the anatomical model s represented as in the DlCOM files, an Interpolation Algorithm was developed to reconstruct the outer ofthe model from 2D MRI or CT-Scan images. A word about computer models: Some of the programs and presentations are based on the real world. They model the real world and anatomical structures. It is very important to note that the models are created with software. Obviously a model is useful if it resembles reality closely, but it is only a prediction about the model itself. Models are useful because they help to explain why certain things happen and how interaction takes place. Models provide suggestions for how structures might look. Computer models provide answers very quickly. These are computer models representing the real structure. (Czes Kosniowski, 1983)

In recent years rapid prototyping technology has been implemented in many spheres of industry, particularly the field of product development. Existing process provide the capability to rapidly produce a tangible solid part, directly from three dimensional CAD data, from a range of nonmetallic materials. In many situations the desired end product of a development cycle is a metallic object, whether a component or a tool. The development of a system capable of the direct manufacture of fully dense, metal parts is therefore seen as an important landmark in the evolution of rapid prototyping technology. A unique experimental project has been carried out to investigate the potential of laser surface cladding by pneumatic powder delivery to form the basis for such a process. A layered manufacturing part building strategy is proposed, in which laser cladding is used to deposit the near net shape of each layer. Conventional machining techniques are then used to trim each layer to the exact dimensions specified by the CAD data. A multi-kilowatt carbon dioxide laser was integrated with a four axis machine tool to create an opto-mechanical workstation on which to perform the process. A detailed study of the effects of cladding process parameters on the geometry of the deposited metal was carried out and quantitative relationships derived. These relationships are used to select process parameters appropriate to the geometry of the deposition required. A numerical method to fully describe the deposited clad geometry was developed in order that efficient cutter paths could be generated for the back machining cycle. These relationships are also used to determine the minimum size of deposited bead from which the required layer section may be machined, in order to optimise process efficiency. The application of the technique to the generation of a variety of simple geometries was investigated and the potential problems identified. A preliminary investigation into the process accuracy is made, relating specifically to the predictability of the geometry of multiple layer depositions and the distortion of parts as subsequent layers are deposited. The limits of geometrical complexity possible with the current apparatus, and the unsatisfactory build times involved, suggest that the most attractive application of this technique is as part of a hybrid process, adding a novel additive dimension to existing automated fabrication techniques.

Thesis (m.s.)--University of Kentucky, 2004.
Title from document title page (viewed Jan. 5, 2005). Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 77p. : ill. Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-76).

Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2012.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 78).
This thesis aims to bring the handicraft of knitting into the realm of architecture as a low-tech means of fabrication in a world of high-tech design. This thesis attempts to break knitting down into its most essential components and use these to build a catalog of basic forms which can be generated through knitting. These basic forms will act as building blocks which can be combined to generate more complex geometries. It will be seen that virtually any form can be generated using knitting as a means of production. Furthermore, this thesis will explore the idea of composites in knitting. It contains a catalog of traditional knitting augmented by structural additives, and it speculates as to the repercussions of adding performative elements into the working fiber. Finally, this thesis addresses the approachability of knitting by exploring crowd-sourcing. It postulates that using knitting as a means of fabrication will allow people to actively intervene in their communities, giving them a way to construct solutions to problems in their own neighborhoods.
by Kimberly I. Mennel.
S.B.

Nanostrukturierte Materialien zeichnen sich dadurch aus, dass sie aus sehr kleinen Baueinheiten zusammengesetzt sind. Typischerweise liegt die Grössenordnung dieser Bausteine im Bereich von einigen Nanometern. Ein Nanometer entspricht 10-9 Meter. Dadurch bekommen nanostrukturierte Materialien oft verbesserte, vielfach sogar ganz neue Eigenschaften, die für viele heutige wie auch zukünftige Anwendungen von Vorteil sind.

Ein Weg, um solche nanostrukturierte Materialien herzustellen, ist die sogenannte „Templatierungsmethode“. Das Templat besteht aus einem einzelnen Molekül, einer Ansammlung von Molekülen oder aus einem festen Objekt. Beim Aufbau des nanostrukturierten Materials wirkt das Templat als Schablone oder als Gussform und beeinflusst damit die Struktur des Endproduktes. Normalerweise besteht dieser Prozess aus mehreren Schritten. Zuerst wird der Raum um das Templat mit dem Ausgangsstoff umhüllt oder ausgefüllt, dann wird der Ausgangsstoff chemisch in das gewünschte Endprodukt umgewandelt, wobei das Templat die Endform kontrolliert und am Schluss wird das Templat entfernt. Das geschieht meistens durch Erhitzen. Als Ausgangsstoff können dabei einzelne Moleküle verwendet werden, die sich leicht in das Endprodukt umwandeln lassen, oder aber vorgeformte Partikelchen, die nur noch zur entsprechenden Form angeordnet werden müssen.

In dieser Arbeit wurden poröse Metalloxid-Kügelchen hergestellt, die aus einem Gemisch aus Titanoxid und entweder Aluminium-, Gallium- oder Indiumoxid bestehen. Als Template wurden poröse Kunststoffkügelchen eingesetzt, die man sonst für Chromatographiezwecke braucht. Bei der Synthese wurden die Poren der Kunststoffkügelchen mit dem Ausgangsmaterial gefüllt und mit Wasser in ein amorphes Netzwerk umgewandelt. Danach werden die Kügelchen erhitzt, wobei das Kunststofftemplat zersetzt wird. Gleichzeitig wird das amorphe Gerüst in stabile, kristalline Wände umgewandelt, die die Form der Kügelchen auch dann noch behalten, wenn das Templat verschwunden ist. Mit einem ähnlichen Prozess wurden auch Kügelchen aus Cer-Zirkonoxid erhalten. Als Ausgangsstoff wurden dabei aber vorgeformte Cer-Zirkonoxid-Nanopartikel eingesetzt, die in die Poren der Kunststofftemplatkügelchen hinein diffundieren. Diese Cer-Zirkonoxid-Nanopartikel lassen sich auch für die Herstellung von porösen Pulvern verwenden, wobei dann nicht Polymerkügelchen, sondern hochgeordnete Ansammlungen von Block Copolymeren als Template verwendet werden.

Form, Struktur und Eigenschaften all dieser Materialien wurden systematisch unter Anwendung verschiedenster Analysemethoden untersucht. Die auf Titanoxid-basierten Kügelchen wurden auch auf ihre photokatalytische Verwendung zum Abbau von umweltschädlichem 2-Chlorophenol untersucht. Die Cer-Zirkonoxid-Kügelchen wurden für die Herstellung von Wasserstoff aus Methanol getestet. Wasserstoff gilt als hoffungsvoller, sauberer Energieträger der Zukunft und kommt in Brennstoffzellen zum Einsatz.
Nanostructured materials are the materials having structural features on the scale of nanometers i.e. 10-9 m. the structural features can enhance the natural properties of the materials or induce additional properties, which are useful for day to technology as well as the future technologies

One way to synthesize nanostructured materials is using templating techniques. The templating process involves use of a certain “mould” or “scaffold” to generate the structure. The mould is called as the template, can be a single molecule or assembly of molecule or a larger object, which has its own structure. The product material can be obtained by filling the space around the template with a “precursor”, transformation of precursor into the desired material and then removal of template to get product. The precursor can be any chemical moiety that can be easily transformed in to the desired material. Alternatively the desired material is processed into very tiny bricks or “nano building blocks (NBB)” and the product is obtained by arrangement of the NBB by using a scaffold.

We synthesized porous metal oxide spheres of namely TiO2-M2O3: titanium dioxide- M-oxide (M = aluminum, gallium and indium) TiO2-M2O3 and cerium oxide-zirconium oxide solid solution. We used porous polymeric beads as templates. These beads used for chromatographic purposes. For the synthesis of TiO2-M2O3 we used metal- alkoxides as precursor. The pore of beads were filled with precursor and then reacted with water to give transformation of the precursor to amorphous oxide network. The network is crystallized and template is removed by heat treatment at high temperatures. In a similar way we obtained porous spheres of CexZr1-xO2. For this we synthesized nanoparticle of CexZr1-xO2 and used then for the templating process to obtain porous CexZr1-xO2 spheres.

Additionally, using the same nanoparticles we synthesized nano-porous powder using self-assembly process between a block-copolymers scaffold and nanoparticles.

Morphological and physico-chemical properties of these materials were studies systematically by using various analytical techniques

TiO2-M2O3 material were tested for photocatalytic degradation of 2-Chlorophenol a poisonous pollutant. While CexZr1-xO2 spheres were tested for methanol steam reforming reaction to generate hydrogen, which is a fuel for future generation power sources like fuel cells. All the materials showed good catalytic performance.

This work presents an investigation into the production of components for in-situ oceanographic nutrient sensors. These devices are based on a micro fluidic chip platform, taking the lab-on-a-chip (LOC) system concept out of the laboratory and into a real world environment. The systems are designed to provide data on nutrient concentrations in the ocean and as such are built from robust low cost materials designed for deployments from 24 hours to 3 months. This report focuses on the challenges faced in designing a micro fluidic system for these harsh deployment situations including a study of the relevant literature to indicate short falls in current technologies. The aim of this work was to develop the next generation of micro fluidic chip based nutrient sensors. A novel solvent vapour bonding technique has been developed for the production of polymer based micro fluidic chips which produces robust chips while simultaneously reducing the surface roughness of the substrates during bonding. This has allowed micromilling of polymer substrates to quickly and easily develop new chip designs with optical quality features. The surface reduction technology has enabled development of a method to integrate absorbance cells into tinted PMMA devices which is also discussed. Integration of polymer membranes to produce valve and pump structures is discussed and a novel bonding technique for chemically robust Viton R membranes is demonstrated. The final chapter includes a discussion on system topologies, concentrating on the need for high resolution sampling and the implications on system design that arise. A novel multiplexed stop ow system is demonstrated. Questions about the role of traditional micro fluidic components, such as mixers, in high-throughput low temporal response system designs are discussed and a micro fluidic mixer suitable for some of these systems demonstrated.

L’excellente mobilité du graphène en fait un matériau de choix pour les applications radiofréquence. Cependant, cette mobilité est limitée expérimentalement par les défauts structuraux et environnants introduits par la croissance du matériau sur substrat métallique, la méthode de transfert sur un support hôte, l’interaction du graphène avec le substrat hôte sur lequel il est transféré et par les procédés de fabrication des composants. Cette thèse, cofinancée par la Région Hauts-de-France, a pour objectif de remédier à ces problèmes afin de rendre le graphène pratiquement insensible à son environnement. Elle est constituée de deux grandes parties : (i) Le transfert par exfoliation électrochimique (transfert humide) des monocristaux de graphène millimétriques (~5mm) synthétisés par CVD ainsi que leur caractérisation physique et électrique ; cette étude est réalisée dans le cadre d’un programme d’échange entre l’IEMN et l’Université d’Irvine en Californie (Programme PUF-Partner University Funding-portant sur le développement de l’électronique flexible). (ii) La fabrication et la caractérisation d’hétérostructures hBN/Graphène/hBN par transfert sec de matériaux exfoliés. Bien que la méthode CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) ait permis récemment l’obtention de larges monocristaux de graphène ayant une très haute qualité sur cuivre ; le transfert vers un substrat SiO2 introduit généralement des défauts et des contaminations dans le graphène résultant en des dispositifs de basses performances. Une première partie du travail mené dans cette thèse a permis de développer et mettre au point au sein du laboratoire un système de transfert fiable du graphène CVD. La méthode utilisée est basée sur une approche d’exfoliation électrochimique exploitant l’effet des bulles générées à l’interface graphène/Cu. L’optimisation de cette approche nous a permis de transférer des cristaux de graphène en préservant leur qualité. Enfin, la caractérisation électrique de dispositifs fabriqués sur des cristaux de graphène a permis d’obtenir une résistance de contact relativement basse attestant de la bonne qualité du graphène transféré. Afin de limiter l’interaction du graphène avec son environnement et ainsi préserver sa haute mobilité, l’encapsulation par du nitrure de bore hexagonale hBN permet de satisfaire ce besoin. La croissance de grandes surfaces du hBN étant toujours un grand défi scientifique, l’exfoliation mécanique est une approche de synthèse nécessaire pour la réalisation de ces héterotructures de type Van der Waals. La seconde partie du travail mené dans cette thèse a permis de développer (de la conception à la réalisation) et de mettre en place au sein du laboratoire une plateforme de nano manipulation « Stamping Set-up » dédiée à l’empilement des matériaux 2D ainsi que le développement d’un procédé d’encapsulation du graphène par transfert sec. Différents échantillons ont été fabriqués avec succès en utilisant du graphène monocouche et bicouche. Les caractérisations morphologiques et structurelles ont permis de montrer que le graphène après encapsulation présente de très faibles valeurs de dopage et de variations de contraintes à l’échelle nanométrique. Ce qui promet des valeurs de mobilité élevées. Ces travaux fournissent une voie vers l’obtention de graphène de grande qualité qui constitue une brique essentielle pour le développement de dispositifs électroniques à base d’hétérostructures de matériaux 2D
The high theoretical mobility of graphene makes it an excellent material for radio frequency applications. However, this mobility is limited by structural defects introduced by material growth techniques, the transfer method from metallic substrates to hosting semiconductor substrates, the fabrication processes of devices as well as the interaction of graphene with hosting substrate. This thesis aims to address these issues in order to make graphene practically insensitive to its environment. There are mainly two parts involved in this work: (i) Transfer by electrochemical exfoliation (wet transfer) of millimetre size single domains of graphene (~ 5mm) synthesized by CVD as well as their physical and electrical characterization; this study is part of an exchange program between the IEMN and the University of Irvine-California (PUF-Partner University Funding Program-on the development of flexible electronics). (ii) Fabrication and characterization of hBN/Graphene/hBN heterostructures by dry transfer of exfoliated materials. Although the CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) method made it possible to obtain large single crystals of graphene on copper; the mandatory transfer to SiO2 substrate generally introduces defects and contaminations in graphene resulting in low performance devices. A reliable transfer system for CVD graphene is developed and optimized for cleanroom use. The method used is based on an electrochemical exfoliation approach known as Bubble transfer. By optimizing this approach, we were able to transfer graphene single domains without structural defects. Finally, the electrical characterization of devices based on the transferred graphene crystal made it possible to obtain a relatively low contact resistance owing to the good quality of the transferred graphene. In order to limit the interaction of graphene with its environment and thus preserve its high mobility, encapsulation with hexagonal boron nitride hBN makes it possible to satisfy this need. The fabrication of these Van der Waals heterostructures is performed using mechanically exfoliated materials because the growth of large areas hBN is still considered a great scientific challenge. An experimental nano-manipulation platform “Stamping set-up” dedicated to the stacking of 2D materials is developed (from design to realization) as well as a process for graphene encapsulation by dry transfer. Different samples have been successfully fabricated using monolayer and bilayer graphene. Morphological and structural characterizations have shown that graphene after encapsulation shows very low doping values and uniform strain at the nanometre scale; which promises high mobility values. This work paves the way towards obtaining high quality graphene which is an important part for the development of electronic devices based on heterostructures of 2D materials

Electrospinning is a technique used to generate scaffolds composed of nano- to micron-sized fibers for use in tissue engineering. This technology possesses several key weaknesses that prevent it from adoption into the clinical treatment regime. One major weakness is the lack of porosity exhibited in most electrospun scaffolds, preventing cellular infiltration and thus hosts tissue integration. Another weakness seen in the field is the inability to physically cut electrospun scaffolds in the frontal plane for subsequent microscopic analysis (current electrospun scaffold analysis is limited to sectioning in the cross-sectional plane). Given this it becomes extremely difficult to associate spatial scaffold dynamics with a specific cellular response. In an effort to address these issues the research presented here will discuss modifications to electrospinning technology, cryosectioning technology, and our understanding of cellular infiltration mechanisms into electrospun scaffolds. Of note, the hypothesis of a potentially significant passive phase of cellular infiltration will be discussed as well as modifications to cell culture protocols aimed at establishing multiple passive infiltration phases during prolonged culture to encourage deep cellular infiltration.

Fabry-Perot optical fibre sensors have been used extensively for measuring a variety of parameters such as strain, temperature, pressure and vibration. Conventional extrinsic fibre Fabry-Perot sensors are associated with problems such as calibration of the gauge length of each individual sensor, their relatively large size compared to the diameter of optical fibre and a manual manufacturing method that leads to poor reproducibility. Therefore, new designs and fabrication techniques for producing fibre Fabry-Perot sensors are required to address the problems of extrinsic fibre Fabry-Perot sensors. This thesis investigates hydrofluoric acid etching and F2-laser micro-machining of optical fibres to produce intrinsic Fabry-Perot cavities. Chemical etching of single mode fused silica fibres produced cavities across the core of the fibres due to preferential etching of the doped-region. Scanning electron microscope, interferometric surface profiler and CCD spectrometer studies showed that the optical quality of the etched cavities was adequate to produce Fabry-Perot interference. Controlled fusion splicing of etched fibres produced intrinsic Fabry-Perot cavities. These sensors were surface-mounted on composite coupons and their response to applied strain was studied using low coherence interferometry. These sensors showed linear and repeatable response with the strain measured by the electrical resistance strain gauges. To carry out F2-laser micro-machining of fused silica and sapphire substrates, a micro-machining station was designed and constructed. This involved the design of illumination optics for 157 nm laser beam delivery, the design and construction of beam delivery chamber, target alignment and monitoring systems. Ablation of fused silica and sapphire disks was carried out to determine ablation parameters suitable for micro-machining high aspect ratio microstructures that have adequate optical quality to produce Fabry-Perot interference. Cavities were micro-machined through the diameter of SMF 28 and SM 800 fibres at different energy densities. CCD interrogation of these intrinsic fibre cavities ablated at an energy density of 25 x 10 4 Jm -2 produced Fabry-Perot interference fringes. The feasibility of micro-machining high aspect ratio cavities at the cleaved end-face of the fused silica fibres and through the diameter of sapphire fibres was demonstrated. A technique based on in-situ laser-induced fluorescence monitoring was developed to determine the alignment of optical fibres and ablation depth during ablation through the fibre diameter. Ablation of cavities through the diameter of fibre Bragg gratings showed that the heat-generated inside the cavity during ablation had no effect on the peak reflection and the integrity of core and cladding of the fibre. Finally, a pH-sensor, a chemical sensor based on multiple cavities ablated in multimode fibres and a feasible design for pressure sensor fabrication based on ablated cavity in a single mode fibre were demonstrated.

Fabry-Perot optical fibre sensors have been used extensively for measuring a variety of parameters such as strain, temperature, pressure and vibration. Conventional extrinsic fibre Fabry-Perot sensors are associated with problems such as calibration of the gauge length of each individual sensor, their relatively large size compared to the diameter of optical fibre and a manual manufacturing method that leads to poor reproducibility. Therefore, new designs and fabrication techniques for producing fibre Fabry-Perot sensors are required to address the problems of extrinsic fibre Fabry-Perot sensors. This thesis investigates hydrofluoric acid etching and F2-laser micro-machining of optical fibres to produce intrinsic Fabry-Perot cavities. Chemical etching of single mode fused silica fibres produced cavities across the core of the fibres due to preferential etching of the doped-region. Scanning electron microscope, interferometric surface profiler and CCD spectrometer studies showed that the optical quality of the etched cavities was adequate to produce Fabry-Perot interference. Controlled fusion splicing of etched fibres produced intrinsic Fabry-Perot cavities. These sensors were surface-mounted on composite coupons and their response to applied strain was studied using low coherence interferometry. These sensors showed linear and repeatable response with the strain measured by the electrical resistance strain gauges. To carry out F2-laser micro-machining of fused silica and sapphire substrates, a micro-machining station was designed and constructed. This involved the design of illumination optics for 157 nm laser beam delivery, the design and construction of beam delivery chamber, target alignment and monitoring systems. Ablation of fused silica and sapphire disks was carried out to determine ablation parameters suitable for micro-machining high aspect ratio microstructures that have adequate optical quality to produce Fabry-Perot interference. Cavities were micro-machined through the diameter of SMF 28 and SM 800 fibres at different energy densities. CCD interrogation of these intrinsic fibre cavities ablated at an energy density of 25 x 10 4 Jm -2 produced Fabry-Perot interference fringes. The feasibility of micro-machining high aspect ratio cavities at the cleaved end-face of the fused silica fibres and through the diameter of sapphire fibres was demonstrated. A technique based on in-situ laser-induced fluorescence monitoring was developed to determine the alignment of optical fibres and ablation depth during ablation through the fibre diameter. Ablation of cavities through the diameter of fibre Bragg gratings showed that the heat-generated inside the cavity during ablation had no effect on the peak reflection and the integrity of core and cladding of the fibre. Finally, a pH-sensor, a chemical sensor based on multiple cavities ablated in multimode fibres and a feasible design for pressure sensor fabrication based on ablated cavity in a single mode fibre were demonstrated.

No
This title provides a comprehensive and authoritative review on recent advancements in the application and use of composite scaffolds in tissue engineering. Chapters focus on specific tissue/organ (mostly on the structure and anatomy), the materials used for treatment, natural composite scaffolds, synthetic composite scaffolds, fabrication techniques, innovative materials and approaches for scaffolds preparation, host response to the scaffolds, challenges and future perspectives, and more. Bringing all the information together in one major reference, the authors systematically review and summarise recent research findings, thus providing an in-depth understanding of scaffold use in different body systems.

Le développement actuel de la micro/nanoélectronique est basé sur une constante réduction des dimensions caractéristiques des structures fabriquées. Ce constant changement d'échelle va être confronté à terme à de nombreux obstacles à la fois physiques (courant de fuite important, effet quantique perturbateur ...) et technologiques (limite de résolution des procédés de fabrication industriels). Pour paliers à ces différents freins, une alternative prometteuse est l'intégration collective d'objets nanométriques dans des architectures électroniques. Dans ce contexte, nous avons tout d'abord développé différents procédés de fabrication collective de structures d'adressage par une technologie alternative haute résolution : la nanoimpression. Ensuite, la manipulation de nano-objets colloïdaux par diélectrophorèse a été étudiée dans le but d'obtenir la localisation d'une unique particule entre deux électrodes métalliques. Les structures ainsi obtenues ont été caractérisées électriquement et ont permis l'observation de blocage et de paliers de Coulomb à basse température.

A novel low-cost microfabrication technique for manufacturing RF MEMS switches and varactors is proposed. The fabrication process entails laser microstructuring and non-clean room micro-lithography standard wet bench techniques. An optimized laser microstructuring technique was employed to fabricate the MEMS component members and masks with readily available materials that include, Aluminum foils, sheets, and copper clad PCB boards. The non-clean room micro-lithography process was optimized to make for the patterning of the MEMS dielectric and bridge support layers, which were derived from deposits of negative-tone photosensitive epoxy-based polymers, SU-8 resins (glycidyl-ether-bisphenol-A novolac) and photoacid activated ADEXTM dry films. The novel microfabrication technique offers comparatively reasonably yields without intensive cleanroom manufacturing techniques and their associated equipment and processing costs. It is an optimized hybrid rapid prototyping manufacturing process that makes for a reduction in build cycles while ensuring good turnarounds. The techniques are characterized by analysing each contributing technology and dependent parameters: laser structuring, lithography and spin coating and thin film emboss. They are developed for planar substrates and can be modified to suit specific work material for optimized outcomes. The optimized laser structuring process offers ablation for pitches as small as 75 μm (track width of 50 μm and gap 25 μm), with a deviation of 3.5 % in the structured vector’s dimensions relative to design. The lithography process also developed for planar and microchannel applications makes for the realization of highly resolved patterned deposits of the SU-8 resin and the laminated ADEXTM polymer from 1 μm to 6 μm and with an accuracy ±0.2 μm. The complete micro-fabrication technique fabrication techniques are demonstrated by realizing test structures consisting of RF MEMS switches and varactors on FR4 substrates. Both MEMS structures and FR4 substrate were integrated by employing the micro-patterned polymers, developed from dry-film ADEXTM and SU-8 deposits, to make for a functional composite assembly. Average fabrication yield up to 60 % was achieved, calculated from ten fabrication attempts. The RF measurement results show that the RF MEMS devices fabricated by using the novel micro-fabrication process have good figure-of-merits, at much lower overall fabrication costs, as compared to the devices fabricated by conventional cleanroom process, enabling it to be used as a very good micro-fabrication process for cost-effective rapid prototyping of MEMS.

MAX-phase ceramics are a class of ductile ceramic material group with the general molecular formula Mn+1AXn (n = 1, 2, 3….), where M is an early transition element, A is an element from the ‘A’ group of the periodic table and X is either nitride or carbide. One advantage of these materials is that they maintain their strength at high temperatures. In addition these ceramic materials possess the best properties of both ceramics and metals. Some of their important characteristics are low density, high stiffness, machinability, excellent thermal and electrical conductivity and they even exhibit some plasticity at elevated temperature. These amazing combinations of properties have made researchers foresee the technological importance of these materials as a structural ceramic for high temperature application. Since this ceramic is relatively new to the market, only a handful of work has been undertaken on this material and its applications are limited to heating elements. In addition, analysis of the thermodynamic data on this material is incomplete. This PhD work addresses this issue and conducts a complete thermodynamic analysis involved in the formation mechanism of the ternary titanium carbide MAX-phase Ti2AlC ceramic, using Self-propagating High temperature Synthesis (SHS) form of combustion synthesis process, based on the following exothermic reaction: (2+x) Ti + (y) Al + C → Ti2AlC + (x) Ti + (y) Al (i) Where x and y = 0.1. 0.2, 0.3… A thermodynamic model has been formulated to predict the temperature evolution during the reaction (i), for the formation of Ti2AlC using SHS process. In addition the effect of particle size in the elemental reaction has been studied on the formation mechanism of Ti2AlC and methods to control the porosity by fine tuning the particle size has been recognized. Manufacturing processes such as Self-propagating High temperature Synthesis (SHS), foam replication and freeze casting have been developed in this thesis to produce micro and macro porous Ti2AlC ceramic mainly for electrode applications. A systematic material development technique to produce macro porous Ti2AlC ceramic, using a foam replication technique has been established in this research work. The material fabricated by this technique has a uniform pore size (up to 5mm), with open interconnected pores and is ideal for a flow battery application which requires a multifunctional electrode material which is highly porous to allow the flow of electrolyte through it, is corrosion resistant and at the same time being electrically conductive. The mechanical properties of the ceramic produced by this method has been characterised and steps to mitigate the cracks and defects formed during the fabrication process to obtain structurally stable macro porous Ti2AlC ceramic has been reported in this work. This research demonstrates that one of the applications of macro porous Ti2AlC ceramic formed using foam replication technique is as an electrode material in a photo-Microbial Fuel Cell (p-MFC). Graded porosity micro porous Ti2AlC ceramics have also been fabricated using a freeze casting technique, with camphene as the freezing vehicle. A systematic material development process has been tailored for this particular material. A ceramic material with gradient pore size ranging from 27-305µm has been fabricated using this technique. This type of ceramic is a good candidate as an electrode material in micro-redox battery and for sensing applications. A variety of processing parameters such as solid loading (amount of ceramic content in the material), freezing temperature and mould material which affect the pore formation and pore size have been studied in this PhD and the range of porosities achieved by controlling these parameters have been reported.

We report on the use of laser direct-write techniques for the fabrication of point-of-care paper-based diagnostic sensors. These include laser-based deposition, laser ablation and laser-induced photo-polymerisation. Firstly, Laser Induced Forward Transfer (LIFT) was employed to deposit biomolecules from a donor film onto paper receivers. Paper was chosen as the ideal receiver because of its inherent properties which make it an efficient and suitable platform for point-of-care diagnostic sensors. Both enzyme-tagged and untagged antibodies were LIFT-printed and their viability was confirmed via a colorimetric enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Secondly, we report on the laser-based structuring of paper-based fluidic devices. Laser-scanning the paper defines the areas that will be polymerised, thus creating barriers that keep the liquid solutions contained. Complicated devices are easy to fabricate and the flexibility of this technique allows for unique patterns, making it appropriate for rapid prototyping but also for large-scale production. Furthermore, the laser patterning technique allows control of the depth or degree of polymerisation, thereby allowing the liquid to wick through but also imposition of flow delays. Finally, the use of lasers for the fabrication of a 'master' which can be used for casting a PDMS mould for applications in micro-contact printing. The combination of the above mentioned techniques represent the platform technology for the rapid, precise and versatile laser-based fabrication of diagnostic point-of-care sensors.

This thesis designed and fabricated various devices that were interfaced to an IC for an active contact lens that notifies the user of an event by detection of an external wireless signal. The contact lens consisted of an embedded antenna providing communication with a 2.4GHz system, as well as inductive charging at an operating frequency of 13.56 MHz. The lens utilized a CBC005 5µAh thin film battery by Cymbet and a manufactured graphene super capacitor as a power source. The custom integrated circuit (IC) was designed using the On Semiconductor CMOS C5 0.6 µm process to manage the battery and drive the display. A transparent, flexible, single cell display was developed utilizing electrochromic ink to indicate to the user of an event. Assembly of the components, encapsulation, and molding were implemented to create the final product. The material properties of the chosen substrate were analyzed for their clearness, flexibility, and biocompatibility to determine its suitability as a contact lens material. Finally, the two different fabrication techniques (microfabrication and screen printing) that were employed to make the devices are compared to determine the favorable process for each part of the system.

In order to rapidly prototype novel devices with nanoscale precision, new fabrication techniques which can provide high resolution and a quick tum-around are increasingly important in research and development. The focused ion beam (FIB) system is one such instrument and provides the user with the ability to both remove and deposit material with sub lOOnm accuracy without the need for a mask or resist. In this work, focused ion beam technology has been assessed as a technique for prototype microelectronic device fabrication in three main areas.

This thesis presents a study of the potential for ion implantation to play a more significant role in the manufacture and fabrication of commercially available multilayer microwave devices. Two different applications for ion implantation in device manufacture are investigated. Firstly, implant isolation as an alternative to wet chemical etching for the planar doped barrier diode, and low and high power versions of the graded gap Gunn diode are attempted. It is demonstrated that the technique is an excellent method of lateral device isolation for the current generation of these devices, having little or no effect on the performance of the planar doped barrier diode, but with significant improvements in across wafer uniformity of device area, and hence, improvements in uniformity of device characteristics. Implant isolation of the graded gap Gunn diode has been met with mixed success. It has been shown that implant isolation has no detrimental effect on the ability of the device to emit microwaves at 77GHz, despite encapsulation of the active regions of the device in ion implanted GaAs. Problems have, however, been encountered with the geometry of the integral heat sink device (high power version), resulting in parasitic capacitance to the extent that the device experiences a shift in output frequency and power. Secondly, doping of GaAs by ion implantation of the dopants magnesium and zinc, for the production of p-type layers relevant to GaAs multilayer microwave device manufacture is studied. Attempts are made to emulate the MBE grown planar doped banier buried p-type spike using ion implantation of magnesium through a n-type contact region, and into a 'n-i-n' MBE grown structure. The result is a working bulk unipolar diode, with barrier height dependent on magnesium implanted energy and dose. A p-type dopant diffusion control experiment is also conducted whereby the depth of the diffusion-controlling phosphorus co-implant is varied to yield different p-type doping profiles. It is demonstrated that using this method it is possible to achieve a p-n junction with a gradually decaying p-type surface region, or an extremely abrupt junction. This technique is then used to produce and study varactor diodes, focusing on their rest capacitances, and their capacitance ratios. SIMS analysis and differential Hall effect measurements are also performed.

This dissertation presents the investigation of several additive manufactured components in RF and THz frequency, as well as the applications of gradient index lens based direction of arrival (DOA) estimation system and broadband electronically beam scanning system. Also, a polymer matrix composite method to achieve artificially controlled effective dielectric properties for 3D printing material is studied. Moreover, the characterization of carbon based nano-materials at microwave and THz frequency, photoconductive antenna array based Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) near field imaging system, and a compressive sensing based microwave imaging system is discussed in this dissertation. First, the design, fabrication and characterization of several 3D printed components in microwave and THz frequency are presented. These components include 3D printed broadband Luneburg lens, 3D printed patch antenna, 3D printed multilayer microstrip line structure with vertical transition, THz all-dielectric EMXT waveguide to planar microstrip transition structure and 3D printed dielectric reflectarrays. Second, the additive manufactured 3D Luneburg Lens is employed for DOA estimation application. Using the special property of a Luneburg lens that every point on the surface of the Lens is the focal point of a plane wave incident from the opposite side, 36 detectors are mounted around the surface of the lens to estimate the direction of arrival (DOA) of a microwave signal. The direction finding results using a correlation algorithm show that the averaged error is smaller than 1º for all 360 degree incident angles. Third, a novel broadband electronic scanning system based on Luneburg lens phased array structure is reported. The radiation elements of the phased array are mounted around the surface of a Luneburg lens. By controlling the phase and amplitude of only a few adjacent elements, electronic beam scanning with various radiation patterns can be easily achieved. Compared to conventional phased array systems, this Luneburg lens based phased array structure has a broadband working frequency and has no scan angle coverage limit. Because of the symmetry of Luneburg lens, no beam shape variation would occur for the entire scanning range. Moreover, this alternative phased array requires much less system complexity to achieve a highly directional beam. This reduction in system complexity allows the electronic scanning system to be built at much lower cost than traditional phased arrays. Fourth, the characterization of carbon based (Graphene and carbon nanotube) thin films on different substrates via Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy are presented in this dissertation. The substrate permittivity is first characterized. The film under test is then treated as a surface boundary condition between the substrate and air. Using the uniform field approximation, the electromagnetic properties of the film can be extracted. To improve accuracy, precise thickness of sample substrate is calculated through an iteration process in both dielectric constant extraction and surface conductivity extraction. Uncertainty analysis of the measured thin film properties is performed. Fifth, a coded transmitter TDS near field imaging system by employing photoconductive antenna (PCA) array is reported. Silicon lens array is used to couple and focus the femto-second laser onto each PCA. By varying the bias state of each PCA element, the ON/OFF state or power level for different PCAs can be controlled independently. The sample object is placed 10m away from the PCA array to measure the THz near field image. A Hadamard matrix is applied to code the 2x2 antenna array to improve the SNR. Measured results clearly indicate an improved SNR compared to individual antenna measurement. In addition, Multiphysics COMSOL and a FDTD algorithm combined with HFSS time domain simulation is used to model the physics of TDS photoconductive antenna and optimize the performance of TDS transmitter and receiver. Good agreement between simulation and experiment is obtained. Finally, a design of a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) based microwave compressive sensing system using reconfigurable array is presented. An iterative beam synthesis process is used to realize the required radiation patterns obtained from PCA. A human body scanning system is studied as an example to investigate the compressive sensing performance using PCA generated radiation patterns. Optical images are used as surrogates for the RF images in implementation of the training PCA dictionary. Compared to random patterns based compressive sensing system, this PCA based compressive sensing system requires fewer numbers of measurements to achieve the same performance.

This work is focused on the design, fabrication and characterization of high performance MEMS-based micro gas chromatography columns having wide range of applications in the pharmaceutical industry, environmental monitoring, petroleum distillation, clinical chemistry, and food processing. The first part of this work describes different approaches to achieve high-performance microfabricated silicon-glass separation columns for micro gas chromatographic (µGC) systems. The capillary width effect on the separation performance has been studied by characterization of 250 µm-, 125 µm-, 50 µm-, and 25 µm-wide single-capillary columns (SCCs) fabricated on a 10à 8 mm2 die. The plate number of 12500/m has been achieved by 25 µm-wide columns coated by a thin layer of polydimethylsiloxane stationary phase using static coating technique. To address the low sample capacity of these narrow columns, this work presents the first generation of MEMS-based â multicapillaryâ columns (MCCs) consisting of a bundle of narrow-width rectangular capillaries working in parallel. The second contribution of this work is the first MEMS-based stationary phase coating technique called monolayer protected gold (MPG) for ultra-narrow single capillary (SCC) and multicapillary (MCC) microfabricated gas chromatography (μGC) columns yielding the highest separation performance reported to date. This new μGC stationary phase has been achieved by electrodepositing a uniform functionalized gold layer with an adjustable thickness (250nm-2µm) in 25μm-wide single columns as well as in four-capillary MCCs. The separation performance, stability, reproducibility and bleeding of the stationary phase have been evaluated over time by separating n-alkanes as non-polar and alcohols as polar gas mixtures.
Master of Science

DE LA TESIS EN CASTELLANO

Antecedentes

Un avance importante en el campo de química analítica se hizo por Clark y Lyons en los años setenta. Ellos propusieron acoplar la especificidad de la enzima glucosa oxidasa con la transducción electroquímica de la señal en "biosensores". En general, los biosensores son artefactos integrados autocontenidos, capazes de proporcionar información analítica, cuantitativa utilizando un elemento biológico de reconocimiento (receptor bioquímico) que se retiene en contacto espacial directo con un elemento de transducción. Posteriormente, los primeros biosensores de glucosa, basados en la detección amperométrica de peróxido de hidrógeno generado por glucosa oxidasa en la presencia de oxígeno fueron introducidos en el mercado por la empresa estadounidense Yellow Spring Instrument Co. (Ohio, EE. UU.) en 1975.
La respuesta de biosensores electroquímicos basados en el uso de oxígeno como cosustrato para oxidasas se ve desviada por la presencia de interferencias que pueden contribuir a la corriente. Por lo tanto la superficie de electrodo debe estar protegida por una membrana no permeable por sustancias que pueden interferir con la señal. Para evitar corrientes que perjudican la selectividad de los biosensores, el potencial aplicado puede ser aminorado usando electrocatalizadores difusionales ("mediadores") en lugar de oxígeno, con un potencial redox controlable. Pero la respuesta de estos sensores también depende de la concentración de oxígeno porque este compite con los mediadores, para la reoxidación de las oxidasas. Un inconveniente adicional del uso de mediadores diffusionales artificiales en biosensores es la baja estabilidad de los mismos debida al escape de mediadores desde la superficie del electrodo cuando esto se usa en linea. Se puede aliviar este problema creando enlaces covalentes entre los mediadores y la superficie del electrodo o usando polímeros redox que se adsorben fućrtemente en la superficie del electrodo.
Una de las posibles maneras para disminuir la influencia del oxígeno a la corriente de la respuesta de biosensores es el uso de las deshidrogenasas dependientes de la pareja redox NAD+/NADH. El potencial estándar redox de esta pareja es -0.56 V vs. SCE pero para conseguir la oxidación de NADH en la superficie de electrodos de carbono un sobrepotencial de +0.5 V vs. SCE debe aplicarse. Bajo estas condiciones los electrodos tienen tiempo de vida corto debido a la adsorción de los productos de oxidación en su superficie ya que la oxidación de NADH no es reversible químicamente. Por otro lado estos electrodos sufren por la oxidación no especifica de interferencias a estos potenciales de operación. Los electrodos modificados químicamente por mediadores pueden oxidar NADH a potenciales más bajos. Sin embargo, muchos de los mediadores mencionados en la bibliografía no son estables o/y no forman NAD+ enzimaticamente activo. Un problema adicional de los sistemas analíticos basados en deshidrogenasas dependientes de NAD+ es la necesidad de añadir este cofactór, que tiene alto coste y es inestable, en las muestras. Se puede inmovilizar NAD+ en la superficie de electrodos para producir biosensores capaces de funcionar en muestras que no contienen NAD+, biosensores reagentless (sin necesidad de adición de reactivos). Los métodos descritos en la bibliografía para la fabricación de biosensores reagentless se basan en cinco estrategias: (1) la inmovilización en hidrogeles formados in situ; (2) la inmovilización por una membrana; (3) la inmovilización en películas preparadas por electropolimerización; (4) la inmovilización en una pasta de carbono; (5) la inmovilización en monocapas auto ensambladas. Sólo los electrodos preparados con la estrategia (4) son biosensores reagentless con estabilidad operacional relativamente alta. Las demás estrategias no resultan en biosensores con suficiente estabilidad operacional por culpa de la perdida del mediador, de NAD+ o de la deshidrogenasa. Sin embargo la estrategia basada en electrodos de pasta de carbono no permite su aplicación a la producción de microsensores (electrodos con diámetro de menos de 10 m) para su uso in vivo.

Metodología

El objetivo principal de esta tesis es el desarrollo de nuevas estrategias para la fabricación de biosensores reagentless basados en deshidrogenasas dependientes de NAD+ con características mejoradas respecto a la densidad de la corriente, de la estabilidad operacional y de almacenamiento.
Para cumplir el objetivo se han sintetizado dos nuevos mediadores para la oxidación de NADH: un polímero insoluble en agua [Os(1,10-fenantrolina-5,6-diona)2(PVP)4Cl]Cl, (Os-fendiona-PVP) y un complejo amfifílico [Os(1,10-fenantrolina-5,6-diona)24,4'-(n-C18H37NHCO)2bpi)](PF6)2 (Os-fendiona-surfactante). El polímero Os-fendiona-PVP fue producido vía la derivatización de poli(vinilpiridina) (peso molecular 50000) con [Os(1,10-fenantrolina-5,6-diona)2Cl2]. El estudio electroquímico de este polímero redox adsorbido en electrodos de grafito se realizó por voltametría cíclica a distintas velocidades de barrido para evaluar el número de protones y electrones que participan en la reacción redox, la influencia del pH a su potencial estándar formal, y la constante de la transferencia heterogénea del electrónes kS. Bajo bien definidas condiciones hidrodinámicas se realizaron estudios para encontrar la constante de la interacción con NADH k[NADH]=0. Os-fendiona-surfactante fue producido por la complejacion de [Os(1,10-fenantrolina-5,6-diona)2]Cl2 con el ligando hidrófobo octadodecilamida del acido 2,2'-Bipiridina-4,4'-dicarboxilico. Las monocapas de Langmuir-Blorgett de Os-fendiona-surfactante y las de su análogo [Os(bpi)24,4'-(n-C18H37NHCO)2bpi)](PF6)2 fueron estudiados en un equipo de Langmuir-Blodgett.
Os-fendiona-surfactante fue aplicado a la construcción de biosensores reagentless del glutamato vía la inmovilización de glucosa deshidrogenasa y de NAD+ entre las bicapas en la fase lamelar formada por Os-fendiona-surfactante y el lípido 1,2-dioleoilo-sn-glicero-3-fosfatidilcolina. Dos métodos adicionales para la fabricación de los biosensores reagentless de glutamato y glucosa basados en deshidrogenasas fueron desarrollados. Los electrodos del grafito fueron modificados con Os-fendiona-PVP y utilizados para (a) la inmovilización de deshidrogenasa y de NAD+ en un hidrogel formado por entercruzamiento de poli(vinilpiridina) modificado por grupos amino con el éter diglicidil de poli(etilenglicol); (b) la inmovilización por adsorción de la deshidrogenasa y del ácido algínico modificado por NAD+. Se ha hecho un estudio de los biosensores reagentless para calcular sus constantes de Michaelis, el efecto del pH y de la temperatura en su respuesta y su estabilidad operacional. Además se ha comparado la estabilidad operacional a temperaturas elevadas de biosensores de la configuración (a) usando glutamato, glucosa y glucosa-6-fosfato deshidrogenasas termófilas y mesófilas. Por otro lado se han estudiado métodos nuevos para mejorar le estabilidad durante el almacenamiento de sensores de glutamato. Con este fin, se han preparado electrodos utilizando glutamato deshidrogenasa mesófila y termófila con varios estabilizadores.

Conclusiones

1. El polímero [Os(1,10-fenantrolina-5,6-diona)2(PVP)4Cl]Cl, (Os-fendiona-PVP) para la oxidación de NADH se puede sintetizar por la complejación de [Os(1,10-fenantrolina-5,6-diona)2Cl2] con poli(vinilpiridina). La adsorción física de este polímero sobre los electrodos de grafito desde su solución en etilenglicol resulta en la formación de una monocapa de este polimero redox en la superficie del electrodo.

2. El proceso redox de este mediador es casi-reversible e implica 4 electrones y 4 protones dentro del rango del pH de 3-6.5. El mediador pierde su estabilidad química en valores de pH más altos que 6.5. Tres ramas lineales en el diagrama de E0' frente a pH con diversas pendientes se observan.

3. La constante heterogénea de la velocidad de transferencia de electrones (kS) de Os-fendiona-PVP es del mismo orden de magnitud que la de otros mediadores capaces de oxidar NADH mencionados en la bibliografía (kS= 18±2 s-1) .

4. Os-fendiona-PVP es un electrocatalizador eficiente para la oxidación del NADH. La modificación de los electrodos del grafito con Os-fendiona-PVP conduce a la disminución del sobrepotential para la oxidación electroquímica del NADH desde +0.33 V vs. Ag/AgCl/KClsat para los electrodos no modificados hasta +0.11 V vs. Ag/AgCl/KClsat. La constante cinética para la interacción del polímero redox con el NADH (k1,[NADH]=0 = (1.9±0.2)x103 s-1 M-1) coincide prácticamente con la de Os-fendiona que sugiere que el número de los ligandos de fendiona en los complejos del osmio es proporcional a la corriente de la respuesta al NADH pero no afecta a las constantes cinéticas electroquímicas.
The objective of this work was the development of new configurations of reagentless biosensors based on NAD+ dependent dehydrogenases. These configurations are based on the immobilisation of enzyme, cofactor and the electrochemical catalyst used for its regeneration. In addition to being reagentless these configurations yielded biosensors with improved current density and operational stability compared to the state of the art.
To achieve the objective two new NADH oxidising mediators were synthesised: a water insoluble polymer [Os(1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione)2(PVP)4Cl]Cl (Os-phendione-PVP) and an amphiphilic complex [Os(1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione)24,4'-(n-C18H37NHCO)2bpy)](PF6)2 (Os-phendione-surfactant). The electrochemical study of Os-phendione-PVP has revealed a rate constant for the heterogeneous electron transfer of the phendione redox couple ks = 252 s-1, and a second order rate constant for NADH oxidation k[NADH]=0=(1.10.1)x103 M-1 s-1. These constants are higher or of the same order of magnitude as those of previously described NADH oxidising mediators. The tensoactive mediators Os-phendione-surfactant and its analogue [Os(bpy)24,4'-(n-C18H37NHCO)2bpy)](PF6)2 (Os-bpy-surfactant) form very stable monolayers at the air-water interface collapsing at the surface pressure 60-65 mN m-1.
The Os-phendione-surfactant was used for the construction of reagentless glutamate biosensors via the immobilisation of dehydrogenase and NAD+ between bilayers in lamellar phase formed by Os-phendione-surfactant and the lipid 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine. The resulting glutamate biosensors demonstrated maximum current density of 3.5 A cm-2 (RSD=25%), apparent Michaelis constant of 47 mM, and operational half life of 0.5 h. In addition graphite electrodes were modified by Os-phendione-PVP and utilised for (a) immobilisation of dehydrogenase and NAD+ in a hydrogel formed by crosslinking of poly(vinylpyridine) carrying amino groups with polyethylene glycol diglycidyl ether and (b) immobilisation of dehydrogenase and an NAD+-alginic acid derivative by adsorption. The configuration (a) yielded glutamate sensors with maximum current density of 8.7 A cm-2 (RSD=5%), apparent Michaelis constant of 9.1 mM, operational half life of 12 h and glucose sensors with maximum current density of 37 A cm-2 (RSD=14%), apparent Michaelis constant of 4.2 mM, the operational half life of 1 h. The glutamate sensors based on the configuration (b) showed maximum current density of 15.8 A/cm2 (RSD=21%), apparent Michaelis constant of 17.6 mM and operational half life of 1.5 h.
Glucose, glucose-6-phosphate, and glutamate biosensors were prepared and characterised. The employment of the thermophilic enzymes helps to dramatically increase the operational stability of biosensors at elevated temperatures higher than 60oC. The shelf life of glutamate electrodes built with the use of thermophilic dehydrogenase was eleven times longer than this of electrodes modified with the mesophilic enzyme. The addition of the copolymer of vinyl-pyrrolidone and dimethylamino ethyl methacrylate termed as Gafquat HS100 to the enzyme also significantly improved shelf life

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Missouri University of Science and Technology, 2008.
Vita. The entire thesis text is included in file. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed March 18, 2009) Includes bibliographical references.

With the paradigm shift in personal communications favouring wireless over wired, the demand for efficient, low-cost, and compact antennas is booming. The proliferation of mobile electronic devices (laptops and tablets, fitness trackers, ‘smart’ phones and watches), together with the desire for longer battery life, poses a unique challenge to antenna designers; there is an unavoidable trade-off between miniaturization and performance (in terms of range and efficiency). The size of an antenna is inherently linked to the wavelengths(s) of the electromagnetic waves that it must transmit and/or receive. Due to real-estate pressures, most modern antennas found in electronics are classed as electrically small, i.e. operating at wavelength(s) many times greater than their largest dimension. Theory dictates that the best possible compromise between size and performance is achievable when an antenna fully occupies a volume, the radius of which is defined by an imaginary sphere circumscribing its largest dimension. This Thesis demonstrates the design and optimization of low-cost, easy-to-fabricate, electrically small antennas through the integration of novel digitated structures into a family of antennas known as inverted-F. The effects of these digitated structures are catalogued using simulated models and measured prototypes throughout. Whereas the limitations of traditional industrial processes might once have constrained the imaginations of antenna designers, there is now tremendous potential in successful exploitation of emergent manufacturing processes – such as additive manufacturing (or 3D printing) – to realize complex, voluminous antenna designs. This Thesis also presents pioneering measured results for three-dimensional, electrically small antennas fabricated using powder bed fusion additive manufacturing. The technology is demonstrated to be well suited for prototyping, with recommendations provided for further maturation. It is hoped that these promising early results spur further investigation and unleash bold new avenues for a new class of efficient, low-cost, and compact antennas.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2010.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-214).
Scaling MOSFETs beyond 15 nm gate lengths is extremely challenging using a planar device architecture due to the stringent criteria required for the transistor switching. The top-down fabricated, gate-all-around architecture with a Si nanowire channel is a promising candidate for future technology generations. The gate-all-around geometry enhances the electrostatic control and hence gate length scalability. In addition, it enables use of an undoped channel, which has the potential to minimize threshold voltage variation due to reduced random dopant fluctuations. However, there is little known about carrier mobility in Si nanowire MOSFETs. Because of the different crystal surface orientations, the nanowire sidewalls are expected to influence carrier transport. In addition, sidewall roughness due to non-ideal lithography and etch processes can degrade the carrier transport. Technological performance boosters are thus required to enhance electron and hole transport. Uniaxial strain engineering and maskless hydrogen thermal annealing are investigated in this thesis to enhance carrier mobility in gate-all-around nanowire MOSFETs. Uniaxial tensile stress of about 2 GPa was incorporated for the first time into suspended Si nanowire channels by a novel lateral relaxation and suspension technique. Gate-all-around strained-Si nanowire n- MOSFETs were fabricated with nanowire widths in the range of 8 to 50 nm and 8 nm body thickness, demonstrating near ideal sub-threshold swing and an enhancement in long-channel current drive and transconductance of approximately 2X for strained-Si nanowires compared to control Si nanowires. Lowfield effective mobility of these devices was extracted using split capacitance-voltage measurements and the two-FET method. The analysis indicates electron mobility enhancement for strained-Si nanowires over their unstrained Si counterparts, as well as over planar SOI, specifically at high inversion charge densities. However, the mobility of these nanowires was shown to decrease with decreasing nanowire width, consistent with reported data on unstrained Si nanowires. A simple analytical model was developed to investigate the contribution of the sidewalls to the nanowire width dependence of the electron mobility. A new design and process technology was developed to accurately investigate the hole mobility of gate-all-around Si nanowires. A conformal high-k/metal gate process, enabling uniform gating of the nanowire perimeter, was combined with a maskless hydrogen thermal anneal to reduce sidewall roughness scattering. Using this optimized process, long-channel devices with ideal sub-threshold swing (~60 mV/dec) and enhanced current drive were demonstrated, indicating the excellent quality of the nanowire/high-? interface and low-roughness sidewalls. Capacitance-voltage characteristics of sub-micron-long Si nanowires were accurately measured and verified by quantum-mechanical simulations. Increased effective hole mobility with decreasing nanowire width was observed down to 12 nm for hydrogen annealed nanowires, attributed to the smooth, high-mobility non-(100) sidewalls.
by Pouya Hashemi.
Ph.D.

L' Age du Bronze est la période d'émergence des civilisations palatiales en Méditerranée orientale et notamment en Crète, à la fin du 3e millénaire. Ce développement conduit à l'essor des activités artisanales de luxe comme la production de vases en pierre. Grâce à un travail expérimental de terrain et en laboratoire, associé à une observation du mobilier archéologique à différentes échelles, nous avons pu restituer une partie des savoir-faire employés par les artisans crétois pour la fabrication de la vaisselle de pierre. Une koinè technique se dégage, ainsi qu'une standardisation de la production commune faisant apparaître des chaînes opératoires de forage différentes selon la forme souhaitée. Certains procédés étrangers (forage tubulaire ou méthode d'évidement) ont été introduits à travers des contacts avec des artisans, certainement égyptiens. Mais les minoens les ont rapidement intégrés à des chaînes opératoires locales et au profit de leur propre répertoire morphologique.

La fabrication textile joue un rôle important dans l'économie mondiale. Face à une concurrence mondiale croissante, les entreprises textiles tentent de promouvoir la flexibilité de fabrication en s’appuyant sur le concept de fabrication intelligente issu de l'industrie 4.0. Ainsi, le futur développement des processus de production textile reposera de plus en plus sur un cycle de fabrication plus court et une qualité supérieure. Cependant, les relations complexes entre les paramètres provenant des nombreux procédés textiles et la grande variété de produits rend le contrôle et l’optimisation de la fabrication très difficile. Afin de surmonter ces problèmes, des techniques intelligentes de modélisation des processus et d’apprentissage à partir de données expérimentales sont utilisées dans cette thèse pour optimiser la fabrication textile.Dans cette thèse une étude approfondie de la littérature est menée sur les travaux précédents concernant la modélisation et l'optimisation du processus de fabrication textile à l'aide de techniques intelligentes. La synthèse de ces travaux, des avantages et inconvénients des différentes techniques, ont fourni une base théorique et une direction de recherche sur la méthodologie à suivre. Trois sous-études ont ainsi été développées. La première étude de cas spécifique porte sur la modélisation des processus d'ozonation des textiles à l'aide de réseaux neuronaux de type “extreme learning machine” (ELM), de régression par machines à vecteurs “support vector regression” (SVR) et de forêt d’arbres décisionnels “random forest” (RF). Les modèles SVR et RF ont montré les meilleures aptitudes à modéliser les interrelations incertaines des variables dans le processus textile avec un nombre réduit de données d'apprentissage, mais nécessite des temps d’exécution plus importants. Sur la base des modèles RF établis, un nouveau système d'aide à la décision multicritères a ensuite été développé, dans une deuxième étude, pour l'optimisation textile en combinaison avec une méthode de hiérarchie multicritère, “analytical hierarchy process” (AHP), et de l'algorithme Deep Q-networks (DQN). Le processus textile est alors formalisé comme un processus de décision markovien, “Markov decision process” (MDP). Le résultat obtenu par ce modèle montre qu'il est possible de contrôler les relations décisionnelles complexes qui régissent le processus de fabrication textile. Dans la troisième étude, afin de mieux répondre à la complexité croissante de ce problème en milieu industriel, le système développé est intégrée dans un système multi-agents pour l'optimisation multi-objectifs du processus de fabrication textile. Les différents systèmes proposés permettent d'optimiser le processus de fabrication textile et aider les industries textiles à converger vers une fabrication intelligente pour maintenir leur compétitivité
Textile manufacturing plays an important role in the world economy. While the globally increasing competition is stressing the textile companies to promote the manufacturing flexibility, as a trend of intelligent manufacturing in Industry 4.0, the future development of the textile manufacturing process will increasingly rely on shorter cycle and higher quality. However, the complicated intricate relationship between the large-scale parameter variables from a variety of textile processes makes it seem incredibly difficult. In order to overcome these issues, intelligent techniques are employed in this thesis to promote textile manufacturing from the process modeling and optimization.In this Ph.D. research, a thorough investigation and literature review regarding the previous studies on modeling and optimization of the textile manufacturing process using intelligent techniques. A series of the summarizations were determined in pros and cons, which provided a theoretical foundation and research direction for the subsequent studies. Three sub-studies thus were developed: A specific case study on textile ozonation process modeling using extreme learning machine (ELM), support vector regression (SVR) and random forest (RF) was developed, where the SVR models and RF models were found that both can well address the uncertain interrelationships of variables in the textile process modeling with less training data, but their requirement on training time is different. On the basis of the established RF models, a novel multi-criteria decision support system was then developed for textile optimization with the collaboration of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and the Deep Q-networks (DQN) algorithm, where the textile process is formulated as the Markov decision process (MDP) paradigm, and the application result showed that it can master the challenging decision-making tasks in the textile manufacturing process. To better address the growing complexity in this issue, the application of this developed system is further integrated into a multi-agent system for multi-objective optimization in the textile manufacturing process. The developed systems can optimize the textile process and help companies maintain competence in the trend of intelligent manufacturing in the textile industry

In this work, fabrication and characterisation of nanostructure devices has been performed on InGaN/GaN multiple quantum wells (MQW) grown on either c-plane sapphire or (111) silicon substrates. A cost effective nanosphere lithography technique has been employed for the fabrication of a number of nano structures such as nanorod arrays, nanoholes arrays; and single micro-disk lasers. Photonic crystal structures based on nanohole arrays have been designed and then fabricated on InGaN/GaN MQWs with an emission wavelength of 500 nm grown on c-plane sapphire by means of a nanosphere lithography technique, demonstrating a clear photonic crystal effect. Significant suppression of spontaneous emission has been observed when the emission is within the photonic bandgap. Angular dependent measurements show a change in the far-field pattern when the emission lies outside the photonic bandgap compared with the emission which lies inside the photonic bandgap. A coherent nanocavity a two-dimensional (2D) periodic array of nanodisks, was designed and fabricated on an InGaN/GaN MQW structure with an emission wavelength at 510 nm, leading to a significant enhancement in the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) as a result of enhanced spontaneous emission rate. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) analysis has performed for the structure design. The coherent nanocavity effect has been confirmed using means of time-resolved photoluminescence measurements, showing a clear enhancement in spontaneous emission rate. Finally, an improvement in IQE of 88 times at 510 nm has been achieved. Optically pumped green lasing has been achieved with thresholds as low as 1 kW/cm2, using an InGaN/GaN based micro-disk with an undercut structure on silicon substrates. The micro-disks with a diameter of around 1 μm were fabricated by means of a combination of a cost-effective silica micro-sphere approach, dry-etching and subsequent a wet-etching. The combination of these techniques both minimises the roughness of the sidewalls of the micro-disks and also produces excellent circular geometry. Utilizing this fabrication process, lasing has been achieved at room temperature under optical pumping from a continuous-wave laser diode. Time–resolved micro-photoluminescence (PL) and confocal PL measurements have been performed in order to further confirm the lasing action in whispering gallery modes and also investigate the excitonic recombination dynamics of the lasing.

Le montage traditionnel des rouleaux verticaux japonais est un art complexe où il convient de considérer à la fois l'œuvre et la monture qui l'encadre. L'art du montage se décline sous deux aspects. Le premier, technique, consiste à réaliser à partir de différents matériaux un objet composite d'une grande cohésion. Le second, esthétique, souvent plus méconnu, démontre une grande cohérence entre le contenu iconographique de l'œuvre, le style de la monture et les matériaux qui lui sont associés. Cette recherche rassemble les différentes informations que nous avons pu réunir en provenance de sources multiples : références bibliographiques, relevés de la pratique exercée dans divers ateliers, in situ, ou encore entretiens avec plusieurs monteurs et restaurateurs. Elle est consacrée aux divers styles et techniques de montage, ainsi qu'aux matériaux employés traditionnellement dans la réalisation des rouleaux verticaux japonais. L'étude technique du rouleau vertical japonais que nous avons effectuée a l'ambition de permettre une meilleure appréciation esthétique de l'ensemble ainsi qu'une plus grande compréhension des spécificités de ces œuvres, tant du point de vue de leur exposition que de celui de leur conservation et de leur restauration
The traditional mounting of Japanese hanging scrolls is a complex art, in which equal attention is given to the painting and to the mounting itself. This art is characterized by two complementary focuses: a technical dimension -the mounting aims to create cohesiveness within a composite object- and an aesthetic one, often understudied, based on the correspondence between the iconographic content of a particular painting and the style and materials used in its mounting. This dissertation presents the different styles, techniques, and materials used in the traditional mounting of Japanese hanging scrolls. It is based on data gathered from numerous sources, both scholarly and technical: bibliographical references, observation of the processes implemented by contemporary Japanese mounting studios, and interviews with mounting specialists and conservators. A technical study of Japanese hanging scrolls, this dissertation underscores the importance of particular methods of conservation, preservation and exhibition; at the same time and as importantly, it aims to prompt a renewed appreciation of hanging scrolls in their entirety, through a deeper understanding of the material specificities of these unique aesthetic objects

Dans l'industrie alimentaire, la recherche de marqueurs spécifiques permettant la conduite optimale du procédé au cout le plus bas est devenue une priorité. Un important effort a été réalisé dans la chaine alimentaire orge-malt-mout-bière pour sensibiliser tous les partenaires à une transparence des résultats intermédiaires et sur le produit bière. De nouveaux outils analytiques ont été mis en place pour une meilleure définition de tous les produits mis en œuvre. Une nouvelle méthode de détermination de l'extrait du malt (brassin tepral) a été développé, proche des techniques appliquées dans les salles de brassage industrielles. Des études biochimiques, enzymatiques, génie des procédés ont démontré la validité des résultats qui sont parfaitement comparables aux produits obtenus par des procédés industriels. Des retombées pratiques pour les industriels de la malterie et de la brasserie sont exposées: optimisation de la durée du maltage, de la durée de stockage du malt, mélange optimal des malts, influence de la qualité de la mouture, optimisation du brassage, bilan matière en salle de brassage

Thesis (M. S.)--Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2007.
Dr. John Cressler, Committee Member ; Dr. John Papapolymerou, Committee Chair ; Dr. Manos Tentzeris, Committee Member.

A partir de la fin de l’Antiquité, les grands bronzessont peu à peu délaissés puis abandonnés. Il faudra attendre laseconde moitié du XVIème siècle pour voir réapparaître dans lepaysage artistique français, sous François Ier, de grandsensembles statuaires en bronze. Au coeur de ce phénomène, latechnique tient un rôle majeur et suscite plusieursinterrogations. D’abord, se pose pour cette période la questionde l’existence ou non d’une identité technique des bronzesfrançais. L’exécution d’une statue en bronze implique denombreuses étapes qui conduisent du modèle à saretranscription dans le métal. Peut-on reconnaître dans cesétapes et dans les manières de les aborder une certaine unitétechnique qui marquerait la seconde moitié du XVIème siècle,voire le début du XVIIème en France ? Inversement, remarqueton dès cette période de réintroduction différentes écolesregroupant certains sculpteurs, fondeurs, ateliers, voire liées àcertains chantiers particuliers ? Par ailleurs, la réapparition dessavoir-faire associés à la statuaire en bronze pose la questiondes origines. D’où viennent ces techniques soi-disant oubliées :d’autres centres européens, de pratiques de fonderie concernantd’autres types de production ?Dans ce travail de thèse, nous nous sommes attachés à apporterdes éléments de réponse à ces différentes interrogations. Pource faire, des études technologiques ont été menées sur troisgrands ensembles marquant cette période de renouveau dansl’art du bronze : les copies en bronze de marbres antiques parPrimatice, les Vertus du monument funéraire d’Henri II et deCatherine de Médicis, les Allégories du monument de coeurd’Anne de Montmorency.Pour compléter ce corpus, des éléments isolés ont été étudiés :la Diane chasseresse de Barthélémy Prieur, l’Apollon duBelvédère, le Gladiateur Borghèse et la Vénus Médicisattribués à Hubert le Sueur. L’objectif a été de tenter de révélerprocédés, matériaux et savoir-faire engagés, complétant ainsiles données fournies par les documents d’archives quiaccompagnent ces commandes prestigieuses. La stratégied’étude employée a bénéficié de l’expérience des travauxentrepris ces trente dernières années. Des développementsméthodologiques ont néanmoins été nécessaires pour compléterles possibilités offertes par l’étude technologique de la statuaireen bronze. Ces développements ont en particulier concerné lesnoyaux de fonderie, ces matériaux employés pour réaliser desstatues creuses. Les résultats obtenus montrent que lespremières décennies de réappropriation de la grande statuaireen bronze sont marquées par l’emploi d’un même procédé àl’épargné qui trouve racine dans les procédés employés auMoyen-âge pour la fonte de cloches ou de canons par exemple.Mais dés le XVIIème siècle, le monopole de ce procédé sembleêtre mis à mal, preuve sans doute d’une émancipation desfondeurs et d’une innovation constante. Parallèlement à cesphénomènes dont les conséquences marquent la fonte statuaireen général, les sculpteurs, les fondeurs, développent dans leursateliers des savoir-faire personnels et innovent au cas par cas,selon la nature des commandes qu’ils reçoivent
At the end of Antiquity, the manufacture of largebronzes is progressively abandoned. It reappears during the16th century in France, under the reign of Francis I, after morethan a millennium of quasi absence. At the heart of thisphenomenon, casting techniques play a major role and raisesseveral questions. First, the technical identity of large bronzescasted during this period must be investigated. Indeed, castinga statue involves numerous steps, from the model to the finalform in bronze: are those technical steps identifiable throughthe bronze statues characteristics? Are those featurescharacteristic of the craftsmanship of 16th century? Second,can we identify particular ways of bronze crafting associatedwith different schools, composed by sculptors and, or, foundrymen? The origins of technical skills are also to be questioned,especially the provenance of forgotten techniques: Europeanneighborhood or influence of metallurgical techniquesassociated to other kind of objects?In order to answer those questions, technical studies have beencarried out. A representative body of statues has beeninvestigated: the bronze copies of antique marble statues byPrimaticcio at the Fontainebleau palace, the Virtues and theroyal praying statues from the funerary monument of Henry IIand Catherine de’ Medici and the three Personifications thatdecorate the hearth monument of Constable Anne deMontmorency. Several isolated statues have also been studiedin order to complete the body of statues: Diana the huntress byBarthélémy Prieur, Borghese Gladiator and Apollo Belvedereattributed to Hubert le Sueur.This work aims at revealing the processes, materials andknowhow involved for each steps of bronze statuesmanufacture, in order to complete the data extracted fromarchive documents associated to those prestigious royalcommissions. The employed methodology is based on theexperience on this field of research acquired since threedecades by researchers all over the world. New developmentshave also been made to improve technological studies, such asan innovative approach for the characterization of castingcores. . Data obtained from the investigated body of statuesreveal that during the first decades of the 16th century, aspecific casting technique has been used: a spare process. Thisprocess has been strongly influenced by techniques steamingfrom the late Middle-age and the early modern period. Indeed,it exhibits technical similarities with bell and canon casting.However, the uniqueness of this process is challenged by theemergence, during the 17th century, of a second technique,namely the slush process. Emancipation of foundry-men fromthe main stream technique, and will of innovation mightexplain this change of process. Simultaneously to thosetechnical evolutions, sculptors and foundry-men developspecific skills and knowhow that influence the characteristicsof their bronze statues. Moreover, case to case adaptation alsoappears to influence the bronze statues characteristicsaccording to the kind of commission charged by the craftsmen