7836results about "Nanotechnology" patented technology

Described are devices, methods, and kits for non-invasively measuring glucose. In general, the devices comprise skin patches for placement on a skin surface and measurement devices for measuring glucose collected in the patches. The patches may include an adhesive material, a collection layer, an interface layer, and a sweat-permeable membrane. The sweat-permeable membrane is configured to act as a barrier to epidermal contaminants and glucose brought to the skin surface via diffusion. In this way, non-correlatable skin surface glucose will not be measured. The patches may further include components to induce a local sweat response. The measurement device typically includes a display, a processor, and a measurement mechanism. The methods typically include the steps of wiping the skin surface with a wipe containing at least one solvent for removing glucose, placing a patch on a skin surface, and measuring glucose collected in the patch. Kits comprising the patch and measurement device are also described.

The present invention relates to a method of forming an insulating film in a semiconductor device. After a mixed gas of alkyl silane gas and N₂O gas is supplied into the deposition equipment, a radio frequency power including a short pulse wave for causing incomplete reaction upon a gas phase reaction is applied to generate nano particle. The nano particle is then reacted to oxygen radical to form the insulating film including a plurality of nano voids. A low-dielectric insulating film that can be applied to the nano technology even in the existing LECVD equipment is formed.

Described herein is a method for removing at least a portion of the carbon-containing species within an organosilicate (OSG) film by treating the OSG film with a chemical, such as but not limited to an oxidizer, exposing the OSG film to an energy source comprising ultraviolet light, or treating the OSG film with a chemical and exposing the OSG film to an energy source.

The present invention relates to nanostructured materials (including nanowires) for use in batteries. Exemplary materials include carbon-comprising, Si-based nanostructures, nanostructured materials disposed on carbon-based substrates, and nanostructures comprising nanoscale scaffolds. The present invention also provides methods of preparing battery electrodes, and batteries, using the nanostructured materials.

A magnetic element is disclosed wherein first and second interfaces of a free layer with a Hk enhancing layer and tunnel barrier, respectively, produce enhanced surface perpendicular anisotropy to lower switching current or increase thermal stability in a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ). In a MTJ with a bottom spin valve configuration where the Hk enhancing layer is an oxide, the capping layer contacting the Hk enhancing layer is selected to have a free energy of oxide formation substantially greater than that of the oxide. The free layer may be a single layer or composite comprised of an Fe rich alloy such as Co₂₀Fe₆₀B₂₀. With a thin free layer, the interfacial perpendicular anisotropy may dominate the shape anisotropy to generate a magnetization perpendicular to the planes of the layers. The magnetic element may be part of a spintronic device or serve as a propagation medium in a domain wall motion device.

A MTJ for a spintronic device is disclosed and includes a thin composite seed layer made of at least Ta and a metal layer having fcc(111) or hcp(001) texture as in Ta/Ti/Cu to enhance perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in an overlying laminated layer with a (CoFe/Ni)_X, (Co/NiFe)_X, (Co/NiCo)_X, (CoFe/NiFe)_X, or (CoFe/NiCo)_X composition where x is from 5 to 30. In one embodiment, a CPP-TMR spin valve has one or both of a laminated free layer and laminated reference layer with the aforementioned compositions. The MTJ includes an interfacial layer made of CoFeB, CoFeB/CoFe, or CoFe/CoFeB between each laminated structure and the tunnel barrier. The laminated layers are deposited by a low power and high Ar pressure process to avoid damaging interfaces between adjoining layers. Annealing occurs at 220° C. to 400° C. A laminated layer with high PMA may also be included in one or more layers of a spin transfer oscillator.

A filtration device including a filtration medium having a plurality of nanofibers of diameters less than 1 micron formed into a fiber mat in the presence of an abruptly varying electric field. The filtration device includes a support attached to the filtration medium and having openings for fluid flow therethrough. A device for making a filter material. The device includes an electrospinning element configured to electrospin a plurality of fibers from a tip of the electrospinning element, a collector opposed to the electrospinning element configured to collect electrospun fibers on a surface of the collector, and an electric field modulation device configured to abruptly vary an electric field at the collector at least once during electrospinning of the fibers. A method for making a filter material. The method provides a support having openings for fluid flow therethrough, electrospins nanofibers across an entirety of the openings, and abruptly varies an electric field at the collector at least once during electrospinning of the fibers.

The present application discloses a semiconductor device formed on a SOI substrate which comprises a buried insulating layer and a semiconductor layer on the buried insulating layer and a method for manufacturing the same, wherein a fin of semiconductive material having two opposing sides perpendicular to a main surface of the SOI substrate is provided in the semiconductor layer, said semiconductor device comprising: a source region and a drain region provided at two ends of the fin respectively; a channel region provided at a central portion of the fin; and a stack of gate dielectric and gate conductor provided at one side of the fin, where the gate conductor is isolated from the channel region by the gate dielectric, wherein the gate conductor extends away from the one side of the fin in a direction parallel to the main surface of the SOI substrate. The semiconductor device has an improved short channel effect and a reduced parasitic capacitance and resistance, which contributes to an improved electrical property and facilitates scaling down of the transistor.

Disclosed herein is an acoustic diaphragm for converting electrical signals into mechanical signals to produce sounds. The acoustic diaphragm comprises carbon nanotubes or graphite nanofibers as major materials. Preferably, the carbon nanotubes or graphite nanofibers are included or dispersed in the acoustic diaphragm. Since the acoustic diaphragm has excellent physical properties in terms of elastic modulus, internal loss and strength, it can effectively achieve superior sound quality and high output in a particular frequency band as well as in a broad frequency band.

A loudspeaker cone body made of plastic includes a base carrier material and a filler material. The base carrier material is selected to optimize overall flow, weight and stiffness. The filler material may be a nanomaterial that provides for adjustment of process and acoustic related characteristics in the loudspeaker cone body that become relevant when the loudspeaker cone body is operated in a loudspeaker. Acoustic related characteristics that may be adjusted include a stiffness to weight ratio and an acoustic damping of the loudspeaker cone body. A predetermined weight percent of the filler material may be combined with the base carrier material to obtain repeatable desired acoustic related characteristics. The acoustic related characteristics may be adjusted by changing the predetermined weight percent of the filler material.

Various probe systems and probes are provided. In one aspect, a probe is provided that includes a base and a first member coupled to the base. The first member has a first tip for probing a circuit device. A first actuator is coupled to the first member for moving the first member relative to the base. Electrical and/or topographical probing is possible.

Disclosed herein is an acoustic diaphragm for converting electrical signals into mechanical signals to produce sounds. The acoustic diaphragm comprises carbon nanotubes or graphite nanofibers as reinforcing agents. Preferably, the carbon nanotubes or graphite nanofibers are included or dispersed in the acoustic diaphragm or coated on the surface of the acoustic diaphragm. Since the acoustic diaphragm has excellent physical properties in terms of elastic modulus, internal loss, strength and density, it can effectively achieve superior sound quality and a high output in a particular frequency band as well as in a broad frequency band.

There is provided an organic electrolyte capacitor having electrodes on current collectors that have holes penetrating the front and rear surfaces, in which electrode materials formed an the through-holes of the current collectors seldom fall off and high energy density and high power density can be obtained. The organic electrolyte capacitor includes positive electrodes, negative electrodes and an electrolyte capable of transferring lithium ions, in which the positive electrodes contain a substance capable of carrying lithium ions and/or anions reversibly as a positive electrode active material, the negative electrodes contain a substance capable of carrying lithium ions as a negative electrode active material, the positive and negative electrodes possess the positive or negative electrode active material layers on an electrode substrate that has conductive layers made of conductive materials on current collectors, which have through-holes, and the negative electrodes carry lithium electrochemically.

In some embodiments, the present invention is directed to compositionally-graded hybrid nanostructure-based photovoltaic devices comprising elongated semiconductor nanostructures and an amorphous semiconductor single layer with continuous gradation of doping concentration across its thickness from substantially intrinsic to substantially conductive. In other embodiments, the present invention is directed to methods of making such photovoltaic devices, as well as to applications which utilize such devices (e.g., solar cell modules).

A tunable colour LED module comprises at least two sub-modules, each comprising an LED (104), a wavelength converting element (WCE) (201, 112, 203) and a reflector cup. The total light emitted by the module comprises light generated from each LED and WCE and the module is configured to emit a total light having a predefined colour chromaticity when activation properties of the LEDs are managed appropriately. The total light may have a broad white emission spectrum (106). The module combines the benefits of a low cost with uniform chromaticity properties in the far field, and offers long and controlled lifetime at the same time as flexibility and intelligence of tunable colour chromaticity, Colour Rendering Index (CRI) and intensity, either at manufacture or in an end user lighting application. A controlled LED module system comprises a control system for the managing activation properties of the LEDs in the sub-modules. Also described is a method of manufacture.

Generally, the present invention is directed to, in one embodiment, a method for forming a composite nonwoven web configured to deliver skin wellness agents to the skin of a user. According to the method, an aqueous system of a hydrophilic polymer and a skin wellness agent is formed. The aqueous system is then electrospun onto a surface of a nonwoven web containing synthetic fibers. The resulting nanofibers have an average diameter of from about 50 nanometers to about 5000 nanometers, such as from about 200 nanometers to about 700 nanometers.

The invention discloses a carbon nano-dot, and a preparation method and an application thereof, and solves a problem that the application of present nano-dots is restricted because of high preparation cost and easy fluorescent quenching appearance of an aggregate state. According to the invention, the carbon nano-dot having a high fluorescence quantum efficiency is prepared through adopting a polycarboxyl or polyhydroxy contained organic compound, or an amino acid as a raw material, and urea as a surface passivation modification agent, and through a microwave process, and a carbon nano-dot fluorescent ink is prepared through using the carbon nano-dot. The preparation method disclosed in the invention has the advantages of simplicity, low cost and convenient large-scale production; the fluorescent quenching of the prepared carbon nano-dot on the surface of a biological product does not appear, and the highest fluorescence quantum efficiency is 42%; and the prepared carbon nano-dot fluorescent ink is nontoxic, does not generate a precipitate after long-time dispose, and can be applied to the biological imaging field, the biological product identification field, the information storage field, the information encryption field, the false proof field, the illumination display field, the photovoltaic device field and the like.

The invention provides a liquid cell for an atomic force microscope. The liquid cell includes a liquid cell housing with an internal cavity to contain a fluid, a plurality of conductive feedthroughs traversing the liquid cell housing between the internal cavity and a dry side of the liquid cell, a cantilevered probe coupled to the liquid cell housing, and a piezoelectric drive element disposed on the cantilevered probe. The cantilevered probe is actuated when a drive voltage is applied to the piezoelectric drive element through at least one of the conductive feedthroughs. A method of imaging an object in a liquid medium and a method of sensing a target species with the liquid cell are also disclosed.

The present invention is a novel field effect transistor having a channel region formed from a narrow bandgap semiconductor film formed on an insulating substrate. A gate dielectric layer is formed on the narrow bandgap semiconductor film. A gate electrode is then formed on the gate dielectric. A pair of source/drain regions formed from a wide bandgap semiconductor film or a metal is formed on opposite sides of the gate electrode and adjacent to the low bandgap semiconductor film.

A negative active material for a rechargeable lithium battery includes a core including an active material being capable of performing reversible electrochemical oxidation and reduction, and a coating layer on the surface of the core. The coating layer includes a reticular structure including —O-M-O— wherein M is selected Si, Ti, Zr, Al, or combinations thereof and an organic functional group linked to the M as a side chain. The organic functional group is selected from the group consisting of an alkyl group, a haloalkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, and combinations thereof. The negative active material for a rechargeable lithium battery according to the present invention can be applied along with an aqueous binder, and improve high capacity, good cycle-life, and particularly high capacity during charge and discharge at a high rate.

A negative electrode material for nonaqueous electrolyte secondary batteries comprises composite particles which are prepared by coating surfaces of particles having silicon nano-particles dispersed in silicon oxide with a carbon coating, and etching the coated particles in an acidic atmosphere. The silicon nano-particles have a size of 1-100 nm. The composite particles contain oxygen and silicon in a molar ratio: O<O/Si<1.0. Using the negative electrode material, a lithium ion secondary battery can be fabricated which features a high 1st cycle charge/discharge efficiency, a high capacity, and improved cycle performance.

The invention provides a method for preparing fibrilia carboxylation cellulose nanowhiskers, which is characterized by comprising the following steps: soaking fibrilia powder in sodium hydroxide for processing, then processing the fibrilia powder by a former treating agent and taking out the fibrilia powder to be dried in a vacuum oven to obtain preprocessed fibrilia powder; and placing the preprocessed fibrilia powder in a TEMPO oxidation system for catalytic oxidation to obtain a stable cellulose nanowhiskers suspending liquid after mechanical processing and freeze drying the suspending liquid to obtain the fibrilia carboxylation cellulose nanowhiskers having grain diameters of 3-10 nm. According to the invention, fibrilia carboxylation and nano fibrillation are realized and surfaces of prepared nanocrystalline celluloses have carboxyl functional groups, thus the surfaces generate negative charges, electrostatic repulsion among the negative charges can avoid the reunion of nanoparticles, so that the nanocrystalline celluloses can be well dispersed in water and the obtained nanocrystalline celluloses have excellent uniformity of grain sizes.

Provided may be a method of fabricating nanowires and a method of fabricating a transistor having the same. The method may include: forming a template layer on a substrate, the template layer having a first lateral surface and a second lateral surface facing the first surface; forming pores in the template layer, the pores disposed between the first lateral surface and the second lateral surface in the template layer and having first apertures in the first lateral surface; forming a single-crystalline material layer contacting the first apertures disposed in the first lateral surface of the template layer; forming second apertures connecting pores disposed in the second lateral surface; supplying gaseous crystal growth materials through the second apertures; and forming crystalline nanowires in the pores by crystal growth from the single-crystalline material layer. The nanowires may be made of crystalline materials, e.g., Si or SiGe, and may be formed parallel to the substrate. Higher quality nanowires, whose orientation may be controlled, may be formed. A higher quality transistor may be formed on the substrate by applying a method of fabricating the nanowires.

The invention discloses a nano-carbon material dispersion liquid, and a preparation method and preparation equipment of the nano-carbon material dispersion liquid, and aims to prepare a nano-carbon material dispersion system which contains uniformly distributed nano-carbon particles and is stable. The dispersion liquid comprises the following components in percentage by mass: 0.5 to 20 percent ofthe nano-carbon material, and the balance of dispersion solvent. The preparation method comprises the steps of pre-dispersion and high-pressure dissociation dispersion. The preparation equipment consists of pre-dispersion equipment and high-pressure dissociation dispersion equipment. Compared with the prior art, a high-pressure dispersion method is introduced into the preparation method, and morethan two paths of 50 to 500MPa high-pressure liquid flows are guided to one place and converged together to ensure that the high-pressure liquid flows generate violent collision to fully dissociate the nano-carbon material in the high-pressure liquid flows, so that the nano-carbon material is uniformly distributed in the dispersion solvent to achieve a more effective dispersion effect of the nanomaterial; besides, the obtained nano-carbon material dispersion liquid is better in dispersion effect, can exist stably for a long time, and is convenient to store and transport.

Photovoltaic devices or solar cells are provided. More particularly, the present invention provides photovoltaic devices having IR and/or UV absorbing nanostructured layers that increase efficiency of solar cells. In some embodiments the nanostructured materials are integrated with one or more of: crystalline silicon (single crystal or polycrystalline) solar cells and thin film (amorphous silicon, microcrystalline silicon, CdTe, CIGS and III-V materials) solar cells whose absorption is primarily in the visible region. In some embodiments the nanoparticle materials are comprised of quantum dots, rods or multipods of various sizes.

Methods of forming multi-tiered semiconductor devices are described, along with apparatus and systems that include them. In one such method, an opening is formed in a tier of semiconductor material and a tier of dielectric. A portion of the tier of semiconductor material exposed by the opening is processed so that the portion is doped differently than the remaining semiconductor material in the tier. At least substantially all of the remaining semiconductor material of the tier is removed, leaving the differently doped portion of the tier of semiconductor material as a charge storage structure. A tunneling dielectric is formed on a first surface of the charge storage structure and an an intergate dielectric is formed on a second surface of the charge storage structure. Additional embodiments are also described.

An aluminum phosphate or polyphosphate-based pigment product is made by a process comprising contacting phosphoric acid with aluminum sulfate and an alkaline solution to produce an aluminum phosphate based product; and optionally calcining the aluminum phosphate based product at an elevated temperature, wherein the process is substantially free of an organic acid. The aluminum phosphate or polyphosphate-based pigment is amorphous. The amorphous aluminum phosphate or polyphosphate characterized by a bulk density of less than 2.30 grams per cubic centimeter and a phosphorus to aluminum mole ratio of greater than 0.8. The composition is useful in paints and as a substitute for titanium dioxide.

The invention discloses a preparation method of a graphene material. The preparation method comprises the following steps of: with graphite carbon as a raw material, adding potassium hypermanganate and concentrated sulfuric acid in batches in different stages to control an oxidation process of graphite; adjusting the pH value of the oxidized solution to obtain graphene oxide colloidal dispersing solutions (GOS) with different concentrations; dropwise adding the GOS on the surface of a carrier or spreading out the GOS on a non-intersolubility liquid/liquid interface and drawing into a grapheneoxide thin-film (GOF); carrying out high-speed centrifugation and drying treatment on the GOS to obtain graphene oxide solid powder (GOP); reducing the GOS by selecting an appropriate reducing agent,and centrifugally drying to obtain reduced graphene solid powder (GRP); dispersing a proper amount of GRP in an organic solvent to prepare a reduced graphene oxide colloidal dispersing solution (GRS); and dropwise adding the GRS on the surface of the carrier or spreading out on the non-intersolubility liquid/liquid interface and drawing into the reduced graphene thin-film (GRF). Various graphene materials prepared by the invention are easy to mutually transform; and the concentration of the colloidal solution and the thickness of the thin-film can be controlled in a certain range.

A storage element structure for phase change memory (PCM) cell and a method for forming such a structure are disclosed. The method of forming a storage element structure, comprises providing a multilayer stack comprising a chalcogenide layer (206), a metal cap layer (208), and a dielectric hard mask layer (210), depositing and patterning a photo resist layer (212) on top of the multilayer stack, etching the dielectric hard mask layer using the photo resist layer as etch mask, after the dielectric hard mask layer is etched, removing the photo resist layer before etching the chalcogenide, etching the chalcogenide layer using the dielectric hard mask layer as etch mask, depositing a spacer dielectric (214) over the multilayer stack and anisotropically etching the spacer dielectric to form sidewall spacers (216) for the multilayer stack.

The invention provides a method of detecting a chemical species with an oscillating cantilevered probe. A cantilevered beam is driven into oscillation with a drive mechanism coupled to the cantilevered beam. A free end of the oscillating cantilevered beam is tapped against a mechanical stop coupled to a base end of the cantilevered beam. An amplitude of the oscillating cantilevered beam is measured with a sense mechanism coupled to the cantilevered beam. A treated portion of the cantilevered beam is exposed to the chemical species, wherein the cantilevered beam bends when exposed to the chemical species. A second amplitude of the oscillating cantilevered beam is measured, and the chemical species is determined based on the measured amplitudes.