Thermally stable and uniform DNA amplification with picosecond laser ablated graphene rapid thermal cycling device.

Rapid thermal cycling (RTC) in an on-chip device can perform DNA amplification in vitro through precise thermal control at each step of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This study reports a straightforward fabrication technique for patterning an on-chip graphene-based device with hole arrays, in which the mechanism of surface structures can achieve stable and uniform thermal control for the amplification of DNA fragments. A thin-film based PCR device was fabricated using picosecond laser (PS-laser) ablation of the multilayer graphene (MLG). Under the optimal fluence of 4.72 J/cm2 with a pulse overlap of 66%, the MLG can be patterned with arrays of 250 µm2 hole surface structures. A 354-bp DNA fragment of VP1, an effective marker for diagnosing the BK virus, was amplified on an on-chip device in less than 60 min. A thin-film electrode with the aforementioned MLG as the heater was demonstrated to significantly enhance temperature stability for each stage of the thermal cycle. The temperature control of the heater was performed by means of a developed programmable PCR apparatus. Our results demonstrated that the proposed integration of a graphene-based device and a laser-pulse ablation process to form a thin-film PCR device has cost benefits in a small-volume reagent and holds great promise for practical medical use of DNA amplification.

Micro/nano structures induced by femtosecond laser to enhance light extraction of GaN-based LEDs.

Surface texturing has been widely adopted to enhance the light extraction efficiency of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and chemical etching is a technique commonly used to produce surface texturing. This study employed femtosecond lasers to apply ITO films directly onto the surface of LEDs to generate periodic micro/nanostructures and roughen the surface without contact or chemical substances. As a result, photons emitted in the active region escape into the free space, due to the scattering effect produced by texturing. This study discovered that light-emitting efficiency increases with surface roughness, and achieved an improvement of 18%. Caution regarding laser fluence was required during laser processing to avoid damaging the LED beneath the ITO film, which could detract from the electrical characteristics.

Ultrasensitive electrical detection of protein using nanogap electrodes and nanoparticle-based DNA amplification.

The present study describes an ultrasensitive protein biochip that employs nanogap electrodes and self-assembled nanoparticles to electrically detect protein. A bio-barcode DNA technique amplifies the concentration of target antigen at least 100-fold. This technique requires the establishment of conjugate magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) through binding between monoclonal antibodies (2B2), the target antigen, and polyclonal antibodies (GP). Both GP and capture ssDNA (single-strand DNA) bonds to bio-barcode ssDNA are immobilized on the surface of AuNPs. A denature process releases the bio-barcode ssDNAs into the solution, and a hybridization process establishes multilayer AuNPs over the gap surface between electrodes. Electric current through double-layer self-assembled AuNPs is much greater than that through self-assembled monolayer AuNPs. This significant increase in electric current provides evidence that the solution contains the target antigen. Results show that the protein biochip attains a sensitivity of up to 1 pg/ microL.