Photochemical Modification of Single Crystalline GaN Film Using n-Alkene with Different Carbon Chain Lengths as Biolinker.

As a potential material for biosensing applications, gallium nitride (GaN) films have attracted remarkable attention. In order to construct GaN biosensors, a corresponding immobilization of biolinkers is of great importance in order to render a surface bioactive. In this work, two kinds of n-alkenes with different carbon chain lengths, namely allylamine protected with trifluoroacetamide (TFAAA) and 10-aminodec-1-ene protected with trifluoroacetamide (TFAAD), were used to photochemically functionalize single crystalline GaN films. The successful linkage of both TFAAA and TFAAD to the GaN films is confirmed by time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) measurement. With increased UV illumination time, the intensity of the secondary ions corresponding to the linker molecules initially increases and subsequently decreases in both cases. Based on the SIMS measurements, the maximum coverage of TFAAA is achieved after 14 h of UV illumination, while only 2 h is required in the case of TFAAD to reach the situation of a fully covered GaN surface. This finding leads to the conclusion that the reaction rate of TFAAD is significantly higher compared to TFAAA. Measurements by atomic force microscopy (AFM) indicate that the coverage of GaN films by a TFAAA layer leads to an increased surface roughness. The atomic terraces, which are clearly observable for the pristine GaN films, disappear once the surface is fully covered by a TFAAA layer. Such TFAAA layers will feature a homogeneous surface topography even for reaction times of 24 h. In contrast to this, TFAAD shows strong cross-polymerization on the surface, this is confirmed by optical microscopy. These results demonstrate that TFAAA is a more suitable candidate as biolinker in context of the GaN surfaces due to its improved controllability.

Controlled surface chemistry of diamond/ß-SiC composite films for preferential protein adsorption.

Diamond and SiC both process extraordinary biocompatible, electronic, and chemical properties. A combination of diamond and SiC may lead to highly stable materials, e.g., for implants or biosensors with excellent sensing properties. Here we report on the controllable surface chemistry of diamond/ß-SiC composite films and its effect on protein adsorption. For systematic and high-throughput investigations, novel diamond/ß-SiC composite films with gradient composition have been synthesized using the hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) technique. As revealed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the diamond/ß-SiC ratio of the composite films shows a continuous change from pure diamond to ß-SiC over a length of ∼ 10 mm on the surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) was employed to unveil the surface termination of chemically oxidized and hydrogen treated surfaces. The surface chemistry of the composite films was found to depend on diamond/ß-SiC ratio and the surface treatment. As observed by confocal fluorescence microscopy, albumin and fibrinogen were preferentially adsorbed from buffer: after surface oxidation, the proteins preferred to adsorb on diamond rather than on ß-SiC, resulting in an increasing amount of proteins adsorbed to the gradient surfaces with increasing diamond/ß-SiC ratio. By contrast, for hydrogen-treated surfaces, the proteins preferentially adsorbed on ß-SiC, leading to a decreasing amount of albumin adsorbed on the gradient surfaces with increasing diamond/ß-SiC ratio. The mechanism of preferential protein adsorption is discussed by considering the hydrogen bonding of the water self-association network to OH-terminated surfaces and the change of the polar surface energy component, which was determined according to the van Oss method. These results suggest that the diamond/ß-SiC gradient film can be a promising material for biomedical applications which require good biocompatibility and selective adsorption of proteins and cells to direct cell migration.

Resonant soft x-ray reflectivity of Me/B(4)C multilayers near the boron K edge.

Energy dependence of the optical constants of boron carbide in the short period Ru/B(4)C and Mo/B(4)C multilayers (MLs) are evaluated from complete reflectivity scans across the boron K edge using the energy-resolved photon-in-photon-out method. Differences between the refractive indices of the B(4)Cmaterial inside and close to the surface are obtained from the peak profile of the first order ML Bragg peak and the reflection profile near the critical angle of total external reflection close to the surface. Where a Mo/B(4)C ML with narrow barrier layers appears as a homogeneous ML at all energies, a Ru/B(4)C ML exhibits another chemical nature of boron at the surface compared to the bulk. From evaluation of the critical angle of total external reflection in the energy range between 184 and 186eV, we found an enriched concentration of metallic boron inside the Ru-rich layer at the surface, which is not visible in other energy ranges.

Optical properties of boron carbide near the boron K edge evaluated by soft-x-ray reflectometry from a Ru/B(4)C multilayer.

Soft-x-ray Bragg reflection from two Ru/B(4)C multilayers with 10 and 63 periods was used for independent determination of both real and imaginary parts of the refractive index n = 1 - delta + ibeta close to the boron K edge (approximately 188 eV). Prior to soft x-ray measurements, the structural parameters of the multilayers were determined by x-ray reflectometry using hard x rays. For the 63-period sample, the optical properties based on the predictions made for elemental boron major deviations were found close to the K edge of boron for the 10-period sample explained by chemical bonding of boron to B(4)C and various boron oxides.