Interest in nanomaterials is motivated partly by their potential for sensor arrays to detect
different gases. Nanowires in particular are of interest because their high surface-to-volume
ratio promises the possibility of high sensitivity. However, because of their discrete
quasi-one-dimensional geometry, electrical integration of nanowires into photolithographically
defined devices and circuits...
The focus of this thesis is the investigation of thin-film transistors (TFTs) based on amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) in two circuit applications. To date, circuits implemented with AOS-based TFTs have been primarily enhancement-enhancement inverters, ring oscillators based on these inverters operating at peak frequencies up to ~400 kHz, and two-transistor...
The variegated aqueous chemistries of metal cations are applied to the design and synthesis of non-toxic solution precursors suitable for additive printing of large-area oxide electronics. Polycondensation behaviors of aqueous Al+3 and PO4 +3 are manipulated in the deposition of atomically smooth amorphous aluminum oxide phosphate (AlPO) dielectric films. AlPO...
The advent of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) methods has enabled direct approaches to quantitatively profile small RNA
populations. However, these methods have been limited by several factors, including representational artifacts and lack of
established statistical methods of analysis. Furthermore, massive HTS data sets present new problems related to data processing
and...
Aerobic organisms have evolved many sensory mechanisms that allow
response to oxidants in the environment. One area of interest is the relationship
between the activity of the tumor suppressor protein p53 and the redox state of
thioredoxin. Human p53 activity is severely compromised in budding yeast lacking
thioredoxin reductase. Evidence...
Scaling of CMOS technology has progressed relentlessly for the past several
decades. In order for this unprecedented scaling to benefit the performance of
large digital systems, the communication bandwidth between integrated circuits
(ICs) must scale accordingly. However, interconnect technology does not scale as
aggressively, making communication between chips the major...
The continued scaling of deep-submicron CMOS technology enables low-voltage high-frequency phase-locked loops (PLLs) to be fully integrated in complex mixed-signal systems. However, fluctuations due to the manufacturing process and variations in
environmental conditions, such as supply voltage and temperature, are also significantly increased. As a result, the performance of PLLs...
It is well known that multipath effects cause inter-symbol interference (ISI) for high-speed signaling and ultimately limit the achievable data rate at any frequency band. In this thesis, we study several different methods to tackle this issue and provide solutions for establishing efficient wireless links that can provide several Gbps...
The effect of cosputtered catalyst on growth and alignment of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) was investigated. Aligned CNTs were observed using a cosputtered catalytic metal deposited directly on boro-aluminosilicate glass. Catalytic metal alloys were sputtered directly onto the substrate using magnetron sputtering. Deposition...
In this dissertation, I present electronic spectroscopy of a few biologically relevant species and their complexes with solvent molecules in the gas phase using a variety of techniques, including resonantly enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI), laser induced fluorescence (LIF), and zero kinetic energy (ZEKE) photoelectron spectroscopy. My work on several methylated...
A class of inorganic thin-film transistor (TFT) semiconductor materials has emerged involving oxides composed of post-transitional cations with (n-1)d¹⁰ns⁰ (n≥4) electronic configurations. This thesis is devoted to the pursuit of topics involving the development of these materials for TFT applications: Deposition of zinc oxide and zinc tin oxide semiconductor
layers...
The last two decades have witnessed a triumph of free market policies in many developing countries and thus an increase in trade and financial openness. While economic theory provides a solid justification of the fact that trade and financial openness for a small economy with perfectly competitive markets improve resource...
Amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) are of great current interest for thin-film transistor (TFT) channel layer applications. In particular, indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) is under intense development for commercial applications because of its demonstrated high performance at low processing temperatures. The objective of the research presented in this thesis is...
Grapes (e.g. Vitis vinifera L.) are one of the more important fruit crops from an economic standpoint with world market values over 550 million US dollars in 2007 and 2008, second to apples (United States Department of Agriculture). While a satisfactory level of ripeness is of primary concern, the quality...
This dissertation has two objectives. The first objective is to determine where best to situate the study of mentoring (i.e. the 'making of scientists') on the landscape of the history of science and science studies. This task is accomplished by establishing mentoring studies as a link between the robust body...
As the functionality of digital chips continues to increase dramatically, chip- to-chip communication bandwidths must scale accordingly to avoid constraining the overall system performance. Therefore, high speed transceiver design has be- come an important research topic. In particular, the performance of the circuits that are responsible for timing accuracy are...
To realize pipelined ADCs in deep-submicron processes, low voltage techniques
must be developed to work around problems created by limited supply voltages such as
the floating switch dead zone, reduced SNR, and reduced OpAmp performance.
This thesis analyzes standard and low voltage design issues for pipelined ADCs
and proposes a...
Nitrosomonas europaea (ATCC19718) participates in the biological removal of nitrogen from wastewater by oxidizing ammonia to nitrite, the first step in nitrification. This bacterium is sensitive to heavy metals (Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺, Cu²⁺, and Hg²⁺) and cyanide, compounds commonly encountered in wastewater treatment plants. Therefore, we characterized physiological and transcriptional responses...
Studies towards the total synthesis of (-)-gymnodimine (1), a marine neurotoxin with a unique molecular architecture and pronounced biological activity, are described. These studies resulted in a convergent approach to the advanced intermediate 315, containing the C3-C32 section of 1. Two synthetic routes were developed to construct the tetrahydrofuran subunit...
Two approaches to the tricyclic core of the furanoeremophilane sesquiterpenoids are described. The first approach entails a projected Diels-Alder/retro Diels-Alder reaction of an acetylenic oxazole 64. Construction of the pivotal aldehyde 67 commenced from ketone 68. The acetyenic moiety was then introduced via a Felkin-Ahn addition of lithiopropyne to aldehyde...
The primary objective of this thesis is to develop a process for fabricating integrated circuits based on thin-film transistors (TFTs) using zinc tin oxide (ZTO) as the channel layer. ZTO, in contrast to indium- or gallium-based amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOS), is perceived to be a more commercially viable AOS choice...