Nikolaos Spiliopoulos

Power dissipation and impedance measurements in radio‐frequency discharges

An improved method for the measurement of the power consumed in low pressure, radio frequency discharges is presented. The method involves the measurement of current and voltage waveforms outside the reactor, and the determination of the discharge impedance and the network of parasitics. The measured waveforms are transformed to the equivalent ones at the powered electrode, by using an electrical circuit model of the stray impedance of the cell, with experimentally determined components. A tunable shunt circuit is used for minimizing displacement currents. The equivalent circuit contains elements which account also for resistive power losses in the cell‐shunt circuit. The obtained discharge power is compared with measurements of the total power output of the generator made by a power meter. Results concerning power consumption and impedance in argon and silane discharges are presented as a function of the excitation voltage and the pressure. In both cases there is a discharge impedance drop, for higher vo...

Nanoporous alumina enhanced surface plasmon resonance sensors

The signal enhancement of an easy to fabricate, nanoporous alumina assisted surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor is investigated. It is theoretically shown that the presence of a thin (under 200nm) porous alumina layer on top of an aluminum film supporting the surface plasmons, may significantly increase (over one order of magnitude) the sensitivity of the SPR method in the case where the adsorption of relatively small molecules is probed. The comparative experimental investigation of self-assembled monolayer formation on planar metal films and porous alumina layers verifies the theoretical predictions. Based on these results, we discuss the extended applicability of this setup in biosensor and other related applications.

Electrochemical synthesis of large diameter monocrystalline nickel nanowires in porous alumina membranes

In this work, the synthesis of long, single-crystal nickel nanowires (NWs) using dc electrodeposition is reported. Porous alumina membranes with 220 nm mean pore diameter were used as a template. This diameter is much larger than what is usually reported in single crystal NWs synthesis. The dependence of the NW crystal structure upon applied voltage as well as the change in crystal structure along the NWs length is also investigated. Finally, in order to get sufficient understanding of the present results, a model based on two competing growth mechanisms is proposed, revealing the dependence of crystal structure upon the voltage applied during the electrodeposition process.

Kinetics of Power Deposition and Silane Dissociation in Radio‐Frequency Discharges

Measurements of the actual power and silane consumption as a function of excitation voltage and pressure in a completely characterized radio-frequency, glow-discharge chamber used for the deposition of a-Si:H, are reported. The influence of these parameters on the discharge power and impedance is presented and discussed with consideration of the basic electron heating and power dissipation mechanisms. The discharge is more efficient,in terms of the amount of energy spent per dissociated silane molecule, at higher pressures and lower voltages. This amount tends toward the dissociation threshold of silane for lower power densities. The rate constant of electron impact dissociation of silane, calculated from silane consumption, increases with power with a different trend for each pressure, and is higher for lower pressures ranging from 0.08 to 0.2 s - .

A peptide corresponding to the C-terminal region of pleiotrophin inhibits angiogenesis in vivo and in vitro.

Pleiotrophin (PTN) is a heparin‐binding growth factor that plays a significant role in tumor growth and angiogenesis. We have previously shown that in order for PTN to induce migration of endothelial cells, binding to both ανβ3 integrin and its receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase beta/zeta (RPTPβ/ζ) is required. In the present study we show that a synthetic peptide corresponding to the last 25 amino acids of the C‐terminal region of PTN (PTN112–136) inhibited angiogenesis in the in vivo chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay and PTN‐induced migration and tube formation of human endothelial cells in vitro. PTN112–136 inhibited binding of PTN to ανβ3 integrin, and as shown by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) measurements, specifically interacted with the specificity loop of the extracellular domain of β3. Moreover, it abolished PTN‐induced FAK Y397 phosphorylation, similarly to the effect of a neutralizing ανβ3‐selective antibody. PTN112–136 did not affect binding of PTN to RPTPβ/ζ in endothelial cells and induced β3 Y773 phosphorylation and ERK1/2 activation to a similar extent with PTN. This effect was inhibited by down‐regulation of RPTPβ/ζ by siRNA or by c‐src inhibition, suggesting that PTN112–136 may interact with RPTPβ/ζ. NMR spectroscopy studies showed that PTN112–136 was characterized by conformational flexibility and absence of any element of secondary structure at room temperature, although the biologically active peptide segment 123–132 may adopt a defined structure at lower temperature. Collectively, our data suggest that although PTN112–136 induces some of the signaling pathways triggered by PTN, it inhibits PTN‐induced angiogenic activities through inhibition of PTN binding to ανβ3 integrin. J. Cell. Biochem. 112: 1532–1543, 2011.

INFLUENCE OF PLASMA CONDITIONS ON THE DEFECT FORMATION MECHANISM IN AMORPHOUS HYDROGENATED SILICON

The variation of a‐Si:H film quality, deposited by a rf glow discharge of pure silane, is examined as a function of the interelectrode distance for two different pressures. Constant photocurrent and modulated photocurrent methods are used to estimate the magnitude and the shape of the defect states in the valence band and the conduction band, respectively. An effort is made to correlate the film quality parameters and the defect formation with the plasma macroscopic and microscopic parameters. The results suggest that, at low interelectrode distances, high sticking coefficient radicals modify the film growth and the defect formation mechanisms, leading to the deterioration of the film quality. The conclusions drawn are compared with the predictions of recent theoretical models concerning the defect formation in a‐Si:H.

Complexation of lysozyme with adsorbed PtBS-b-SCPI block polyelectrolyte micelles on silver surface.

We present a study of the interaction of the positively charged model protein lysozyme with the negatively charged amphiphilic diblock polyelectrolyte micelles of poly(tert-butylstyrene-b-sodium (sulfamate/carboxylate)isoprene) (PtBS-b-SCPI) on the silver/water interface. The adsorption kinetics are monitored by surface plasmon resonance, and the surface morphology is probed by atomic force microscopy. The micellar adsorption is described by stretched-exponential kinetics, and the micellar layer morphology shows that the micelles do not lose their integrity upon adsorption. The complexation of lysozyme with the adsorbed micellar layers depends on the micelles arrangement and density in the underlying layer, and lysozyme follows the local morphology of the underlying roughness. When the micellar adsorbed amount is small, the layers show low capacity in protein complexation and low resistance in loading. When the micellar adsorbed amount is high, the situation is reversed. The adsorbed layers both with or without added protein are found to be irreversibly adsorbed on the Ag surface.

ARRHENIUS-LIKE BEHAVIOR IN PLASMA REACTIONS

An Arrhenius-like behavior of the silane dissociation rate constant as a function of the power actually fed in a rf discharge system is reported. The rate constant is calculated using mass-spectrometric measurements of silane consumption for 50 and 75 mTorr discharges, while the power consumed in the discharge is determined by using detailed voltage and current measurements. The slope of the natural logarithm of the dissociation rate constant as a function of the inverse of the discharge power increases with pressure. This is attributed to a change in the shape and/or the mean energy of the electron energy distribution function, while the linearity indicates an analogous increase of the active electron concentration with increasing discharge power, excluding a significant change in the shape of the electron energy distribution function.

Disilane addition versus silane-hydrogen flow rate effect on the PECVD of silicon thin films

The effect of small disilane addition to the silane/hydrogen mixture and of the total silane/hydrogen flow rate on the silicon thin film growth rate and crystallinity were investigated. The study was performed by using simplified gas phase chemistry model along with plasma diagnostics such as electrical and deposition rate measurements. The results showed that even small disilane addition induces an increase in the electron density, silane electron-induced dissociation rate, and film growth rate. The increase in the total flow rate caused a linear increase in the film growth rate despite the negligible effect on the discharge microscopic parameters. Similar deposition rates and crystallinities were achieved with both disilane addition and increase in the flow rate, but the deposition efficiency was much higher in the case of disilane addition. The simplified gas phase chemistry model indicated an increase in the silyl production rate either with the disilane addition or the increase in the flow rate. Almo...

Fabrication of an aluminum-porous alumina sensor by in situ monitoring anodization of thin aluminum films

The aim of the present work is to optimize a well-known plasmon-based aluminum/porous anodic alumina sensor. This kind of sensors is produced by partial electrochemical anodization of an aluminum film, while the remaining, non-anodized metallic film is used for supporting the propagation of surface plasmons. The anodized porous alumina is preferable against a flat solid surface as it presents much larger sensing area and thus enhanced detecting efficiency. In this work, a novel method for controlling the remaining aluminum film thickness is reported, based on a simple optical reflectance measurement during the electrochemical anodization of the initial metallic film.