Tetsuo Kan

Enantiomeric switching of chiral metamaterial for terahertz polarization modulation employing vertically deformable MEMS spirals

Active modulation of the polarization states of terahertz light is indispensable for polarization-sensitive spectroscopy, having important applications such as non-contact Hall measurements, vibrational circular dichroism measurements and anisotropy imaging. In the terahertz region, the lack of a polarization modulator similar to a photoelastic modulator in the visible range hampers expansion of such spectroscopy. A terahertz chiral metamaterial has a huge optical activity unavailable in nature; nevertheless, its modulation is still challenging. Here we demonstrate a handedness-switchable chiral metamaterial for polarization modulation employing vertically deformable Micro Electro Mechanical Systems. Vertical deformation of a planar spiral by a pneumatic force creates a three-dimensional spiral. Enantiomeric switching is realized by selecting the deformation direction, where the polarity of the optical activity is altered while maintaining the spectral shape. A polarization rotation as high as 28° is experimentally observed, thus providing a practical and compact polarization modulator for the terahertz range.

Spiral metamaterial for active tuning of optical activity

We propose an electrostatically actuated spiral structure as a metamaterial for circularly polarized light in the terahertz (THz) frequency range. An array of planar spiral structures was fabricated with micro electro mechanical system technology, and the geometry of the structures can be changed by electrostatic actuation. The actuation transforms the planar spirals into three-dimensional helices, resulting in optical activity in which the differential polarization response of the material depends on whether the incident light is left- or right-circularly polarized. THz spectroscopy confirmed that the optical activity can be tuned with the proposed structures.

Mechanical impulses can control metaphase progression in a mammalian cell.

Chromosome segregation machinery is controlled by mechanochemical regulation. Tension in a mitotic spindle, which is balanced by molecular motors and polymerization-depolymerization dynamics of microtubules, is thought to be essential for determining the timing of chromosome segregation after the establishment of the kinetochore-microtubule attachments. It is not known, however, whether and how applied mechanical forces modulate the tension balance and chemically affect the molecular processes involved in chromosome segregation. Here we found that a mechanical impulse externally applied to mitotic HeLa cells alters the balance of forces within the mitotic spindle. We identified two distinct mitotic responses to the applied mechanical force that either facilitate or delay anaphase onset, depending on the direction of force and the extent of cell compression. An external mechanical impulse that physically increases tension within the mitotic spindle accelerates anaphase onset, and this is attributed to the facilitation of physical cleavage of sister chromatid cohesion. On the other hand, a decrease in tension activates the spindle assembly checkpoint, which impedes the degradation of mitotic proteins and delays the timing of chromosome segregation. Thus, the external mechanical force acts as a crucial regulator for metaphase progression, modulating the internal force balance and thereby triggering specific mechanochemical cellular reactions.

Ratiometric optical temperature sensor using two fluorescent dyes dissolved in an ionic liquid encapsulated by Parylene film.

A temperature sensor that uses temperature-sensitive fluorescent dyes is developed. The droplet sensor has a diameter of 40 μm and uses 1 g/L of Rhodamine B (RhB) and 0.5 g/L of Rhodamine 110 (Rh110), which are fluorescent dyes that are dissolved in an ionic liquid (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethyl sulfate) to function as temperature indicators. This ionic liquid is encapsulated using vacuum Parylene film deposition (which is known as the Parylene-on-liquid-deposition (PoLD) method). The droplet is sealed by the chemically stable and impermeable Parylene film, which prevents the dye from interacting with the molecules in the solution and keeps the volume and concentration of the fluorescent material fixed. The two fluorescent dyes enable the temperature to be measured ratiometrically such that the droplet sensor can be used in various applications, such as the wireless temperature measurement of microregions. The sensor can measure the temperature of such microregions with an accuracy of 1.9 °C, a precision of 3.7 °C, and a fluorescence intensity change sensitivity of 1.0%/K. The sensor can measure temperatures at different sensor depths in water, ranging from 0 to 850 μm. The droplet sensor is fabricated using microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology and is highly applicable to lab-on-a-chip devices.

Tunable gold-coated polymer gratings for surface plasmon resonance coupling and scanning

We propose an surface plasmon resonance (SPR) coupling device that can tune the coupling condition by changing the pitch of an Au grating. A grating with a micrometer-sized pitch was produced on a flexible thin parylene membrane, making an 8 mm × 8 mm diaphragm. An SPR can be coupled to the Au grating surface by direct laser irradiation, and the dependence of the SPR angles (within 6° to 56°) on the grating pitch (ranging from 1000 to 1500 nm) shows good agreement with the SPR theory. We demonstrate that the SPR matching condition can be tuned by changes in pitch due to strain caused by membrane expansion. The SPR angle shift reached about 0.2°, corresponding to about 0.6% strain, by 15 kPa pressure application. The SPR angle shift sensitivity to the pressure was 0.015° kPa−1. This value is almost equal to that calculated from strain measurements (0.014° kPa−1), and we conclude that the SPR angle shift was caused by the grating pitch change due to the pressure application. Theoretical consideration indicates that a refractive index change of about 0.01 RIU is possible with this device near the refractive index of water.

Micro Liquid Prism

This paper presents a micro liquid prism. Two flat transparent plates float on a liquid droplet and these plates serve as prism faces. The two plates are positioned automatically by surface tension, just by putting the plates on the ellipsoidal droplet. Therefore the proposed prism can be fabricated accurately in micro scale without difficulty. As the liquid and the plates are encapsulated by Parylene, the prism can retain its shape. The prism which faces were 400¿m in diameter and whole size was smaller than 1mm3 was fabricated. The adequate function of the fabricated prism for Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) measurement was verified.

Nano-pillar structure for sensitivity enhancement of SPR sensor

We report on a method to increase sensitivity of SPR (Surface Plasmon Resonance) sensor using nano-pillar structures as a protein adhesion site. The dense and tall nano-pillar array increases a virtual protein adhesion area within an SPR electromagnetic field (EMF) so that an SPR dip shift increases compared with a conventional SPR sensor. Fabricated silica nano-pillar chip with 200-nm-pitch and 570-nm-height pillar array was assembled with an optical prism with an Au film, and sensitivity enhancement for protein measurement by the nano-pillar was examined. The SPR measurement result exhibited a significant dip shift increase, about ten folds of that of the normal SPR device. The nano-pillar SPR has a potential of increasing sensitivity of SPR in detecting proteins.

Micro suction cup array for wet/dry adhesion

We propose a micro suction cup array for adhesion to both dry and wet surfaces. We measured the peel-off forces of a PDMS micro suction cup array, a PDMS flat-tip micro structure array and a flat PDMS pad from both wet and dry glass surfaces. When the glass surface was wet, the peel-off forces of a PDMS flat-tip micro pattern and a flat PDMS pad decreased by more than 1.7 times and 7.0 times, respectively. On the other hand, peel-off forces of a PDMS micro suction cup array increased by over 1.1 times when the glass surface was wet. Also, in both wet and dry conditions, an array of PDMS micro suction cup adhered stronger to a glass surface than a PDMS flat-tip micro pattern and a flat PDMS pad. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the adhesion of a suction cup array can be enhanced by miniaturizing the size of the cups.

Long-range surface plasmon resonance sensor with liquid micro-channels to maintain the symmetry condition of the refractive index

We propose a method to maintain the symmetry of the refractive index with respect to an Au film, in which the refractive indices are the same near both surfaces of the Au film, for LRSPR (long-range surface plasmon resonance) sensors. Maintenance of the symmetry is necessary for exciting the LRSPR mode. However, because the buffer layer under the Au film is usually made of a solid dielectric material with a constant refractive index, the quality of the measurement is reduced when the refractive index of the analyte used is dramatically different from that of the buffer layer. To solve this problem, the proposed sensor is equipped with liquid channels under the Au film. The Au film used in this study was supported by a thin (100 nm) polymer film forming parallel, one-dimensional liquid channels with a 29 µm pitch. Because the analyte solution flows in the channels, both surfaces of the Au film face the same analyte. Thus, this configuration automatically satisfies the symmetry condition for analytes with a wide range of refractive indices. We examined the validity of the sensor and compared it to that of a conventional sensor by measuring the LRSPR for five analyte solutions with different refractive indices. LRSPR dips were clearly observed for all of the analytes tested. The dip of the conventional LRSPR sensor became shallow when the refractive index increased, with the final dip depth being 65% of the initial dip depth for a refractive index of 1.358. In contrast, the dip depth of the proposed LRSPR sensor remained constant over the entire measured refractive index range of 1.331 to 1.358. These results indicate that the proposed sensor maintains the symmetry condition and confirm that the proposed method is effective for highly sensitive LRSPR measurements for a wide variety of analyte species.

Out-of-plane actuation with a sub-micron initial gap for reconfigurable terahertz micro-electro-mechanical systems metamaterials

We propose a reconfigurable terahertz (THz) metamaterial that can control the transmittance by out-of-plane actuation with changing the sub-micron gap distance between electrically coupled metamaterial elements. By using the out-of-plane actuation, it was possible to avoid contact between the coupled metamaterial elements across the small initial gap during the adjustment of the gap size. THz spectroscopy was performed during actuation, and the transmission dip frequency was confirmed to be tunable from 0.82 to 0.92 THz for one linear polarization state and from 0.80 to 0.91 THz for the other linear polarization; the two polarizations were orthogonal. The proposed approach will contribute to the development of tunable metamaterials based on structural deformations.