Effects of surface oxidation on the pH-dependent surface charge of oxidized aluminum gallium nitride.

Hypothesis: The properties of the oxidized surface for common materials, such as silicon and titanium, are known to be markedly different from the reduced surface. We hypothesize that surface-oxidized aluminum gallium nitride ((oxidized-AlGaN)/GaN) surface charge behavior is different to unoxidized AlGaN (with ultrathin native oxide only), which can be validated via surfactant adsorption. Understanding these differences will explain why (oxidized-AlGaN)/GaN-based sensors are better performing than AlGaN ones, which has been previously demonstrated but not understood.

pH-Dependent surface charge at the interfaces between aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) and aqueous solution revealed by surfactant adsorption.

Hypothesis: The net surface charge of AlGaN/GaN structures, where AlGaN is in contact with the solution, is controlled by the pH-dependent protonation and deprotonation of the surface hydroxyl groups and possibly the electron-deficient surface electronic states. We hypothesize that atomic force microscopy (AFM) force measurements of ionic surfactant adsorption can reveal how the AlGaN surface properties vary with pH.

Experiments: AFM force curves and images were used to probe the AlGaN/solution interface in water as a function of pH, and with added cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) or anionic surfactant sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS).

An Ant Colony Inspired Multi-Bernoulli Filter for Cell Tracking in Time-Lapse Microscopy Sequences.

The analysis of the dynamic behavior of cells in time-lapse microscopy sequences requires the development of reliable and automatic tracking methods capable of estimating individual cell states and delineating the lineage trees corresponding to the tracks. In this paper, we propose a novel approach, i.e.

pH-dependent surface properties of the gallium nitride - Solution interface mapped by surfactant adsorption.

Hypothesis: The surface charge of gallium nitride (GaN) in contact with solution is controlled by pH via surface protonation and deprotonation, similar to silica. Ionic surfactants adsorb on surfaces via electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions and can be utilized to reflect the surface charge of GaN.

Experiments: The surface charge properties of Ga-polar GaN in solution were probed as a function of pH using atomic force microscopy (AFM).

Ca detection utilising AlGaN/GaN transistors with ion-selective polymer membranes.

We demonstrate highly selective and sensitive potentiometric ion sensors for calcium ion detection, operated without the use of a reference electrode. The sensors consist of AlGaN/GaN heterostructure-based transistor devices with chemical functionalisation of the gate area using poly (vinylchloride)-based (PVC) membranes having high selectivity towards calcium ions, Ca. The sensors exhibited stable and rapid responses when introduced to various concentrations of Ca.

Analytical models of optical refraction in the troposphere.

An extremely accurate but simple asymptotic description (with known error) is obtained for the path of a ray propagating over a curved Earth with radial variations in refractive index. The result is sufficiently simple that analytic solutions for the path can be obtained for linear and quadratic index profiles. As well as rendering the inverse problem trivial for these profiles, this formulation shows that images are uniformly magnified in the vertical direction when viewed through a quadratic refractive-index profile.