Biomedical subjects

B G Orr

Publications and source records attributed to B G Orr.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2004

Monolayer pattern evolution via substrate strain-mediated spinodal decomposition.

Investigations of octylsilane (C8H17SiH3) monolayer pattern formation on Au(111) are reported. Scanning tunneling microscopy data display the evolution of a approximately 6 nm scale pattern of interwoven features concomitant with ejection of surface Au atoms and relaxation of the Au(111) 23xsqrt[3] surface reconstruction. Numerical simulations suggest the surface dynamics are governed by a substrate strain-mediated spinodal decomposition mechanism, novel to organic monolayer formation. Collectively, the experimental and theoretical data indicate strain-inducing Si-Au bond interactions drive the pattern formation and the alkyl chains play a negligible role.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Dynamic in situ characterization of organic monolayer formation via a Novel substrate-mediated mechanism.

Ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy data investigating octylsilane (C8H17SiH3) monolayer pattern formation on Au(111) are presented. The irregular monolayer pattern exhibits a 60 A length scale. Formation of the octylsilane monolayer relaxes the Au(111) 23 x square root3 surface reconstruction and ejects surface Au atoms. Au adatom diffusion epitaxially extends the Au(111) crystal lattice via step edge growth and island formation. The chemisorbed monolayer covers the entire Au surface at saturation exposure. Theoretical and experimental data suggest the presence of two octylsilane molecular adsorption phases: an atop site yielding a pentacoordinate Si atom and a surface vacancy site yielding a tetracoordinate Si atom. Theoretical simulations investigating two-phase monolayer self-assembly dynamics on a solid surface suggest pattern formation results from strain-induced spinodal decomposition of the two adsorption phases. Collectively, the theoretical and experimental data indicate octylsilane monolayer pattern formation is a result of interfacial Au-Si interactions and the alkyl chains play a negligible role in the monolayer pattern formation mechanism.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Imaging the evolution of lateral composition modulation in strained alloy superlattices.

Scanning tunneling microscopy is used to investigate the morphological evolution of GaAs/InAs short period superlattice structures. The layers of the superlattice, either grown in compression or tension, exhibit an island or trench morphology. With increasing film thickness, the islands or trenches grow in size and develop a characteristic spacing along [110] of approximately 150 A. This is the first experimental evidence to suggest that lateral composition modulation arises from both thickness variations of the layers and compositional nonuniformities within the atomic plane.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Deformability of poly(amidoamine) dendrimers.

Experimental data indicates that poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers flatten when in contact with a substrate, i.e. they are no longer spherical, but resemble flat disks. In order to better understand the deformation behavior of these branched polymers, a series of atomistic molecular dynamics simulations is performed. The resulting flattened dendrimer conformations are compared to atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of individual dendrimers at air/mica and water/mica interfaces. The ability of the polymers to deform is investigated as a function of dendrimer generation (2-5) and the required energies are calculated. Our modeling results show good agreement with the experimental AFM images, namely that dendrimers are highly flexible and capable of forming multiple interaction sites between most of their branch ends and the substrate. The deformation energy scales with dendrimer generation and does not indicate an increase in stiffness between generations 2 and 5 due to steric effects.

Biocompatible Materials↗

PubMed2003

Interaction of dendrimers (artificial proteins) with biological hydroxyapatite crystals.

This investigation sets out to mimic protein-crystal interaction during biomineralization with the use of artificial proteins (dendrimers). It is hypothesized that these interactions depend on the surface charge of hydroxyapatite crystals. This was investigated with the use of dendrimers with capped surfaces of different charges to probe the surface. We used AFM images of crystal-bound dendrimers to determine the distribution of the surface charge, and its magnitude was correlated to the binding capacity of the dendrimers to the surface. The binding capacity of the dendrimers in ascending order at pH 7.4 was: acetamide-capped, -NHC(O)CH3, neutral charge; carboxylic-acid-capped, -COOH, negative charge; and amine-capped, -NH2, positive charge. AFM images of the crystals showed dendrimers spaced equally along the crystal. The results suggest that the crystal surface has alternating bands of positive and negative charge or a differential charge array, i.e., alternating bands of either more or less positive or negative charge.

Acetamides↗

PubMed2001

Near-field coherent spectroscopy and microscopy of a quantum dot system.

We combined coherent nonlinear optical spectroscopy with nano-electron volt energy resolution and low-temperature near-field microscopy with subwavelength resolution (<lambda/2) to provide direct and local access to the excitonic dipole in a semiconductor nanostructure quantum system. Our technique allows the ability to address, excite, and probe single eigenstates of solid-state quantum systems with spectral and spatial selectivity while simultaneously providing a measurement of all the various time scales of the excitation including state relaxation and decoherence rates. In analogy to scanning tunneling microscopy measurements, we can now map the optical local density of states of a disordered nanostructure. These measurements lay the groundwork for studying and exploiting spatial and temporal coherence in the nanoscopic regime of solid-state systems.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2000

Determination of spherosiloxane cluster bonding to Si(100)-2 x 1 by scanning tunneling microscopy.

Scanning tunneling microscopy is used to determine the bonding geometry of the spherosiloxane cluster, H(8)Si(8)O(12) , on Si(100)-2 x 1. The images obtained are consistent with monovertex bonding to the Si(100)-2 x 1 surface via activation of a single Si-H bond. Filled and empty state images show good agreement with calculations of the electron density distribution of the cluster as well as the Psi(2) highest occupied molecular orbital and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital surface plots of the cluster.

Journal Article↗