No abstract

The surface sheet resistance of conducting films of glycerol‐doped poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxy‐thiophene)–poly(styrene sulfonate) is largely dependent on the annealing temperature. The presence of free glycerol in insufficiently baked films, as indicated by infrared spectra and thermogravimetric analysis, results in conducting polymer films with poor morphology and low electrical conductivity. The device performance of organic light‐emitting diodes using this modified poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxy‐thiophene)–poly(styrene sulfonate) as an anode is also greatly affected by the baking conditions of the conducting films. The maximum light output, current density, and luminous power efficiency are observed from devices using anodes baked at a high temperature close to the boiling point of glycerol. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 2522–2528, 2003

We demonstrate the accurate picoliter-scale dispensing of active proteins using a novel laser transfer technique. Droplets of protein solution are dispensed onto functionalized glass slides and into plastic microwells, activating as small as 50-microm diameter areas on these surfaces. Protein microarrays fabricated by laser transfer were assayed using standard fluorescent labeling techniques to demonstrate successful protein and antigen binding. These results indicate that laser transfer does not damage the active site of the dispensed protein and that this technique can be used to successfully fabricate a functioning protein microarray. Also, as a result of the efficient nature of the process, material usage is reduced by two to four orders of magnitude compared to conventional pin dispensing methods for protein spotting.

We have studied the transport properties of disordered WSi films near the metal/insulator transition (MIT) and we have also reviewed the data for several other disordered materials near their MIT. In all cases, we found the presence of enhanced superconductivity. We constructed a superconductivity "phase diagram" (i.e., T(c) versus sigma) for each system, which reveals a striking correlation: In all cases, T(c) values are significantly enhanced only for samples whose conductivities lie within a narrow range on the metallic side of, and moderately near, the MIT. We present a heuristic model to explain this phenomenon.