In this research, we used a polycrystalline silicon nanowire field-effect transistor (poly-Si NWFET) as a biosensor that employs the sidewall spacer technique instead of an expensive electron beam lithography method. When compared with commercial semiconductor processes, the sidewall spacer technique has the advantages of simplicity and low cost. In this study, we employed a novel poly-Si NWFET device for real-time, label-free, and ultrahigh-sensitivity detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in human serum. Since serum proteome is very complex containing high levels of salts and other interfering compounds, we hereby developed a standard operating procedure for real-sample pretreatment to keep a proper pH value and ionic strength of the desalted serum and also utilized Tween 20 to serve as the passivation agent by surface modification on the NWFET to reduce nonspecific binding for medical diagnostic applications. We first modified 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane on the surface of a poly-Si nanowire device followed by glutaraldehyde functionalization, and the PSA antibodies were immobilized on the aldehyde terminal. While PSA was prepared in the buffers to maintain an appropriate pH value and ionic strength, the results indicated that the sensor could detect trace PSA at less than 5 fg/mL in a microfluidic channel. The novel poly-Si NWFET is developed as a diagnostic platform for monitoring prostate cancer and predicting the risk of early biochemical relapse.

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Typhoon Morakot lashed Taiwan and produced copious amounts of precipitation in 2009. From the point view of hydrological statistics, the impact of the precipitation from typhoon Morakot using a frequency analysis can be analyzed and discussed. The frequency curve, which was fitted mathematically to historical observed data, can be used to estimate the probability of exceedance for runoff events of a certain magnitude. The study integrates frequency analysis and spatial analysis to assess the effect of Typhoon Morakot event on rainfall frequency in the Gaoping River basin of southern Taiwan. First, extreme rainfall data are collected at sixteen stations for durations of 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 hours and then an appropriate probability distribution was selected to analyze the impact of the extreme hydrological event. Spatial rainfall patterns for a return period of 200-yr with 24-hr duration with and without Typhoon Morakot are estimated. Results show that the rainfall amount is significantly different with long duration with and without the event for frequency analysis. Furthermore, spatial analysis shows that extreme rainfall for a return period of 200-yr is highly dependent on topography and is smaller in the southwest than that in the east. The results not only demonstrate the distinct effect of Typhoon Morakot on frequency analysis, but also could provide reference in future planning of hydrological engineering.

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This work proposes an advanced wet chemical one-step cleaning process which omits the hydrochloric acid/hydrogen peroxide/ water mixture ͑HPM͒ step in RCA. A novel one-step cleaning solution had been developed for pregate oxide cleaning to replace the conventional RCA two-step cleaning recipe, which used ammonia/hydrogen peroxide ͑or SC-1͒ and HPM ͑or SC-2͒ step. Tetramethylammonium hydroxide ͑TMAH͒ and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid ͑EDTA͒ were added into the RCA SC-1 cleaning solution to enhance cleaning efficiency. From the experimental results, the particles and metallic contamination on the bare Si wafer surface could be removed significantly by applying this one-step cleaning solution. The effectiveness of various cleaning recipes and their interaction mechanism with silicon surfaces were studied. The surface adsorption and double layer models could explain the surface behavior of TMAH solutions. Based on the model, the particle, surface roughness and metallic contaminants can be realized. It was observed that the electrical properties of metal oxide semiconductor capacitors after cleaning with this novel solution were better than those after the conventional RCA cleaning. Besides, the cleaning method combining NH 4 OH, tetramethylammonium hydroxide, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and H 2 O 2 , at 80°C for 3 min showed high performance on particle removal, metal cleaning, surface smoothness, and electrical properties. Hence, this one-step cleaning process is very promising for future large sized silicon wafer cleaning due to the advantages of time-saving, low cost, and high performance.