Toward the controlled synthesis of hexagonal boron nitride films.

Atomically smooth hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) layers have very useful properties and thus potential applications for protective coatings, deep ultraviolet (DUV) emitters, and as a dielectric for nanoelectronics devices. In this paper, we report on the growth of h-BN by a low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) process using diborane and ammonia as the gas precursors. The use of LPCVD allows synthesis of h-BN with a controlled number of layers defined by the growth conditions, temperature, time, and gas partial pressure.

CMOS-compatible synthesis of large-area, high-mobility graphene by chemical vapor deposition of acetylene on cobalt thin films.

We demonstrate the synthesis of large-area graphene on Co, a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible metal, using acetylene (C(2)H(2)) as a precursor in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-based method. Cobalt films were deposited on SiO(2)/Si, and the influence of Co film thickness on monolayer graphene growth was studied, based on the solubility of C in Co. The surface area coverage of monolayer graphene was observed to increase with decreasing Co film thickness.

Biodistribution and long-term fate of silver nanoparticles functionalized with bovine serum albumin in rats.

Silver nanocrystals (Ag NCs) hold promising antibiotic and antiviral properties in biological systems. The biodistribution of silver nanostructures injected into animals in vivo is currently unknown, remaining as a fundamental issue for potential therapeutic applications. Here, we injected Ag NCs capped with bovine serum albumin (BSA) in live rats to elucidate their fate in several organs including liver, heart and brain.