Journal: Microsystems & Nanoengineering

Article Title: Selective photoacoustic handling of microparticles via annular laser beams

doi: 10.1038/s41378-026-01428-5

Figure Lengend Snippet: a Electron beam evaporation of Cr and Au layers onto the Si wafer. b Spin-coating and soft baking of the SU-8 negative photoresist. c UV exposure via a photomask to pattern the chambers. d Development followed by PEB and hard bake to stabilize the SU-8 structures. e Dispensing microparticle suspension and sealing with a cover glass. f Photograph of the fabricated device

Article Snippet: First, a 5 nm chromium (Cr) adhesion layer is deposited onto a 500 μm thick silicon wafer with a diameter of 2-inch using electron beam evaporation (Denton Vacuum ® , Explorer), followed by a 20 nm gold (Au) layer.

Techniques: Evaporation, Suspension

Journal: Science Advances

Article Title: Opposite and reversible optical switching in soft-lattice halide perovskites using light and heat

doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aeb1442

Figure Lengend Snippet: ( A ) Measured change in transmission (∆ T = T final − T initial ) as a function of wavelength resulting from heating the halide perovskite to 80°C (red solid triangles) and illumination with above-gap light (blue solid squares). The transmission consistently reverts once the stimulus (light/heat) is removed (open red triangles and blue squares). Inset is a photograph of 1- and 2-mm-thick crystals showing transparency for wavelengths longer than 550 nm. ( B ) Measured x-ray diffraction (XRD) at room temperature and 80°C showing the crystalline lattice thermally expanding. On cooling back to 25°C, the lattice recovers its original equilibrium parameters. ( C ) Measured XRD under dark conditions at 25°C followed by an illuminated scan (using 532 nm) and another dark scan (showing structural lattice recovery). The (040) peak shifts to smaller 2θ values in both cases, indicating an increase in the lattice parameter. The second dark scan indicates recovery to the original lattice parameter. ( D ) Schematic of orthorhombic ( Pnma ) CsPbBr 3 lattice in the equilibrium state (left). With above-bandgap excitation, the lattice is distorted (bottom right) due to electron-phonon coupling through the elongation of the Pb-Br-Pb bond along the {0b0} direction, i.e., the long axis. In the case of heating, the lattice thermally expands in the {0b0} and shifts to a more ordered structure (top right). For all illuminated measurements: light source = 532 nm laser at 40 mW, 3 mm beam diameter for FTIR and 1 mm for XRD.

Article Snippet: This research used a Rigaku SmartLab thin-film x-ray diffractometer in the UC Davis Advanced Materials Characterization and Testing (AMCaT) Laboratory, acquired with funding from the National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) Program under award number MRI-2216198.

Techniques: Transmission Assay