No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Polymer and biomolecule processing for medical and electronics applications, i.e. the fabrication of sensors and biosensors, microarrays, or lab on chip devices is a cornerstone field which shows great promise. Laser based thin film deposition techniques such as pulsed laser deposition or matrix-assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE) are competing with conventional methods for integrating new materials with tailored properties for novel technological developments. Successful polymer and protein thin film deposition requires several key elements for depositing viable and functional thin films, i.e. the characteristics of the laser depositing system, the choice of targets and receiver substrates, etc. This chapter reviews the following topics: brief presentation of the MAPLE process including several examples of polymer materials deposited by MAPLE, thus illustrating the potential of the technique as a gentle laser-assisted deposition method. In particular, the "synthesis" of new materials, their analysis and correlation of the bulk and interface properties to its bioenvironment shall be discussed as a method to tackle some bioengineering issues. We will also focus on recent breakthroughs of the MAPLE technique for the fabrication of functional devices, i.e. sensor devices based either on chemoresponsive polymers or on proteins.

No abstract

Tungsten oxide is an interesting compound with many applications in gas sensors, electrochromic and photochromic devices. Thin films of tungsten oxide were obtained by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and Radio Frequency assisted PLD (RF-PLD). A tungsten target was ablated in reactive oxygen atmosphere (0.01-0.05 mbar). The deposition parameters such as laser fluence, substrate temperature, radiofrequency power were varied, while different materials (Corning Glass and Silicon) have been used as substrates. The obtained films showed good adhesion to the substrate and uniform surface aspect, which are important properties for applications. X-ray diffraction, Auger Electron, Raman Spectroscopies and Atomic Force Microscopy were used for characterization. ________________________________________________________________________________