News and events

AEP Core was contracted by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s (DTRA) explosive ordinance disposal group to develop a flexible scintillator phosphor film for application to a flexible substrate digital x-ray detector. A digital x-ray detector is functionally similar to a large digital camera: a light source (x-rays) irradiates a sample to be imaged. The x-rays are attenuated as they pass through the sample and are detected by a digital x-ray detector where the incident x-rays are absorbed by a scintillator phosphor film and converted to visible light. The light is captured by an array of photodiodes connected in series with a thin film transistor fabricated on a large area display glass substrate (similar to a modern television). The light is converted to an electrical signal in the photodiode which is extracted when the transistor is turned on to produce a digital image (see example, Figure 1).

As part of the collective effort to control and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, a variety of research groups at ASU are working together to develop a rapid and highly accurate test for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in human saliva. The first component of this test is a combined silicon and glass filter that is used to remove constituents of saliva that are larger than the virus itself. This is accomplished by etching sets of ridges into the silicon substrate to a depth that is slightly larger than the known diameter of SARS-CoV-2. Then, a glass substrate is bonded to the silicon such that it forms a “ceiling” above the ridge which creates the necessary nanoscale gaps that perform the filtration. This filtration process effectively concentrates the virus and prepares it for the genetic detection component of the test that is very specific for SARS-CoV-2. The result is the creation of a test that is non-invasive, affordable, easily repeatable, more sensitive than the standard nasopharyngeal swab test, field-deployable, and operates on the scale of minutes instead of hours or days.

In the weeks leading up to the start of the fall 2020 semester, Arizona State University was busy preparing its classrooms, installing equipment for the new ASU Sync experience. But because of a parts shortage due to the pandemic, ASU’s timeline was almost jeopardized, leading the university to do what it does best: find an innovative solution. the University Technology Office was short 60 mounts, and the manufacturer working with ASU wasn’t able to deliver before Aug. 20 — the first day of classes. Once the word got out that UTO needed help, ASU’s Instrument Design and Fabrication Core Facility offered to manufacture the parts in-house on the Tempe campus. Read More…

We’ve heard the phrase “living in unprecedented time” so often lately that it has become a cliché. That does not make it any less true, and for the Instrument Design & Fabrication Core Facility here at ASU, the effects of the public health pandemic are unprecedented, specifically in how we are able to redirect our facilities priorities to support requests that we do not typically see.

The Eyring Materials Center (EMC) proudly announces the addition of the Helios 5 UX dual beam, a Focused Ion Beam (FIB) Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). This state-of-the-art instrument offers a significant improvement to our center’s electron microscopy capabilities. With its arrival, the Helios 5 UX provides the ability to produce exceptional sample lamella for transmission electron microscope (TEM) analysis. It can also generate sub-nanometer resolution images, previously not possible using any ASU SEM. The array of options available on the Helios5 makes it a powerful tool to address a wide variety of research challenges.