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SAPOTI (Scanning Analysis by PtychO for Tomographic Imaging) will be the second nanoprobe to be installed at the CARNAÚBA (Coherent X-Ray Nanoprobe Beamline) beamline at the 4th-generation light source Sirius at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory (LNLS). Working in the energy range from 2.05 to 15 keV, it has been designed for simultaneous multi-analytical X-ray techniques, including absorption, diffraction, spectroscopy, fluorescence and luminescence, and imaging in 2D and 3D. Highly-stable fully-coherent beam sizes between 35 and 140 nm, with monochromatic flux up to 10 11 ph/s/100-mA/0.01%BW, are expected with an achromatic KB (Kirkpatrick-Baez) focusing optics, whereas a new in-vacuum high-dynamic cryogenic sample stage has been developed aiming at single-nanometer resolution images via high-performance 2D mapping and tomography. This work reports the final assembly and integration of the station in a cleanroom at the LNLS. The results include: vacuum, thermal, dynamic and motion validations; metrology-assisted alignment procedures; implementation of automated and interlocked sample loading; evaluation and optimization of high-performance positioning and scanning capabilities; and integration to the EPICS control system. Technical commissioning at the beamline is expected shortly after moving the station from the cleanroom to the experimental hutch by the end of 2024.

The ATLAS ITk Upgrade project, culminating in the installation into the experiment in 2026, enters this year its production period. Cooperating laboratories dealing with the strip part of the project needs to meet various conditions in clean rooms and testing environments to ensure safety for production components during assembly and measurement procedures. One of the ITk laboratories, located in Prague, prepared for modules’ production is presented as a model case. For this purpose, dedicated DAQ software called ITSDAQ is used together with the slow control monitoring system based on RS232/GPIB standards, MySQL database entry and Grafana visualization platform. Data are stored in the local database storage, a subset of them and the test results are also sent into the ITk Production Database. Such an integrated tool offers real-time plotting of crucial parameters and the possibility of receiving an immediate notification in case of exceeding any threshold.

Fan filter units (FFUs) are crucial to maintaining the cleanliness of cleanrooms. Traditionally, the air volume of FFU is not adjusted and maintained at a rated value, resulting in a huge amount of energy. Previous research proved that controlling FFUs based on personnel position was effective in cleanrooms with the non-uniform environment, and could further reduce the air volumes. However, the control strategy for moving personnel has not been given. In this study, moving personnel is numerically simulated in a typical cleanroom. A control strategy is proposed that only the 4 FFUs above the personnel operate at high velocity and still operate at high velocity for 10 seconds after the personnel leaves. The results show that the control strategy can guarantee satisfactory cleanliness, and the air volume of the proposed strategy can be reduced by 53.6% and 18.7% compared with the uniform velocity strategies at designed velocity and decreased velocity, respectively. Since fewer and fewer personnel are in the cleanroom, the study will conduce to tremendous energy reductions of FFUs, which may have promising application potential in cleanrooms

Fundamentally understanding the complex electrochemical reactions that are associated with energy devices (e.g., rechargeable batteries, fuel cells and electrolyzers) has attracted worldwide attention. In situ liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (TEM) offers opportunities to directly observe and analyze in-liquid specimens without the need for freezing or drying, which opens up a door for visualizing these complex electrochemical reactions at the nano scale in real time. The key to the success of this technique lies in the design and fabrication of electrochemical liquid cells with thin but strong imaging windows. This protocol describes the detailed procedures of our established technique for the fabrication of such electrochemical liquid cells (~110 h). In addition, the protocol for the in situ TEM observation of electrochemical reactions by using the nanofabricated electrochemical liquid cell is also presented (2 h). We also show and analyze experimental results relating to the electrochemical reactions captured. We believe that this protocol will shed light on strategies for fabricating high-quality TEM liquid cells for probing dynamic electrochemical reactions in high resolution, providing a powerful research tool. This protocol requires access to a clean room equipped with specialized nanofabrication setups as well as TEM characterization equipment. This protocol describes the procedure for the fabrication of electrochemical liquid cells for in situ liquid cell transmission electron microscopy. This allows direct visualization of complex electrochemical reactions at the nano scale in real time.

Recent advances in nanomaterials and nano-microfabrication have enabled the development of flexible wearable electronics. However, existing manufacturing methods still rely on a multi-step, error-prone complex process that requires a costly cleanroom facility. Here, we report a new class of additive nanomanufacturing of functional materials that enables a wireless, multilayered, seamlessly interconnected, and flexible hybrid electronic system. All-printed electronics, incorporating machine learning, offers multi-class and versatile human-machine interfaces. One of the key technological advancements is the use of a functionalized conductive graphene with enhanced biocompatibility, anti-oxidation, and solderability, which allows a wireless flexible circuit. The high-aspect ratio graphene offers gel-free, high-fidelity recording of muscle activities. The performance of the printed electronics is demonstrated by using real-time control of external systems via electromyograms. Anatomical study with deep learning-embedded electrophysiology mapping allows for an optimal selection of three channels to capture all finger motions with an accuracy of about 99% for seven classes. Though wearable electronics remain an attractive technology for bioelectronics, fabrication methods that precisely print biocompatible materials for electronics are needed. Here, the authors report an additive manufacturing process that yields all-printed nanomaterial-based wireless electronics.

CMOs face greater challenges when designing cleanrooms compared with a single-product manufacturing facility. In particular, it is important to build as much flexibility as possible into any facility and equipment investment. Additionally, the clients' varied drug substances, products and raw materials are a potential risk for cross-contamination, thus requiring great attention and consideration.

Silicon quantum dots are attractive for the implementation of large spin-based quantum processors in part due to prospects of industrial foundry fabrication. However, the large effective mass associated with electrons in silicon traditionally limits single-electron operations to devices fabricated in customized academic clean rooms. Here, we demonstrate single-electron occupations in all four quantum dots of a 2 x 2 split-gate silicon device fabricated entirely by 300-mm-wafer foundry processes. By applying gate-voltage pulses while performing high-frequency reflectometry off one gate electrode, we perform single-electron operations within the array that demonstrate single-shot detection of electron tunneling and an overall adjustability of tunneling times by a global top gate electrode. Lastly, we use the two-dimensional aspect of the quantum dot array to exchange two electrons by spatial permutation, which may find applications in permutation-based quantum algorithms. Semiconductor spin-qubits with CMOS compatible architectures could benefit from the industrial capacity of the semiconductor industry. Here, the authors make the first steps in demonstrating this by showing single electron operations within a two-dimensional array of foundry-fabricated quantum dots.

One of the most popular methods to fabricate biomedical microfluidic devices is by using a soft-lithography technique. However, the fabrication of the moulds to produce microfluidic devices, such as SU-8 moulds, usually requires a cleanroom environment that can be quite costly. Therefore, many efforts have been made to develop low-cost alternatives for the fabrication of microstructures, avoiding the use of cleanroom facilities. Recently, low-cost techniques without cleanroom facilities that feature aspect ratios more than 20, for fabricating those SU-8 moulds have been gaining popularity among biomedical research community. In those techniques, Ultraviolet (UV) exposure equipment, commonly used in the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) industry, replaces the more expensive and less available Mask Aligner that has been used in the last 15 years for SU-8 patterning. Alternatively, non-lithographic low-cost techniques, due to their ability for large-scale production, have increased the interest of the industrial and research community to develop simple, rapid and low-cost microfluidic structures. These alternative techniques include Print and Peel methods (PAP), laserjet, solid ink, cutting plotters or micromilling, that use equipment available in almost all laboratories and offices. An example is the xurography technique that uses a cutting plotter machine and adhesive vinyl films to generate the master moulds to fabricate microfluidic channels. In this review, we present a selection of the most recent lithographic and non-lithographic low-cost techniques to fabricate microfluidic structures, focused on the features and limitations of each technique. Only microfabrication methods that do not require the use of cleanrooms are considered. Additionally, potential applications of these microfluidic devices in biomedical engineering are presented with some illustrative examples.

Fused silica glass is the preferred material for applications which require long-term chemical and mechanical stability as well as excellent optical properties. The manufacturing of complex hollow microstructures within transparent fused silica glass is of particular interest for, among others, the miniaturization of chemical synthesis towards more versatile, configurable and environmentally friendly flow-through chemistry as well as high-quality optical waveguides or capillaries. However, microstructuring of such complex three-dimensional structures in glass has proven evasive due to its high thermal and chemical stability as well as mechanical hardness. Here we present an approach for the generation of hollow microstructures in fused silica glass with high precision and freedom of three-dimensional designs. The process combines the concept of sacrificial template replication with a room-temperature molding process for fused silica glass. The fabricated glass chips are versatile tools for, among other, the advance of miniaturization in chemical synthesis on chip. Fused silica glass has excellent optical properties, chemical and thermal stability and hardness, but its microstructuring for miniaturized applications has proven difficult. Here the authors demonstrate obtainment of precise arbitrary three dimensional hollow microstructures in fused silica glass by sacrificial template replication.

In this review, several cost-effective thin-film coating methods, which include dip-coating, spin-coating, spray-coating, blade-coating, and roll-coating, are presented. Each method has its own set of advantages and disadvantages depending on the proposed application. Not all of them are appropriate for large-scale production due to their certain limitations. That is why the coating method should be selected based on the type and size of the substrate, including the thickness and surface roughness of the required thin films. The sol–gel method offers several benefits, such as simplicity in fabrication, excellent film uniformity, the capacity to cover surfaces of any size and over vast areas, and a low processing temperature. Nevertheless, these coating methods are somewhat economical and well managed in low-budget laboratories. Moreover, these methods offer thin films with good homogeneity and low-surface roughness. Furthermore, some other thin-film deposition methods, for instance, physical vapor deposition (PVD) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), are also discussed. Since CVD is not restricted to line-of-sight deposition, a characteristic shared by sputtering, evaporation, and other PVD methods, many manufacturing methods favor it. However, these techniques require sophisticated equipment and cleanroom facilities. We aim to provide the pros and cons of thin-film coating methods and let the readers decide the suitable coating technique for their specific application.