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Search Publications by: Steve Semancik (Fed)

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Displaying 1 - 25 of 116

Quantum Vibro-Polaritonic Sensing

August 15, 2025
Author(s)
Peng Zheng, Stephen Semancik, Ishan Barman
Vibrational spectroscopies are pivotal in analytical methods and biomedical diagnostics owing to their singular ability to provide molecular specificity. Yet, they are intrinsically limited by weak light-matter interactions and their vulnerability to

Multiplexed SERS Detection of Serum Cardiac Biomarkers Using Plasmonic Metasurfaces

October 15, 2024
Author(s)
Peng Zheng, Lintong Wu, Piyush Raj, Jeong Hee Kim, Santosh Paidi, Stephen Semancik, Ishan Barman
Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) possesses exquisite molecular-specific properties with single-molecule sensitivity. Yet, translation of SERS into a quantitative analysis technique remains elusive owing to considerable fluctuation of the SERS

Picoliter Drop Deposition of SnO2 Nanoparticles onto Microsensor Platforms

December 14, 2023
Author(s)
Elvin Beach, Kurt D. Benkstein, Krenar Shqau, Christopher Montgomery, Patricia Morris, Stephen Semancik
Microhotplates produced by micromachining processes provide a robust substrate for miniaturized solid-state gas sensors; however, it can be challenging to locally deposit solution-suspended nanomaterials for sensing directly onto these small (≈ 100 µm), 3

Quantum Plexcitonic Sensing

October 11, 2023
Author(s)
Peng Zheng, Stephen Semancik, Ishan Barman
Quantum sensing is poised to deliver unparalleled performance compared to its classical counterpart. While fundamental to quantum sensing, quantum state control has been traditionally limited to extreme conditions, such as a high vacuum or an ultra-stable

Operando photoelectron spectromicroscopy of nanodevices: Correlating the surface chemistry and transport in SnO2 nanowire chemiresistors

June 29, 2023
Author(s)
Andrei Kolmakov, Trey Diulus, Kurt D. Benkstein, Stephen Semancik, Majid Kazemian, Matteo Amati, Maya Kiskinova, Luca Gregoratti
With size reduction of active elements in microelectronics to tens of nanometers and below, the effect of surface and interface properties on overall device performance becomes crucial. High resolution spectroscopic and imaging techniques provide a

Deep Learning Image Analysis of Nanoplasmonic Sensors: Toward Medical Breath Monitoring

November 23, 2022
Author(s)
Yangyang Zhao, Boqun Dong, Kurt D. Benkstein, Lei Chen, Kristen L. Steffens, Stephen Semancik
Sensing biomarkers in exhaled breath offers a potentially portable, cost-effective, and noninvasive strategy for disease diagnosis screening and monitoring, while high sensitivity, wide sensing range, and target specificity are critical challenges. We

Plasmonic Sensing Studies of a Gas-Phase Cystic Fibrosis Marker in Moisture Laden Air

May 29, 2021
Author(s)
Libin Sun, Drew Hall, Douglas Conrad, Kurt D. Benkstein, Stephen Semancik, Mona Zaghloul
A plasmonic sensing platform was developed as a noninvasive method to monitor gas-phase biomarkers related to cystic fibrosis (CF). The nanohole array (NHA) sensing platform is based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and offers a rapid data

Conformational Changes of Immobilized Polythymine due to External Stressors Studied with Temperature-Controlled Electrochemical Microdevices

February 17, 2021
Author(s)
Ramya Vishnubhotla, Sarah Robinson, Jon R. Askim, Christopher B. Montgomery, Kristen L. Steffens, Herman O. Sintim, Stephen Semancik
Conformational changes of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) play an important role in a DNA strand's ability to bind to target ligands. A variety of factors can influence conformation, including temperature, ionic strength, pH, buffer cation valency, strand

Harnessing Measurement Science to Advance Food Safety

April 15, 2020
Author(s)
Melissa M. Phillips, David M. Bunk, Carlos A. Gonzalez, Scott A. Jackson, Leah R. Kauffman, Katrice A. Lippa, Catherine A. Rimmer, Stephen Semancik, Michael R. Winchester, Laura J. Wood

Miniaturized Nanohole Array Based Plasmonic Sensor for the Detection of Acetone and Ethanol with Insights into the Kinetics of Adsorptive Plasmonic Sensing

June 6, 2019
Author(s)
Yangyang Zhao, Kalisadhan Mukherjee, Kurt D. Benkstein, Libin Sun, Kristen L. Steffens, Christopher B. Montgomery, Stephen Semancik, Mona Zaghloul
The present work demonstrates development of a miniaturized plasmonic platform comprised of a Au nanohole array (NHA) on a Si/Si3N4 substrate. Plasmonic responses of the NHA platform, which is coated with Cu-benzenetricarboxylate metal organic framework

Ligand-based stability changes in duplex DNA measured with a microscale electrochemical platform

April 12, 2019
Author(s)
Sarah M. Robinson, Zuliang Shen, Jon R. Askim, Christopher B. Montgomery, Herman O. Sintim, Stephen Semancik
Development of technologies for rapidly screening the thermal stability of DNA secondary structures and the effects on stability for binding of small molecule drugs is important to the drug discovery process. In this report, we describe the capabilities of

Metal Organic Framework-Coated Optical VOC Gas Sensor

November 8, 2018
Author(s)
Yangyang Zhao, Mona E. Zaghloul, Yigal Lilach, Kurt Benkstein, Stephen Semancik
We report a metal organic framework (MOF)-coated nanohole array based plasmonic gas sensor. Arrays of 200 nm circular holes are fabricated with a period of 400 nm. 10 nm thick MOF is coated on the sensor platform to provide high sensitivity and real-time

Thermal characteristics of temperature-controlled electrochemical microdevices

March 31, 2016
Author(s)
Nicholas M. Contento, Stephen Semancik
The development of novel, miniaturized sensing systems is driven by the demand for better and faster chemical measurements with lower power consumption and smaller sample sizes. Emerging miniature sensors, or microsensors, also offer rapid thermal and

The I/O transform of a chemical sensor

March 14, 2016
Author(s)
Nalin Katta, Douglas C. Meier, Kurt D. Benkstein, Stephen Semancik, Baranidharan Raman
A number of sensing technologies using a variety of transduction principles have been proposed for the purpose of non-invasive chemical sensing. A fundamental problem common to all sensing technologies is determining what features of the transducer's

Gas Sensing with Bare and Graphene-covered Optical Nano Antenna Structures

February 17, 2016
Author(s)
Bhaven Mehta, Kurt D. Benkstein, Stephen Semancik, Mona E. Zaghloul
The motivation behind this work is to study the gas phase chemical sensing characteristics of optical (plasmonic) nano antennas (ONA) and graphene/graphene oxide-covered versions of these structures. ONA are devices that have their resonating frequency in

Rapid DNA melting analyses using a microfabricated electrochemical platform

January 1, 2015
Author(s)
Zuliang Shen, Stephen Semancik, Herman O. Sintim
A new microscale platform is reported which is based on microfabrication methods that integrate thermal control and multi-electrode components to enable rapid temperature-dependent electrochemical measurements on small volume fluid samples. We demonstrate

A Demonstration of Fast and Accurate Discrimination and Quantification of Chemically Similar Species Utilizing a Single Cross-Selective Chemiresistor

June 14, 2014
Author(s)
Alexander (. Vergara Tinoco, Kurt D. Benkstein, Christopher B. Montgomery, Stephen Semancik
Performance characteristics of gas-phase microsensors will determine the ultimate utility of these devices for a wide range of chemical monitoring applications. Considerable effort has led to electronic nose devices that utilize multiple cross-selective

Microsensors for Mars: Trace Analyte Detection in a Simulated Martian Environment

May 23, 2014
Author(s)
Kurt D. Benkstein, Phillip H. Rogers, Christopher B. Montgomery, C. Jin, Baranidharan Raman, Stephen Semancik
Chemiresistive microsensor arrays are being developed and tested in a simulated Martian environment. Target analyte species include trace small molecules that may indicate current geological or, potentially, biological activity on Mars. The sensing films

Nanomaterials-Enabled Photonic and Chemiresistive Sensing of Chemicals and Biochemicals

May 12, 2014
Author(s)
Charles J. Choi, Kurt D. Benkstein, Phillip H. Rogers, Christopher B. Montgomery, Stephen Semancik
Contact events occurring between target species and surface sites on sensing materials initiate front-end interactions and subsequent transduction processes that can yield viable signals for target detection. By offering high surface-to-volume ratios, and
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