Resonators based on two-dimensional (2D) materials have exceptional properties for application as nanomechanical sensors, which allows them to operate at high frequencies with high sensitivity. However, their performance as nanomechanical sensors is currently limited by their low quality ( Q )-factor. Here, we make use of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) to apply pure in-plane mechanical strain, enhancing both their resonance frequency and Q-factor. In contrast to earlier work, the 2D material resonators are fabricated on the MEMS actuators without any wet processing steps using a dry-transfer method. A platinum clamp, which is deposited by electron beam-induced deposition, is shown to be effective in fixing the 2D membrane to the MEMS and preventing slippage. By in-plane straining the membranes in a purely mechanical fashion, we increase the tensile energy, thereby diluting dissipation. This way, we show how dissipation dilution can increase the Q -factor of 2D material resonators by 91%. The presented MEMS actuated dissipation dilution method does not only pave the way toward higher Q -factors in resonators based on 2D materials, but also provides a route toward studies of the intrinsic loss mechanisms of 2D materials in the monolayer limit.

Triose phosphate utilization (TPU) limitation is one of the three biochemical limitations of photosynthetic CO₂ assimilation rate in C₃ plants. Under TPU limitation, abrupt and large transitions in light intensity cause damped oscillations in photosynthesis. When plants are salt-stressed, photosynthesis is often down-regulated particularly under dynamic light intensity, but how salt stress affects TPU-related dynamic photosynthesis is still unknown. To elucidate this, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) was grown with and without sodium chloride (NaCl, 100 mM) stress for 13 d. Under high CO₂ partial pressure, rapid increases in light intensity caused profound photosynthetic oscillations. Salt stress reduced photosynthetic oscillations in leaves initially under both low- and high-light conditions and reduced the duration of oscillations by about 2 min. Besides, salt stress increased the threshold for CO₂ partial pressure at which oscillations occurred. Salt stress increased TPU capacity without affecting Rubisco carboxylation and electron transport capacity, indicating the up-regulation of end-product synthesis capacity in photosynthesis. Thus salt stress may reduce photosynthetic oscillations by decreasing leaf internal CO₂ partial pressure and/or increasing TPU capacity. Our results provide new insights into how salt stress modulates dynamic photosynthesis as controlled by CO₂ availability and end-product synthesis.

Fluid flow processes such as drainage and evaporation in porous media are crucial in geological and biological systems. The motion of the displacement front of a moving fluid through multi-phase interfaces is often associated with abrupt mechanical energy release, detectable as acoustic emissions (AEs). The exact origin of these pulses and their damping mechanisms are still subjects of debate. Here, we study the characteristics of such AEs during evaporation of water from artificial microfluidic vessels, inspired by the physiology of vascular water-transport in plants. From the extracted settling times of the recorded AEs, we identify three pulse types and attribute their origins to bubble formation, snap-off events and rapid pore invasion. We also show that the resonance frequencies between 10 and 70 kHz present in specific pulse types decrease with increasing vessel radius (ranging from 0.25 to 1.0 mm) and length (ranging from 2.5 to 10.0 mm). Our findings provide insight into evaporation-induced AEs from microfluidic systems, and their potential use in non-invasive inspection or vascular health monitoring.

Small and low-cost chlorophyll sensors are popular in agricultural sector and food-quality control.Combining such sensors with silicon CMOS electronics is challenged by the absence of silicon-integrated light-sources.We experimentally achieve optical absorption sensing of chlorophyll based pigments with silicon (Si) micro light-emitting diodes (LED) as light-source, fabricated in a standard SOI-CMOS technology.By driving a Si LED in both forward and avalanche modes of operation,we steer its electroluminescentspectrum between visible (400-900 nm) and near-infrared (1120 nm). For detection of chlorophyll in solution phase, the dualspectrum light from the LED propagates vertically through glycerol micro-droplets containing sodium copper chlorophyllin at varying relative concentrations. The transmitted light is detected via an off-chip Si photodiode. The visible to near-infrared color ratio (COR) of the photocurrent yields the effective absorption coefficient. We introduce the LED-specificmolar absorption coefficient as ametric to compute the absolute pigment concentration (0.019 ± 0.006 mol L-1) and validate the results by measurements with a hybrid spectrophotometer. With the same sensor, we also show noninvasive monitoring of chlorophyll in plant leaves. COR sensitivities $\sim 3.9 \times 10^{4}$ mol-1L and $\sim 5.3 \times 10^{4}$ mol-1L are obtained for two leaf species, where light from the LED propagates diffusely through the thickness of the leaf prior to detection by the photodiode. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of realizing fully CMOS-integrated optical sensors for biochemical analyses in food sector and plant/human health.

Plant transpiration accounts for about half of all terrestrial evaporation. Plants need water for many vital functions including nutrient uptake, growth and leaf cooling. The regulation of plant water transport by stomata in the leaves leads to the loss of 97% of the water that is taken up via their roots, to the atmosphere. Measuring plant-water dynamics is essential to gain better insight into its roles in the terrestrial water cycle and plant productivity. It can be measured at different levels of integration, from the single cell micro-scale to the ecosystem macro-scale, on time scales from minutes to months. In this contribution, we give an overview of state-of-the-art techniques for plant-water dynamics measurement and highlight several promising innovations for future monitoring. Some of the techniques we will cover include: gas exchange for stomatal conductance and transpiration monitoring, lysimetry, thermometry, heat-based sap flow monitoring, reflectance monitoring including satellite remote sensing, ultrasound spectroscopy, dendrometry, accelometry, scintillometry, stable water isotope analysis and eddy covariance. To fully assess water transport within the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum, a variety of techniques are required to monitor environmental variables in combination with biological responses at different scales. Yet this is not sufficient: to truly account for spatial heterogeneity, a dense network sampling is needed.

We report an avalanche-mode light-emitting transistor (AMLET) in silicon (Si), based on a lateral bipolar junction, which emits light near 760 nm optical wavelength with a record low bandwidth of 38 nm. The AMLET, designed in a CMOS-compatible silicon-on-insulator (SOI) photonics platform, is optically confined within a 0.21 ∼\μ m thick SOI layer, which forms a Fabry-Pérot (FP) resonator perpendicular to the Si surface. Light is emitted from the reverse biased emitter-base junction via phonon-assisted hot carrier recombination and, additionally, minority carriers are injected via the forward-biased Base-Collector junction. The combination of injection from collector terminal through a narrow base and FP optical resonance, yields a high optical power efficiency of 4.3\× 10-6 at V BC=0.8 V and V EB=10 V. Our work opens new possibilities in spectral-engineering of Si light-emitters, which could boost performance of all-Si optical interconnects and sensors.

The CMOS silicon avalanche-mode light-emitting diode (AMLED) has emerged as a potential light source for monolithic optical interconnects. Earlier we presented a superjunction light-emitting diode (SJLED) that offers a higher electroluminescent intensity compared to a conventional AMLED because of its more uniform field distribution. However, for reducing power consumption low-voltage ( \leq 15\text{V} ) SJLEDs are desired, not explored before. In this work we present a TCAD simulation feasibility study of the low-voltage SJLED for various doping concentrations and device dimensions. The results show that for obtaining a constant field, approximately a tenfold more aggressive charge balance condition in the SJLED is estimated than traditionally reported. This is important for establishing a guideline to realize optimized RESURF and SJLEDs in the ever-shrinking advanced CMOS nodes.

Silicon p-n junction diodes emit low-intensity, broad-spectrum light near 1120 nm in forward bias and between 400-900 nm in reverse bias (avalanche). For the first time, we experimentally achieve optical absorption sensing of pigment in solution with silicon micro LEDs designed in a standard silicon-on-insulator CMOS technology. By driving a single LED in both forward and avalanche modes of operation, we steer it's electroluminescent spectrum between visible and near-infrared (NIR). We then characterize the vertical optical transmission of both visible and NIR light from the LED through the same micro-droplet specimen to a vertically mounted discrete silicon photodiode. The effective absorption coefficient of carmine solution in glycerol at varying concentrations were extracted from the color ratio in optical coupling. By computing the LED-specific molar absorption coefficient of carmine, we estimate the concentration (∼0.040 mol L-1) and validate the same with a commercial spectrophotometer (∼0.030 mol L-1). With a maximum observed sensitivity of ∼1260 cm-1mol-1L, the sensor is a significant step forward towards low-cost CMOS-integrated optical sensors with silicon LED as the light source intended for biochemical analyses in food sector and plant/human health.