University of Houston System

NaiJuan J Wu

Alex Ignatiev

Ali Reza Zomorrodian

Xin Chen

Shangqing Liu

E Joseph Charlson

The present invention provides a method for capturing optical micro detectors for improved surgical handling during implantation into an eye comprising the steps of providing an optically active thin film heterostructure on a soluble substrate; forming an array comprising individual optical microdetectors from the optically active thin film heterostructure; attaching the optical microdetector array onto a biodegradable polymer carrier membrane; and separating the optical microdetector array attached to the biodegradable polymer carrier membrane from the soluble substrate thereby capturing the optical microdetectors in the bio-polymer carrier membrane for improved handling of the optical micro-detectors during transfer and implantation into the eye.

Thin film optical detectors for retinal implantation and methods for making and using same

A thin film solid oxide fuel cell (TFSOFC) having a porous metallic anode and a porous cathode is provided. The fuel cell is formed by using a continuous metal foil as a substrate to epitaxially deposit a thin film electrolyte on one surface of the foil. The metal foil may then be made porous by photolithographically patterning and etching the other surface of the foil to form holes extending through the foil to the electrolyte/foil interface. The cathode is then formed on the electrolyte by depositing a second thin film using known film deposition techniques. Further processing may be used to increase the porosity of the electrodes. The metal foil may be treated before film deposition to have an atomically ordered surface, which makes possible an atomically ordered thin film electrolyte.

Thin film solid oxide fuel cell and method for forming

An electrically operated, overwritable, multivalued, non-volatile resistive memory element is disclosed. The memory element includes a two terminal non-volatile memory device in which a memory film material is included, and a circuit topological configuration is defined. The memory device relates generally to a unique new electrically induced variable resistance effect, which has been discovered in thin films of colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) oxide materials. The memory material is characterized by: 1) the electrical control of resistance through the application of short duration low voltage electrical pulses at room temperature and with no applied magnetic field; 2) increase of the resistance or decrease of the resistance depending on the polarity of the applied pulses; 3) a large dynamic range of electrical resistance values; and 4) the ability to be set at one of a plurality of resistance values within said dynamic range in response to selected electrical input signals so as to provide said single cell with multibit/multivalued storage capabilities. The memory element includes a circuit topology to construct a ROM/RAM configuration. The features of the memory element circuit are: 1) the ability to set and then measure the resistance of the two terminal multi-valued memory devices with negligible effects of sampling voltage and current; and 2) the ability to step up or down the resistance value, i. e., to set one of multiple number of resistance states, with repeated applications of pulses of varying amplitude.

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Pearland, TX, United States of America

NaiJuan J Wu