In a paper by V. Duplan et al., J. Biomed. Optics 14(5), 054042 (2009), we report on the successful immobilization of the influenza A virus on the biofunctionalized surface of GaAs (001). This result is an important milestone in our quest for the development of an all-optical biosensor for rapid detection and typing of viral pathogens. The device functions thanks to the strong photoluminescence emission generated by III-V quantum semiconductors (QS). One of...

Alkanethiol self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of various methylene group chain lengths [HS–(CH2)n–CH3 (n=9,11,13,15,17) were fabricated on the GaAs(001) surface followed by characterization using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy [G. Marshall et al., J. Appl. Phys. 105, 094310 (2009)]. Modal analysis of the CH2 stretching mode region (2800–3000 cm-1) showed that linear scaling of the n-dependent factors accurately reproduced the spectral data, supporting a chain-length consistent physical model upon which a measurement of the absorption coefficient…

We have proposed [D. Lepage and J.J. Dubowski, Opt. Express 17(12), 10411 (2009)] an innovative microstructure for a monolithically integrated surface plasmon resonance (SPR) device comprising a metal coated SiO2 layer deposited atop a photoluminescence emitting quantum well (QW) wafer. The functioning of such a device is based on the uncollimated and incoherent emission of semiconductors. We discuss the results of our calculations aimed at the description of SPs coupling in QW semiconductor-based SPR architectures…

The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, announced on April 30, 2009 in Ottawa the selection of the inaugural 55 recipients of the new Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships-the most important, prestigious and sought-after scholarships for doctoral students. The Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship Program supports world-class doctoral students who demonstrate a high standard of scholarly achievement in graduate studies in social sciences and humanities, science and…