Broadband Electrical Characterization of Individual Biological Cells and Subcellular Structures
Yale Electrical Engineering Seminar Series
"Broadband Electrical Characterization of Individual Biological Cells and Subcellular Structures"
James C. M. Hwang
Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Lehigh University
Abstract: Compared to conventional optical or chemical characterization of biological cells, broadband electrical characterization can be fast, compact and label free. Additionally, the frequency of the electromagnetic waves can be varied over many decades to detect different subcellular structures that respond at difference length and time scales. For example, using transmission lines fabricated by thin- film technology with feature size on the order of 10 micrometers, we have successfully differentiated live and dead mammalian cells at megahertz frequencies and extracted cytoplasm resistance and capacitance at gigahertz frequencies. However, to extend electromagnetic characterization of biological cells to nanometer scale and terahertz frequency, it will be necessary to use state-of-the-art silicon CMOS technology to fabricate test structures with submicron feature size, as well as on-chip generator/detector for near-field terahertz characterization. This is mainly because biological cells must be kept alive in an aqueous solution, but terahertz waves tend to be absorbed and scattered by the aqueous solution. For the ultimate spatial resolution, we have been developing a broadband near-field scanning microwave microscope for the characterization of biological cells and subcelluar structures. This talk will review recent progress as well as future challenges.
Bio: Dr. James Hwang has been a Professor of Electrical Engineering at Lehigh University since 1988. He graduated with a B.S. degree in Physics from National Taiwan University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University. He had twelve years of industrial experience at IBM, Bell Labs, GE, and GAIN. He cofounded GAIN and QED; the latter became a public company (IQE). He had been a Program Officer for GHz-THz Electronics at the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, as well as a visiting professor at Marche Polytechnic Univ. in Italy, Nanyang Technological Univ. in Singapore, and Shanghai Jiao Tong Univ., East China Normal Univ., and Univ. of Science and Technology of China. He is a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. He has published more than 300 refereed technical papers and has been granted eight U. S. patents. His current research interests include millimeter-wave micro-electromechanical systems, electrical detection and poration of individual biological cells, graphene-like two-dimensional atomic-layer materials and devices, and scanning microwave microscopy.
Host: Prof. Fengnian Xia, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Yale University
Tuesday – January 24, 2017
10:00 to 11:00 am
Becton Seminar Room - BCT035
15 Prospect St