A technique for microsecond heating and cooling of a thin (submicron) biological sample

Temperature excursions of short duration are useful in exploring the effects of stress on biological systems. Stress will affect the conformation of biological molecules such as proteins, which will lead to an effect on their function. The feasibility of generating such temperature excursions is dem...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European biophysics journal 2002-09, Vol.31 (5), p.378-382
Main Authors: Steel, Bradley C, Bilek, Marcela M, McKenzie, David R, dos Remedios, Cristobal G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biophysics
Cold Temperature
Computer Simulation
Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation
Equipment Design
Finite Element Analysis
Glass
Heating - instrumentation
Heating - methods
Hot Temperature
Lasers
Models, Theoretical
Molecular biology
Nanotechnology - instrumentation
Nanotechnology - methods
Sensitivity and Specificity
Silicon - chemistry
Silicon - radiation effects
Silicon Dioxide - radiation effects
Silicon wafers
Stress
Thermal Conductivity
Thermodynamics
Water
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Summary:Temperature excursions of short duration are useful in exploring the effects of stress on biological systems. Stress will affect the conformation of biological molecules such as proteins, which will lead to an effect on their function. The feasibility of generating such temperature excursions is demonstrated by solving the heat diffusion equation for an aqueous layer on a silicon wafer. The silicon is rapidly heated by a laser pulse and also acts as a heat sink to quench the temperature rise. An oxide layer was used to limit the maximum temperature attained by the sample. We show that exposures above a 50 degrees C benchmark can be confined to times less than 5 micros.
ISSN:0175-7571
1432-1017
DOI:10.1007/s00249-002-0228-0