In this study, high-performance indium–gallium–zinc oxide thin-film transistors (IGZO TFTs) with a dual-gate (DG) structure were manufactured using plasma treatment and rapid thermal annealing (RTA). Atomic force microscopy measurements showed that the surface roughness decreased upon increasing the O₂ ratio from 16% to 33% in the argon–oxygen plasma treatment mixture. Hall measurement results showed that both the thin-film resistivity and carrier Hall mobility of the Ar–O₂ plasma–treated IGZO thin films increased with the reduction of the carrier concentration caused by the decrease in the oxygen vacancy density; this was also verified using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. IGZO thin films treated with Ar–O₂ plasma were used as channel layers for fabricating DG TFT devices. These DG IGZO TFT devices were subjected to RTA at 100 °C–300 °C for improving the device characteristics; the field-effect mobility, subthreshold swing, and I_ON/I_OFF current ratio of the 33% O₂ plasma–treated DG TFT devices improved to 58.8 cm²/V·s, 0.12 V/decade, and 5.46 × 10⁸, respectively. Long-term device stability reliability tests of the DG IGZO TFTs revealed that the threshold voltage was highly stable.

Homocysteine and pro-inflammatory mediators such as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) have been linked to vascular dysfunction and risks of cardiovascular diseases. Fulvic acid (FA), a class of compounds of humic substances, possesses various pharmacological properties. However, the effect of FA on inflammatory responses of the monocytes remains unclear. We investigated the regulatory effect of FA on homocysteine-induced COX-2 expression in human monocytes. Peripheral blood monocytes and U937 cells were used for all experiments. Real-time PCR and ELISA assay were used to analyze the COX-2 mRNA expression and PGE2 secretion, respectively. Specific inhibitors were used to investigate the mechanism of homocysteine-mediating COX-2 mRNA expression and PGE2 secretion. Luciferase assay, transcription factor ELISA, and chromatin immunoprecipitation were used to determine the role of nuclear factor-κB in FA-mediated inhibition of homocysteine effect on monocytes. The results show that pretreating monocytes with FA inhibited the homocysteine-induced COX-2 expression in a dose-dependent manner. Stimulation of U937 monocytes with homocysteine induced rapid increases in the phosphorylation of ERK and JNK; the inhibitor for ERK and JNK attenuated the homocysteine-induced nuclear factor-κB activation and COX-2 expression. Transcription factor ELISA and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays showed that FA blocked the homocysteine-induced increases in the binding activity and in vivo promoter binding of nuclear factor-κB in monocytes. Our findings provide a molecular mechanism by which FA inhibits homocysteine-induced COX-2 expression in monocytes, and a basis for using FA in pharmaceutical therapy against inflammation.

In this study, n-type gallium nitride (GaN) films were fabricated by a silicon–titanium (Si-Ti) codoping sputtering technique with a zinc oxide (ZnO) buffer layer on amorphous glass substrates with different post-growth annealing temperatures for optimizing the GaN crystal quality. Si-Ti-codoped n-type GaN films that were thermally annealed at 400 °C had a low thin-film resistivity of 2.6 × 10⁻¹ Ω-cm and a high electron concentration of 6.65 × 10¹⁹ cm⁻³, as determined through Hall measurement. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed a high (002) XRD intensity with a narrow spectral line and a full width at half maximum (FWHM) value that indicated the superior crystal growth of a hexagonal structure of the GaN thin films. In addition, photoluminescence measurement results demonstrated a near-band-edge emission at 365 nm, indicating the crystal growth of GaN thin films on glass substrates. The Burstein–Moss effect was observed in the Tauc plot results, indicating that the Fermi level inside the conduction band moves upward and thus improves the n-type properties of the GaN thin film. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurement results revealed that all atoms doped into the GaN film are present and that both Si and Ti atoms bond with N atoms.

DC-pulse magnetron sputtering was utilized to deposit a 300 nm-thick n-type GaN thin film that was co-doped with Si–Sn onto an amorphous glass substrate with a ZnO buffer layer. The deposited thin films were then subjected to post-growth thermal annealing at temperatures of 300 °C, 400 °C, or 500 °C to enhance their crystal quality. Hall measurements revealed that the film annealed at 500 °C had the lowest thin-film resistance of 0.82 Ω cm and the highest carrier concentration of 3.84 × 10¹⁹ cm⁻³. The thin film surface was studied using atomic force microscopy; the film annealed at 500 °C had an average grain size and surface roughness of 25.3 and 2.37 nm, respectively. Furthermore, the x-ray diffraction measurements revealed a preferential (002) crystal orientation and hexagonal wurtzite crystal structure at 2θ ≈ 34.5°. The thin film had a full width at half maximum value of 0.387°, it was also found to be very narrow. Compositional analysis of the films was conducted with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and verified that both Si and Sn were doped into the GaN film utilizing covalent bonding with N atoms. Finally, the film annealed at 500 °C had a high optical transmittance of 82.9% at 400–800 nm, a high figure of merit factor of 490.3 × 10⁻³ Ω⁻¹, and low contact resistance of 567 Ω; these excellent optoelectronic properties were attributed to the film’s high electron concentration and indicate that the material is feasible for application in transparent optoelectronic devices.