3D lithography by rapid curing of the liquid instabilities at nanoscale.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Istituto Nazionale di Ottica-Sezione di Napoli, Via Campi Flegrei, 34-80078 Pozzuoli, Naples, Italy.

Published: September 2011

In liquids realm, surface tension and capillarity are the key forces driving the formation of the shapes pervading the nature. The steady dew drops appearing on plant leaves and spider webs result from the minimization of the overall surface energy [Zheng Y, et al. (2010) Nature 463:640-643]. Thanks to the surface tension, the interfaces of such spontaneous structures exhibit extremely good spherical shape and consequently worthy optical quality. Also nanofluidic instabilities generate a variety of fascinating liquid silhouettes, but they are however intrinsically short-lived. Here we show that such unsteady liquid structures, shaped in polymeric liquids by an electrohydrodynamic pressure, can be rapidly cured by appropriate thermal treatments. The fabrication of many solid microstructures exploitable in photonics is demonstrated, thus leading to a new concept in 3D lithography. The applicability of specific structures as optical tweezers and as novel remotely excitable quantum dots-embedded microresonators is presented.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3174595PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1110676108DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

surface tension
8
lithography rapid
4
rapid curing
4
curing liquid
4
liquid instabilities
4
instabilities nanoscale
4
nanoscale liquids
4
liquids realm
4
realm surface
4
tension capillarity
4

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!