Laser processing of microdroplet structure of liquid crystal in 3D.

Processing of mesoscale structures of soft matter and liquid is of great importance in both science and engineering. In this work, we introduce the concept of laser-assisted micromachining to this field and inject a certain number of microdroplets into a preselected location on the surface of a liquid crystal drop through laser irradiation. The impact of laser energy on the triggered injection is discussed. The sequentially injected microdroplets are spontaneously captured by the defect ring in the host drop and transported along this defect track as micro-cargos. By precisely manipulating the laser beam, the tailored injection of droplets is achieved, and the injected droplets self-assemble into one necklace ring within the host drop. The result provides a bottom-up approach for the in-situ and three-dimensional microfabrication of droplet structure of soft matter using a laser beam, which may be applicable in the development of optical and photonic devices.