Bidirectional Droplet Manipulation on Magnetically Actuated Superhydrophobic Ratchet Surfaces.

Droplet manipulation has garnered significant attention in various fields due to its wide range of applications. Among many different methods, magnetic actuation has emerged as a promising approach for remote and instantaneous droplet manipulation. In this study, we present the bidirectional droplet manipulation on a magnetically actuated superhydrophobic ratchet surface. The surface consists of silicon strips anchored on elastomer ridges with superhydrophobic black silicon structures on the top side and magnetic layers on the bottom side. The soft magnetic properties of the strips enable their bidirectional tilting to form a ratchet surface and thus bidirectional droplet manipulation upon varying external magnetic field location and strength. Computational multiphysics models were developed to predict the tilting of the strips, demonstrating the concept of bidirectional tilting along with a tilting angle hysteresis theory. Experimental results confirmed the soft magnetic hysteresis and consequential bidirectional tilting of the strips. The superhydrophobic ratchet surface formed by the tilting strips induced the bidirectional self-propulsion of dispensed droplets through the Laplace pressure gradient, and the horizontal acceleration of the droplets was found to be positively correlated with the tilting angle of the strips. Additionally, a finite element analysis was conducted to identify the critical conditions for dispensed droplet penetration through the gaps between the strips, which hinder the droplet's self-propulsion. The models and findings here provide substantial insights into the design and optimization of magnetically actuated superhydrophobic ratchet surfaces to manipulate droplets in the context of digital microfluidic applications.

Electrochemical nanoimprinting of silicon.

Scalable nanomanufacturing enables the commercialization of nanotechnology, particularly in applications such as nanophotonics, silicon photonics, photovoltaics, and biosensing. Nanoimprinting lithography (NIL) was the first scalable process to introduce 3D nanopatterning of polymeric films. Despite efforts to extend NIL's library of patternable media, imprinting of inorganic semiconductors has been plagued by concomitant generation of crystallography defects during imprinting. Here, we use an electrochemical nanoimprinting process-called Mac-Imprint-for directly patterning electronic-grade silicon with 3D microscale features. It is shown that stamps made of mesoporous metal catalysts allow for imprinting electronic-grade silicon without the concomitant generation of porous silicon damage while introducing mesoscale roughness. Unlike most NIL processes, Mac-Imprint does not rely on plastic deformation, and thus, it allows for replicating hard and brittle materials, such as silicon, from a reusable polymeric mold, which can be manufactured by almost any existing microfabrication technique.

Electrochemical direct writing and erasing of silver nanostructures on phosphate glass using atomic force microscopy.

This paper reports a liquid-free, mask-less electrochemical direct-write lithographic technique using an atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe for writing silver nanostructures in minutes on an optically transparent substrate. Under ambient conditions, silver is locally and controllably extracted to the surface of superionic (AgI)0.25 (AgPO3)0.75 glass by bringing a conductive AFM probe tip in contact with it, biasing the probe with a negative voltage, and regulating the resulting current. The growth mechanism of the resulting nanostructure is explored by extracting silver with a stationary AFM tip on the surface of the silver. A moving tip was then used to produce continuous lines, solid films and discrete dots of silver by implementing continuous and pulsed current writing approaches. The line dimensions depend on writing speed and current flowing in the electrochemical circuit, while the size and spacing of the dots depend on the parameters (magnitude, duration and frequency) of the current pulses and the writing speed of the AFM tip. Line-widths in the ∼100 nm range are demonstrated. Our investigation also shows that a threshold potential must be overcome to be able to draw and reduce silver ions on the glass surface. When polarity between the electrodes is reversed, the patterned silver ionizes back into the glass, thus offering the capability to erase and rewrite Ag patterns on the glass surface.

Heterogeneously Assembled Metamaterials and Metadevices via 3D Modular Transfer Printing.

Metamaterials have made the exotic control of the flow of electromagnetic waves possible, which is difficult to achieve with natural materials. In recent years, the emergence of functional metadevices has shown immense potential for the practical realization of highly efficient photonic devices. However, complex and heterogeneous architectures that enable diverse functionalities of metamaterials and metadevices have been challenging to realize because of the limited manufacturing capabilities of conventional fabrication methods. Here, we show that three-dimensional (3D) modular transfer printing can be used to construct diverse metamaterials in complex 3D architectures on universal substrates, which is attractive for achieving on-demand photonic properties. Few repetitive processing steps and rapid constructions are additional advantages of 3D modular transfer printing. Thus, this method provides a fascinating route to generate flexible and stretchable 2D/3D metamaterials and metadevices with heterogeneous material components, complex device architectures, and diverse functionalities.

Mechanisms, Capabilities, and Applications of High-Resolution Electrohydrodynamic Jet Printing.

This review gives an overview of techniques used for high-resolution jet printing that rely on electrohydrodynamically induced flows. Such methods enable the direct, additive patterning of materials with a resolution that can extend below 100 nm to provide unique opportunities not only in scientific studies but also in a range of applications that includes printed electronics, tissue engineering, and photonic and plasmonic devices. Following a brief historical perspective, this review presents descriptions of the underlying processes involved in the formation of liquid cones and jets to establish critical factors in the printing process. Different printing systems that share similar principles are then described, along with key advances that have been made in the last decade. Capabilities in terms of printable materials and levels of resolution are reviewed, with a strong emphasis on areas of potential application.

Hierarchical patterns of three-dimensional block-copolymer films formed by electrohydrodynamic jet printing and self-assembly.

Self-assembly of block-copolymers provides a route to the fabrication of small (size, <50 nm) and dense (pitch, <100 nm) features with an accuracy that approaches even the demanding specifications for nanomanufacturing set by the semiconductor industry. A key requirement for practical applications, however, is a rapid, high-resolution method for patterning block-copolymers with different molecular weights and compositions across a wafer surface, with complex geometries and diverse feature sizes. Here we demonstrate that an ultrahigh-resolution jet printing technique that exploits electrohydrodynamic effects can pattern large areas with block-copolymers based on poly(styrene-block-methyl methacrylate) with various molecular weights and compositions. The printed geometries have diameters and linewidths in the sub-500 nm range, line edge roughness as small as ∼45 nm, and thickness uniformity and repeatability that can approach molecular length scales (∼2 nm). Upon thermal annealing on bare, or chemically or topographically structured substrates, such printed patterns yield nanodomains of block-copolymers with well-defined sizes, periodicities and morphologies, in overall layouts that span dimensions from the scale of nanometres (with sizes continuously tunable between 13 nm and 20 nm) to centimetres. As well as its engineering relevance, this methodology enables systematic studies of unusual behaviours of block-copolymers in geometrically confined films.

Functional protein microarrays by electrohydrodynamic jet printing.

This paper reports the use of advanced forms of electrohydrodynamic jet (e-jet) printing for creating micro- and nanoscale patterns of proteins on various surfaces ranging from flat silica substrates to structured plasmonic crystals, suitable for micro/nanoarray analysis and other applications in both fluorescent and plasmonic detection modes. The approaches function well with diverse classes of proteins, including streptavidin, IgG, fibrinogen, and γ-globulin. Detailed study reveals that the printing process does not adversely alter the protein structure or function, as demonstrated in the specific case of streptavidin through measurements of its binding specificity to biotin-modified DNA. Multinozzle printing systems enable several types of proteins (up to four currently) to be patterned on a single substrate, in rapid fashion and with excellent control over spatial dimensions and registration. High-speed, pulsed operational modes allow large-area printing, with narrow statistical distributions of drop size and spacing in patterns that include millions of droplets. The process is also compatible with the structured surfaces of plasmonic crystal substrates to enable detection without fluorescence. These collective characteristics suggest potential utility of e-jet techniques in wide-ranging areas of biotechnology, where its compatibility with various biomaterials and substrates with different topographies and surface chemistries, and ability to form deposits that range from thick films to submonolayer coatings, derive from the remote, noncontacting physical material transfer mode of operation.

Elastomer surfaces with directionally dependent adhesion strength and their use in transfer printing with continuous roll-to-roll applications.

In this paper we present mechanics and materials aspects of elastomeric stamps that have angled features of relief on their surfaces, designed to enable control of adhesion strength by peeling direction, in a way that can be exploited in schemes for deterministic assembly by transfer printing. Detailed mechanics models capture the essential physics of interface adhesion in this system. Experiments with cylindrical stamps that have this design demonstrate their potential for use in a continuous, roller mode of operation.

Microstructured elastomeric surfaces with reversible adhesion and examples of their use in deterministic assembly by transfer printing.

Reversible control of adhesion is an important feature of many desired, existing, and potential systems, including climbing robots, medical tapes, and stamps for transfer printing. We present experimental and theoretical studies of pressure modulated adhesion between flat, stiff objects and elastomeric surfaces with sharp features of surface relief in optimized geometries. Here, the strength of nonspecific adhesion can be switched by more than three orders of magnitude, from strong to weak, in a reversible fashion. Implementing these concepts in advanced stamps for transfer printing enables versatile modes for deterministic assembly of solid materials in micro/nanostructured forms. Demonstrations in printed two- and three-dimensional collections of silicon platelets and membranes illustrate some capabilities. An unusual type of transistor that incorporates a printed gate electrode, an air gap dielectric, and an aligned array of single walled carbon nanotubes provides a device example.

Nanoscale, electrified liquid jets for high-resolution printing of charge.

Nearly all research in micro- and nanofabrication focuses on the formation of solid structures of materials that perform some mechanical, electrical, optical, or related function. Fabricating patterns of charges, by contrast, is a much less well explored area that is of separate and growing interesting because the associated electric fields can be exploited to control the behavior of nanoscale electronic and mechanical devices, guide the assembly of nanomaterials, or modulate the properties of biological systems. This paper describes a versatile technique that uses fine, electrified liquid jets formed by electrohydrodynamics at micro- and nanoscale nozzles to print complex patterns of both positive and negative charges, with resolution that can extend into the submicrometer and nanometer regime. The reported results establish the basic aspects of this process and demonstrate the capabilities through printed patterns with diverse geometries and charge configurations in a variety of liquid inks, including suspensions of nanoparticles and nanowires. The use of printed charge to control the properties of silicon nanomembrane transistors provides an application example.

Ultrathin silicon solar microcells for semitransparent, mechanically flexible and microconcentrator module designs.

The high natural abundance of silicon, together with its excellent reliability and good efficiency in solar cells, suggest its continued use in production of solar energy, on massive scales, for the foreseeable future. Although organics, nanocrystals, nanowires and other new materials hold significant promise, many opportunities continue to exist for research into unconventional means of exploiting silicon in advanced photovoltaic systems. Here, we describe modules that use large-scale arrays of silicon solar microcells created from bulk wafers and integrated in diverse spatial layouts on foreign substrates by transfer printing. The resulting devices can offer useful features, including high degrees of mechanical flexibility, user-definable transparency and ultrathin-form-factor microconcentrator designs. Detailed studies of the processes for creating and manipulating such microcells, together with theoretical and experimental investigations of the electrical, mechanical and optical characteristics of several types of module that incorporate them, illuminate the key aspects.

High-resolution electrohydrodynamic jet printing.

Efforts to adapt and extend graphic arts printing techniques for demanding device applications in electronics, biotechnology and microelectromechanical systems have grown rapidly in recent years. Here, we describe the use of electrohydrodynamically induced fluid flows through fine microcapillary nozzles for jet printing of patterns and functional devices with submicrometre resolution. Key aspects of the physics of this approach, which has some features in common with related but comparatively low-resolution techniques for graphic arts, are revealed through direct high-speed imaging of the droplet formation processes. Printing of complex patterns of inks, ranging from insulating and conducting polymers, to solution suspensions of silicon nanoparticles and rods, to single-walled carbon nanotubes, using integrated computer-controlled printer systems illustrates some of the capabilities. High-resolution printed metal interconnects, electrodes and probing pads for representative circuit patterns and functional transistors with critical dimensions as small as 1 mum demonstrate potential applications in printed electronics.

Electrochemical nanoimprinting with solid-state superionic stamps.

This letter presents a solid-state electrochemical nanoimprint process for direct patterning of metallic nanostructures. It uses a patterned solid electrolyte or superionic conductor (such as silver sulfide) as a stamp and etches a metallic film by an electrochemical reaction. Our preliminary experiments demonstrate repeatable and high-fidelity pattern transfer with features down to 50 nm on silver films of thicknesses ranging from 50 to 500 nm. As the process is conducted in an ambient environment and does not involve the use of liquids, it displays potential for single-step, high-throughput, large-area manufacturing of metallic nanostructures. The use of superionic conductors in manufacturing opens up a new and potentially energy-efficient approach to nanopatterning and fabrication. It offers a highly competitive approach, both as a stand-alone process and as a complement of other nanofabrication techniques, to fabricating chemical sensors, photonic and plasmonic structures, and electronic interconnects.