Laser printing hierarchical structures with the aid of controlled capillary-driven self-assembly.

ABSTRACT: Capillary force is often regarded as detrimental because it may cause undesired distortion or even destruction to micro/nanostructures during a fabrication process, and thus many efforts have been made to eliminate its negative effects. From a different perspective, capillary force can be artfully used to construct specific complex architectures. Here, we propose a laser printing capillary-assisted self-assembly strategy for fabricating regular periodic structures. Microscale pillars are first produced by localized femtosecond laser polymerization and are subsequently assembled into periodic hierarchical architectures with the assistance of controlled capillary forces in an evaporating liquid. Spatial arrangements, pillar heights, and evaporation processes are readily tuned to achieve desi

SUBMITTER: Hu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4460519 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature