This proposal seeks to develop a novel nanofabrication route that exploits an elastic instability effect, which is often seen from the phyllotactic growth of plants, animal stripes, and fingerprints, to create a library of complex patterns at the nanoscale with a very high level of structural perfection and variable lattice symmetry. By comparing the theoretical prediction and experimental observations, robust and generic rules will be developed, which will allow programming the evolution of complex structures while maintaining the integrity and top-down nature of the proposed nanofabrication technique. The PIs plan to: 1) prepare a library of poly(dimethylsiloxane) membranes with microscopic hole arrays of arbitrary feature size and geometry for pattern transformation, 2) investigate the factors that control the instability in a swollen network and explore feature size reduction to the sub-10 nm regime, 3) and capitalize on the unique topography of the imprinted nanoparticle assemblies for fabrication of nanostructures.
This proposed research is transformative in that it seeks to turn a perceived weakness of soft materials, i.e. their mechanical instability, into a strength, allowing the design of new tools and procedures in micro- and nano-scale manufacturing, creating dynamically tunable structures with anisotropic magnetic, photonic, phononic, and plasmonic properties of benefit to a range of science and technologies. The proposed activity ranges in scope from materials engineering to soft matter physics and introduces a new paradigm for the solid mechanics of flexible matter. This intersection creates a significant opportunity to recruit and train students, and excite the general public about nanotechnology.
