by Playfuls Staff |
1st November 2006
Chinese scientists say they have used the wings of cicadas as stamps to pattern polymer film with nanometer-sized [more] structures.
Peking University professors Jin Zhang and Zhongfan Liu say the insects' wings are characterized by highly ordered arrays of closely spaced microscopic pillars. When the wings are pushed upon a smooth polymer film, they create a negative imprint of the array pattern.
Zhang, Liu, and colleagues found the insect wings possess sufficient rigidity, chemical stability and surface tension so as not to stick to the substrate and can be released without destroying the imprinted structures.
An ordered array of microscopic wells can be obtained on the polymer film by using the pillar array on the wings. The pattern can be transferred to silicon by an etching process, leading to the formation of 'nano-wells' on a silicon chip.
Silicon wafers patterned with "nano-wells" show promising anti-reflective properties.
"This technique is a powerful demonstration of how natural nanostructures existing in the environment can be used to pattern microscopic structures not easily accessible by conventional microfabrication technology", said Zhang.
The research appears in the current issue of the journal Small.
© 2006 UPI
