Light collection efficiency is an important factor that affects the performance of many optical and optoelectronic devices. In these devices, the high reflectivity of interfaces can hinder efficient light collection. To minimize unwanted reflection, anti-reflection surfaces can be fabricated by micro/nanopatterning. In this paper, we investigate the fabrication of broadband anti-reflection Si surfaces by laser micro/nanoprocessing. Laser direct writing is applied to create microstructures on Si surfaces that reduce light reflection by light trapping. In addition, laser interference lithography and metal assisted chemical etching are adopted to fabricate the Si nanowire arrays. The anti-reflection performance is greatly improved by the high aspect ratio subwavelength structures, which create gradients of refractive index from the ambient air to the substrate. Furthermore, by decoration of the Si nanowires with metallic nanoparticles, surface plasmon resonance can be used to further control the broadband reflections, reducing the reflection to below 1.0% across from 300 to 1200 nm. An average reflection of 0.8% is achieved.
Human endothelial basement membrane (BM) plays a pivotal role in vascular development and homeostasis. Here, a bioresponsive film with dual-microstructured geometries was engineered to mimic the structural roles of the endothelial BM in developing vessels, for vascular tissue engineering (TE) application. Flexible poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) thin film was fabricated with microscale anisotropic ridges/grooves and through-holes using a combination of uniaxial thermal stretching and direct laser perforation, respectively. Through optimizing the interhole distance, human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) cultured on the PCL film's ridges/grooves obtained an intact cell alignment efficiency. With prolonged culturing for 8 days, these cells formed aligned cell multilayers as found in native tunica media. By coculturing human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) on the opposite side of the film, HUVECs were observed to build up transmural interdigitation cell-cell contact with MSCs via the through-holes, leading to a rapid endothelialization on the PCL film surface. Furthermore, vascular tissue construction based on the PCL film showed enhanced bioactivity with an elevated total nitric oxide level as compared to single MSCs or HUVECs culturing and indirect MSCs/HUVECs coculturing systems. These results suggested that the dual-microstructured porous and anisotropic film could simulate the structural roles of endothelial BM for vascular reconstruction, with aligned stromal cell multilayers, rapid endothelialization, and direct cell-cell interaction between the engineered stromal and endothelial components. This study has implications of recapitulating endothelial BM architecture for the de novo design of vascular TE scaffolds.
We report on a simple and universal method for fabricating various kinds of metal and semiconductor (Si, Ge, Bi, and Cu) nanoparticleÀglass composites by using metallic Al as a reducing agent in the raw materials of the glass batches. By taking advantage of the redox equilibrium that sets up between the Al reducing agent and various oxides, crystal nuclei such as Si and Ge atom clusters are already formed during the meltquenching stage. During the subsequent heat-treatment stage, the nanoparticles grow on the nuclei by a process of diffusion. The nanoparticle size can be controlled by heat-treatment temperature and holding time. The fabricated nanoparticleÀ glass composites exhibit large third-order optical nonlinearities (χ 3 up to 10 À8 esu) and an ultrafast response time (within picoseconds), which makes them possible to manufacture ultrafast alloptical switches.
Tissue structural anisotropy is an important basis for heart function. Attempts to regenerate the complicated heart‐tissue alignment has rarely featured macroscale 3D constructs required for myocardial tissue engineering. The feasibility of engineered scaffolds with micro/macro‐architecture for guiding spatial cell alignment following complex patterns is reported. The scaffold is composed of stackable dual‐structured layers with linear micro‐ridge/groove patterns and macro‐through‐hole arrays, which enable tailorable anisotropy and interconnective free space. When human mesenchymal stem cells are seeded on the scaffold, well‐organized spreading alignment showing the precise control in cellular orientation is significantly introduced over nonpatterned controls. Moreover, spatial cell distribution in the scaffold and directional changes of the layered linear patterns that made cell alignment orientations turning accordingly are observed, leading to the complex 3D pattern reconstruction of cellular alignment resembling natural myocardial tissue. This work validates the potential of micro/macro‐architecture engineering for spatial cell guidance. Scaffolds with this capability can be potentially used for biomanufacturing of the structural alignment in myocardial tissue engineering.
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