Template-Directed Self-Assembly of 10-μm-Sized Hexagonal Plates

Abstract

This article presents a strategy for the fabrication of ordered microstructures using concepts of design inspired by molecular self-assembly and template-directed synthesis. The self-assembling components are 4-microm-thick hexagonal metal plates having sides 10 microm in length ("hexagons"), and each template consists of a 4-microm-thick circular metal plate surrounding a central cavity, the perimeter of which is complementary in shape to the external edges of a two-dimensional, close-packed array of hexagons. The hexagons and templates (collectively, "pieces") were fabricated via standard procedures and patterned into hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions using self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). Templated self-assembly occurs in water through capillary interactions between thin films of a nonpolar liquid adhesive coating the hydrophobic faces of the pieces. The hexagons tile the cavities enclosed by the templates, and the boundaries of the cavities determine the sizes and shapes of the assemblies. Curing the adhesive with ultraviolet light furnishes mechanically stable arrays having well-defined morphologies. By allowing control over the structures of the resulting aggregates, this work represents a step toward the development of practical methods for microfabrication based on self-assembly.

Generating Isotropic Superparamagnetic Interconnectivity for the Two‐Dimensional Organization of Nanostructured Building Blocks

“…For example, chemical bonding, [2][3][4][5] van der Waals forces, [6][7][8][9] solvent adhesion and capillary forces, [10] hydrophilic and hydrophobic interactions, [11,12] electrostatic forces, [13] and magnetic attraction and repulsion have been employed in the self-organization of nanomaterials. [14][15][16][17] The major interactive forces involved in the organizing processes have been generated either through the utilization of intrinsic material properties, or through extrinsic modifications, such as introducing overlayers onto the surfaces of nano-objects, [6][7][8][9][10] or inserting functional segments into individual nano-building units. [15,16] Among the various assembly strategies, surfactant mediation is a widely used approach for preparing 1D, 2D, and 3D assemblies and/or superlattices of monodisperse nanoparticles.…”

Self-Assembly of Microscale Parts through Magnetic and Capillary Interactions

“…These methods are competitive with and produce similarly high yields as other approaches to parallel heterogeneous integration, such as parallel pick and place techniques based on elastomeric stamps [15][16][17][18]. In addition to these examples of assembly on templates which essentially approach a two-dimensional plane at the point of each binding site, binding sites may also be on the microscale components themselves to create three dimensional material or device structures [19][20][21][22][23]. One problem with capillary forces is that they only act over very short distances-a part must generally be in contact with its intended binding site in order for capillary forces to align and complete the assembly.…”

Capabilities and Limits of Compact Error Resilience Methods for Algorithmic Self-Assembly

“…It is already being seen as promising candidate for heterogeneous three-dimensional integration of next-generation microsystems [9,15,28,35]. In light of the inherent parallelism, three-dimensional nature and larger range (nanoscale to mesoscale) of application of self-assembly, it has a great potential as tool for building complex systems from microscaled templates.…”

“…Its potential to build complex systems from microscale templates can not be overlooked [9,15,28,35]. Besides the assembled three-dimensional structures can be extremely useful in computations [10].…”