IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v404y2000i6773d10.1038_35003530.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Electrophoretic assembly of colloidal crystals with optically tunable micropatterns

Author

Listed:
  • R. C. Hayward

    (Institute Princeton University)

  • D. A. Saville

    (Institute Princeton University)

  • I. A. Aksay

    (Institute Princeton University)

Abstract

The production of materials with micrometre- and submicrometre-scale patterns is of importance in a range of applications, such as photonic materials1,2, high-density magnetic data storage devices3, microchip reactors4 and biosensors5. One method of preparing such structures is through the assembly of colloidal particles5,6,7,8,9,10. Micropatterned colloidal assemblies have been produced with lithographically patterned electrodes5,11 or micromoulds12. Here we describe a different method that combines the well-known photochemical sensitivity of semiconductors13,14 with electric-field-induced assembly15,16 to create ordered arrays of micrometre-sized colloidal particles with tunable patterns. We show that light affects the assembly processes, and demonstrate how to produce patterns using electrophoretic deposition in the presence of an ultraviolet (UV) illumination motif. The distribution of current across an indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode can be altered by varying the illumination intensity: during the deposition process, this causes colloidal particles to be swept from darkened areas into lighted regions. Illumination also assists in immobilizing the particles on the electrode surface. Although the details of these processes are not well understood, the patterning effects of the UV light are discussed in terms of alterations in the current density15,17 that affects particle assembly on an ITO electrode.

Suggested Citation

  • R. C. Hayward & D. A. Saville & I. A. Aksay, 2000. "Electrophoretic assembly of colloidal crystals with optically tunable micropatterns," Nature, Nature, vol. 404(6773), pages 56-59, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:404:y:2000:i:6773:d:10.1038_35003530
    DOI: 10.1038/35003530
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/35003530
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/35003530?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:404:y:2000:i:6773:d:10.1038_35003530. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.