Design and Self-Assembly of Open, Regular, 3D Mesostructures

Abstract

Self-assembly provides the basis for a procedure used to organize millimeter-scale objects into regular, three-dimensional arrays ("crystals") with open structures. The individual components are designed and fabricated of polyurethane by molding; selected faces are coated with a thin film of liquid, metallic alloy. Under mild agitation in warm, aqueous potassium bromide solution, capillary forces between the films of alloy cause self-assembly. The structures of the resulting, self-assembled arrays are determined by structural features of the component parts: the three-dimensional shape of the components, the pattern of alloy on their surfaces, and the shape of the alloy-coated surfaces. Self-assembly of appropriately designed chiral pieces generates helices.

Beyond molecules: Self-assembly of mesoscopic and macroscopic components

“…The shape of the components is also important: for 3D microelectronic devices, for example, self-assembly must probably generate a structure with continuous voids, to allow for external cooling (63). The more complicated the shape, the more difficult it is to fabricate, especially in a form functionalized for self-assembly.…”

Self-assembly of polyhedral shells: A molecular dynamics study

“…The motivation underlying these examples is to show what can be accomplished in the simplest of self-assembly simulations. Related 'analog' simulations have been performed in the laboratory, using millimetersize plastic objects in solution with appropriate adhesivecoated surfaces [21].…”

All-silicon spherical-Mie-resonator photodiode with spectral response in the infrared region

“…For instance, the light trapped in a Mie mode with QB6 Â 10 3 , for a typical wavelength of 1,100 nm, would stay in the microcavity for 3,5 Â 10 À 12 s, the time needed to travel a distance of 300 mm in bulk silicon (equivalent to the thickness of a standard silicon solar cell). Third, the development of electronic devices on spherical shaped particles, together with the implementation of the self-assembling methods, like those reported by Whitesides, to build up three-dimensional 16 (3D) electrically connected 17 networks, may open new avenues for cost-effective large-area processing of complex electronic architectures such as regular size photodiode systems.…”