Flexible Near-Field Nanopatterning with Ultrathin, Conformal Phase Masks on Nonplanar Substrates for Biomimetic Hierarchical Photonic Structures
- 21 March 2016
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in ACS Nano
- Vol. 10 (4), 4609-4617
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.6b00816
Abstract
Multilevel hierarchical platforms that combine nano- and microstructures have been intensively explored to mimic superior properties found in nature. However, unless directly replicated from biological samples, desirable multiscale structures have been challenging to efficiently produce to date. Departing from conventional wafer-based technology, new and efficient techniques suitable for fabricating bioinspired structures are highly desired to produce three-dimensional architectures even on nonplanar substrates. Here, we report a facile approach to realize functional nanostructures on uneven microstructured platforms via scalable optical fabrication techniques. The ultrathin form (∼3 μm) of a phase grating composed of poly(vinyl alcohol) makes the material physically flexible and enables full-conformal contact with rough surfaces. The near-field optical effect can be identically generated on highly curved surfaces as a result of superior conformality. Densely packed nanodots with submicron periodicity are uniformly formed on microlens arrays with a radius of curvature that is as low as ∼28 μm. Increasing the size of the gratings causes the production area to be successfully expanded by up to 16 in(2). The "nano-on-micro" structures mimicking real compound eyes are transferred to flexible and stretchable substrates by sequential imprinting, facilitating multifunctional optical films applicable to antireflective diffusers for large-area sheet-illumination displays.Keywords
Funding Information
- National Research Foundation of Korea (2014M3A6B3063708, 2015R1A5A7036513)
This publication has 36 references indexed in Scilit:
- Bioinspired Fabrication of Hierarchically Structured, pH-Tunable Photonic Crystals with Unique TransitionACS Nano, 2013
- Digital cameras with designs inspired by the arthropod eyeNature, 2013
- Nanotextured Silica Surfaces with Robust Superhydrophobicity and Omnidirectional Broadband SupertransmissivityACS Nano, 2012
- Multifunctional Integration: From Biological to Bio-Inspired MaterialsACS Nano, 2011
- Bio-inspired design of multiscale structures for function integrationNano Today, 2011
- Fabrication and Analysis of Gecko-Inspired Hierarchical Polymer NanosetaeACS Nano, 2011
- Hollow Silica Nanoparticles in UV−Visible Antireflection Coatings for Poly(methyl methacrylate) SubstratesACS Nano, 2010
- Bio‐Inspired, Smart, Multiscale Interfacial MaterialsAdvanced Materials, 2008
- Biologically Inspired Artificial Compound EyesScience, 2006
- Light on the moth-eye corneal nipple array of butterfliesProceedings Of The Royal Society B-Biological Sciences, 2005