Ali Shah

Non-Reflecting Silicon and Polymer Surfaces by Plasma Etching and Replication

Constantly increasing demand of renewable and nonpolluting energy production methods has made solar cells one of today’s hottest research areas. Developing more cost-effective fabrication methods that enable production of extremely non-refl ecting surfaces is one of the key issues in solar cell research. [ 1 , 2 ] Many other applications, such as miniaturized chemical analysis systems, would also benefi t greatly from low-cost surfaces with low and uniform refl ectivity. [ 3 ] Typically, suppression of Fresnel refl ection has been achieved by antirefl ective coatings, but they suppress refl ection effi ciently only in a narrow wavelength range. Suppression of refl ection over a broad spectral range can be achieved by using nanotextured surfaces that form a graded transition of the refractive index from air to the substrate. [ 1 , 2 , 4–12 ]

Oil droplet self-transportation on oleophobic surfaces

Oleophobic surfaces capable of power-free self-transportation of oil droplets are designed. Directional liquid transportation is important for a variety of biological processes and technical applications. Although surface engineering through asymmetric chemical modification or geometrical patterning facilitates effective liquid manipulation and enables water droplet self-transportation on synthetic surfaces, self-transportation of oil droplets poses a major challenge because of their low surface tension. We report oil droplet self-transportation on oleophobic surfaces that are microtextured with radial arrays of undercut stripes. More significantly, we observe three modes of oil motion on various sample surfaces, namely, inward transportation, pinned, and outward spreading, which can be switched by the structure parameters, including stripe intersection angle and width. Accompanying theoretical modeling provides an in-depth mechanistic understanding of the structure–droplet motion relationship. Finally, we reveal how to optimize the texture parameters to maximize oil droplet self-transportation capability and demonstrate spontaneous droplet movement for liquids down to a surface tension of 22.4 mN/m. The surfaces presented here open up new avenues for power-free liquid transportation and oil contamination self-removal applications in various analytical and fluidic devices.

Surface-tension driven self-assembly of microchips on hydrophobic receptor sites with water using forced wetting

This letter reports water droplet self-alignment methods for self-assembly of microchips on hydrophobic receptor sites in ambient air environment. It is an open question if lyophobic receptor site of the self-alignment medium can be used for self-assembly. We investigate this question using both numerical simulation and experimental studies on hydrophobic receptor sites (advancing contact angle of 118°) with superhydrophobic substrate (contact angle of 180°). We demonstrate that self-alignment is possible using two forced wetting methods: (a) introducing an excessive amount of water and (b) applying external pressure. The results suggest that surface-tension driven self-alignment can be applied in a wider combination of materials and mediums.

Surface Tension-Driven Self-Alignment of Microchips on Low-Precision Receptors

Surface tension-driven self-alignment is reported to be very accurate when the chip and receptor site are well-defined. This paper investigates surface tension-driven self-alignment of microchips on low-precision receptors through experimental studies and theoretical analysis to understand the relation between alignment accuracy and the precision of the receptor edges. Three different types of low-precision receptors have been designed and fabricated to study the alignment accuracy: 1) receptors with a single triangular defect pointing outward or inward with amplitude of 10, 30, and 60 μm and corresponding width of 20, 60, and 120 μm; 2) receptors with constant triangular edge jaggedness with amplitude of 2, 4, 5, and 15 μm; and 3) receptors with random triangular edge jaggedness with amplitude of 2, 4, and 8 μm. The DI water is used as the self-alignment medium. The alignment accuracy has been closely measured with an environmental scanning electron microscope. Numerical simulators, e.g., surface evolver have been used to analyze the results. The experimental results show that low-precision receptors impair alignment accuracy in a much lesser degree than the scale of the defects on a receptor.

Surface-Tension-Driven Self-Alignment of Microchips on Black-Silicon-Based Hybrid Template in Ambient Air

In this paper, we demonstrate self-alignment of microchips on a simple-to-fabricate hybrid template with both water and UV-curing adhesive (EPO-TEK UVO-114). The hybrid template contains receptor sites with solid edges for droplet confinement and large wetting contrast between the receptor sites and the substrate for microchip manipulation. Nanostructured black silicon surface functionalized with fluoropolymer is used as a substrate, while protruded silicon dioxide patterns covered with fluoropolymer serve as receptor sites. A simple and fast process consisting only of one pass of photolithography, cryogenic deep reactive-ion etching (RIE), and RIE steps is used to fabricate the hybrid template. The self-assembly tests are carried out in a hybrid microassembly setup. Dummy microchips of sizes 200 μm × 200 μm × 50 μm are self-aligned on 200 μm × 200 μm receptor sites in ambient air with both water and adhesive.

Focused ion beam lithography for fabrication of suspended nanostructures on highly corrugated surfaces

We propose a nanofabrication method that allows for patterning on extremely corrugated surfaces with micrometer-size features. The technique employs focused ion beam nanopatterning of ion-sensitive inorganic resists formed by atomic layer deposition at low temperature. The nanoscale resolution on corrugated surfaces is ensured by inherently large depth of focus of a focused ion beam system and very uniform resist coating. The utilized TiO₂ and Al₂O₃ resists show high selectivity in deep reactive ion etching and enable the release of suspended nanostructures by dry etching. We demonstrate the great flexibility of the process by fabricating suspended nanostructures on flat surfaces, inclined walls, and on the bottom of deep grooves.

Sliding droplets on hydrophilic/superhydrophobic patterned surfaces for liquid deposition

A facile gravity-induced sliding droplets method is reported for deposition of nanoliter sized droplets on hydrophilic/superhydrophobic patterned surface. The deposition process is parallel where multiple different liquids can be deposited simultaneously. The process is also high-throughput, having a great potential to be scaled up by increasing the size of the substrate.

Self-transport and self-alignment of microchips using microscopic rain

Alignment of microchips with receptors is an important process step in the construction of integrated micro- and nanosystems for emerging technologies, and facilitating alignment by spontaneous self-assembly processes is highly desired. Previously, capillary self-alignment of microchips driven by surface tension effects on patterned surfaces has been reported, where it was essential for microchips to have sufficient overlap with receptor sites. Here we demonstrate for the first time capillary self-transport and self-alignment of microchips, where microchips are initially placed outside the corresponding receptor sites and can be self-transported by capillary force to the receptor sites followed by self-alignment. The surface consists of hydrophilic silicon receptor sites surrounded by superhydrophobic black silicon. Rain-induced microscopic droplets are used to form the meniscus for the self-transport and self-alignment. The boundary conditions for the self-transport have been explored by modeling and confirmed experimentally. The maximum permitted gap between a microchip and a receptor site is determined by the volume of the liquid and by the wetting contrast between receptor site and substrate. Microscopic rain applied on hydrophilic-superhydrophobic patterned surfaces greatly improves the capability, reliability and error-tolerance of the process, avoiding the need for accurate initial placement of microchips, and thereby greatly simplifying the alignment process.

Nanowire encapsulation with polymer for electrical isolation and enhanced optical properties

Light management and electrical isolation are essential for the majority of optoelectronic nanowire (NW) devices. Here, we present a cost-effective technique, based on vapor-phase deposition of parylene-C and subsequent annealing, that provides conformal encapsulation, anti-reflective coating, improved optical properties, and electrical insulation for GaAs nanowires. The process presented allows facile encapsulation and insulation that is suitable for any nanowire structure. In particular, the parylene-C encapsulation functions as an efficient antireflection coating for the nanowires, with reflectivity down to <1% in the visible spectrum. Furthermore, the parylene-C coating increases photoluminescence intensity, suggesting improved light guiding to the NWs. Finally, based on this process, a NW LED was fabricated, which showed good diode performance and a clear electroluminescence signal. We believe the process can expand the fabrication possibilities and improve the performance of optoelectronic nanowire devices.

III–V nanowires on black silicon and low-temperature growth of self-catalyzed rectangular InAs NWs

We report the use of black silicon (bSi) as a growth platform for III–V nanowires (NWs), which enables low reflectance over a broad wavelength range as well as fabrication of optoelectronic devices by metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy. In addition, a new isolated growth regime is reported for self-catalyzed InAs NWs at record-low temperatures of 280 °C–365 °C, where consistently rectangular [-211]-oriented NWs are obtained. The bSi substrate is shown to support the growth of additionally GaAs and InP NWs, as well as heterostructured NWs. As seed particles, both ex-situ deposited Au nanoparticles and in-situ deposited In droplets are shown feasible. Particularly the InAs NWs with low band gap energy are used to extend low-reflectivity wavelength region into infrared, where the bSi alone remains transparent. Finally, a fabricated prototype device confirms the potential of III–V NWs combined with bSi for optoelectronic devices. Our results highlight the promise of III–V NWs on bSi for enhancing optoelectronic device performance on the low-cost Si substrates, and we believe that the new low-temperature NW growth regime advances the understanding and capabilities of NW growth.