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Display Omitted Cross-gradient particle arrays (CGPA) were produced by capillary assembly.Arrays have a gradual change of composition but a constant particle density.Use of microfluidic chips enabled tuning of the gradient steepness and composition in situ. Arrays with well-defined particle registration are of high importance in device fabrication for biosensors, electronics and optics. Also, materials exhibiting gradient variations of properties (e.g. wettability) in one, two or three dimensions have proven their capability for high-throughput screening of various interactions (e.g. cell-surface interactions). Here, we present the fabrication of cross-gradient particle arrays (CGPA) featuring a gradual cross-over from one particle type to another, while keeping the overall particle density constant. CGPAs were prepared by means of a capillary assembly setup assisted by a microfluidic chip. This setup offers a high level of control over the capillary assembly process with respect to the composition and location of the assembled arrays. A CGPA can be a versatile template or precursor for fabricating surface-bound gradient materials, e.g. by selectively transferring one population of assembled particles or by functionalizing particles before or after assembly. The resulting two complementary gradients may be used in combinatorial studies of biological and chemical interactions. We demonstrate the application of a CGPA as a two-level security feature with unclonable finger-print-like patterns. Moreover, we show the possibility of obtaining a 2D CGPA by capitalizing on diffusive transport within the capillary bridge perpendicular to the assembly direction.

A method for the cascaded capillary assembly of different particle populations in a single assembly cycle is presented. The method addresses the increasing need for fast and simple fabrication of multicomponent arrays from colloidal micro- and nanoscale building blocks for constructing nanoelectronic, optical, and sensing devices. It is based on the use of a microfluidic device from which two independent capillary bridges extend. The menisci of the capillary bridges are pulled over a template with trapping sites that receive the colloidal particles. We describe the parameters for simultaneous, high-yield assembly from both menisci and demonstrate the applicability of the process by means of the size-selective assembly of particles of different diameters and also by the fabrication of two-component particle clusters with defined shape and composition. This approach allows the fabrication of multifunctional particle clusters having different functionalities at predetermined positions.

We fabricated amorphous silicon n-i-p solar cells with two types of nanopatterned back reflectors using stencil lithography. One reflector type has a plasmonic grating that is embedded in the ZnO layer; the other one has a metallic grating patterned on top of the Ag layer. From comparing the short-circuit current densities of the two device types, we conclude that light trapping through grating coupling is more efficient than coupling of light through the excitation of localized surface plasmons. The back reflectors were patterned with dot arrays by evaporation of Ag through millimeter-size stencil membranes. The stencils themselves were patterned by wafer-scale nanosphere lithography. The dot arrays have a periodicity of 428 nm and efficiently scatter light in the near-infrared wavelength range. Both back reflectors types lead to the same morphology for the silicon films. This allows us a fair comparison of the two light coupling mechanisms. We found a 14% and 19% short-circuit current density enhancement for the plasmonic and for the metallic grating, respectively. The external quantum efficiency gains between 550 and 650 nm show similar guided modes resonances for both device types, but the excitation is stronger for the device with the metallic grating.

Enhanced optical transmission (EOT) through subwavelength apertures is usually obtained for p-polarized light. The present study experimentally investigates EOT for s-polarized light. A subwavelength slit surrounded on each side by periodic grooves has been fabricated in a gold film and covered by a thin dielectric layer. The excitation of s-polarized dielectric waveguide modes inside the dielectric film strongly increases the s-polarized transmission. Transmission measurements are compared with a coupled mode model and show good qualitative agreement. Adding a waveguide can improve light transmission through subwavelength apertures, as both s and p-polarization can be efficiently transmitted.

6 páginas, 4 figuras.-- et al., Enhanced optical transmission (EOT) through a single aperture is usually achieved by exciting surface plasmon polaritons with periodic grooves. Surface plasmon polaritons are only excited by p-polarized incident light, i.e. with the electric field perpendicular to the direction of the grooves. The present study experimentally investigates EOT for s-polarized light. A subwavelength slit surrounded on each side by periodic grooves has been fabricated in a gold film and covered by a thin dielectric layer. The excitation of s-polarized dielectric waveguide modes inside the dielectric film strongly increases the s-polarized transmission. A 25 fold increase is measured as compared to the case without the dielectric film. Transmission measurements are compared with a coupled mode method and show good qualitative agreement. Adding a waveguide can improve light transmission through subwavelength apertures, as both s and p-polarization can be efficiently transmitted., This work was funded by the European Community, project no. IST-FP6- 034506 'PLEAS'. AYN acknowledges MICINN for a Juan de la Cierva Grant.

The use of force spectroscopy to study the adhesion of living fibroblasts to their culture substrate was investigated. Both primary fibroblasts (PEMF) and a continuous cell line (3T3) were studied on quartz surfaces. Using a fibronectin- coated AFM cantilever, it was possible to detach a large proportion of the 3T3 cells from the quartz surfaces. Their adhesion to the quartz surface and the effects of topography on this adhesion could be quantified. Three parameters characteristic of the adhesion were measured: the maximum force of detachment, the work of adhesion, and the distance of detachment. Few PEMF cells were detached under the same experimental conditions. The potential and limitations of this method in measuring cell/surface interactions for adherent cells are discussed.

We developed a microfluidic chip setup for capillarity-assisted particle assembly (CAPA). A capillary bridge is formed between the aperture of a silicon chip and the assembly template. The bridge is fed with particle suspension through a microfluidic channel on the chip top side. With this setup, we can control the particle assembly location and tune the suspension composition during particle assembly. In this note, we describe the chip setup, the CAPA process using the microfluidic chip, and results of complex particle assemblies, such as composite particle arrays and particle gradients, that could not be obtained using a conventional CAPA setup.

In this work, nanosphere lithography was integrated with standard microfabrication for the wafer-scale fabrication of silicon nitride (SiN) membranes with arrays of submicrometer holes. A monolayer of polystyrene (PS) beads with a mean diameter of 428 or 535 nm was spin coated onto the front side of a (100)-silicon wafer double-side coated with 100 nm of low-stress SiN. The size of the deposited PS beads was reduced by oxygen plasma reactive ion etching. This allowed to tune the hole size in the released SiN membrane while maintaining the hole array periodicity. Using the size-reduced PS beads as a lift-off template in a standard nanosphere lithography lift-off procedure, a 20 nm thick chromium hole etch mask was realized. This hole mask was patterned by UV photolithography, thus allowing for the local dry-etching of holes into the SiN layer. The holey areas were released from the backside in a combined Si dry-and wet-etch process. During the final wet etch, the wafer front side was protected with a KOH-resistant polymeric coating (ProTEK (R)). In this way, holey SiN membranes with side lengths ranging from 400 mu m up to 2.4 mm were fabricated. Preliminary application specific experiments show the membranes' suitability for microfiltration and stencil applications. (C) 2011 American Vacuum Society. [DOI: 10.1116/1.3554404]

In this paper, a fast and inexpensive wafer-scale process for the fabrication of arrays of nanoscale holes in thin gold films for plasmonics is shown. The process combines nanosphere lithography using spin-coated polystyrene beads with a sputter-etching process. This allows the batch fabrication of several 1000 microm(2) large hole arrays in 200 nm thick gold films without the use of an adhesion layer for the gold film. The hole size and lattice period can be tuned independently with this method. This allows tuning of the optical properties of the hole arrays for the desired application. An example application, refractive index sensing, is demonstrated.

We present the fabrication of thin membranes with dense arrays of nanometer and submicrometer pore arrays by the integration of standard micromachining with three pore patterning techniques: electron beam lithography (EBL), nanosphere lithography (NSL) and aluminum anodization. Using a serial top-down EBL technique we exploit a fine size, positioning and flexibility of this tool. NSL and aluminum anodization, as self-organized bottom-up processes, guaranties cost efficiency and throughput. In our work, we have fabricated silicon nitride (SiN) and alumina (Al(2)O(0)3) membranes with a thickness down to 100 nm, side length ranging from 200 mu m up to 2.4 mm and pore size ranging from 20 nm to 500 nm.