Dahl‐Young Khang

We have produced a stretchable form of silicon that consists of submicrometer single-crystal elements structured into shapes with microscale, periodic, wavelike geometries. When supported by an elastomeric substrate, this "wavy" silicon can be reversibly stretched and compressed to large levels of strain without damaging the silicon. The amplitudes and periods of the waves change to accommodate these deformations, thereby avoiding substantial strains in the silicon itself. Dielectrics, patterns

Abstract Mechanical buckling usually means catastrophic failure in structural mechanics systems. However, controlled buckling of thin films on compliant substrates has been used to advantage in diverse fields such as micro‐/nanofabrication, optics, bioengineering, and metrology as well as fundamental mechanics studies. In this Feature Article, a mechanical buckling model is presented, which sprang, in part, from the buckling study of high‐quality, single‐crystalline nanomaterials. To check the m

Mechanical moduli of common organic electronic materials are measured by the buckling method. The organic layers were prepared on the elastomer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate by transfer, direct spin-coating, or thermal evaporation. When a small (∼2%) compressive strain is applied to organic/PDMS film samples, the layer becomes buckled with a characteristic wavelength. Fitting the experimentally measured data of buckling wavelength as a function of layer thickness with a model equation yi

We have studied the scaling of controlled nonlinear buckling processes in materials with dimensions in the molecular range (i.e., approximately 1 nm) through experimental and theoretical studies of buckling in individual single-wall carbon nanotubes on substrates of poly(dimethylsiloxane). The results show not only the ability to create and manipulate patterns of buckling at these molecular scales, but also, that analytical continuum mechanics theory can explain, quantitatively, all measurable a

A low pressure (2∼3 bar) nanoimprint lithography technique is developed that utilizes a thin fluoropolymer film (∼100 μm) mold. The flexible film mold allows imprinting of submicron pattern features at such a low pressure primarily due to “sequential” imprinting made possible by the mold flexibility and the conformal contact made between the film mold and the substrate. The surface energy of the fluoropolymer mold material is low enough that no mold surface treatment is needed for clean demoldin

Room-temperature imprint lithography showing unique features that are impossible to achieve with conventional high-temperature processes is unveiled here. Large-area nanopatterning, enabled by step-and-repeat and multiple imprinting (see Figure), leads to more versatile and practical nanoscale patterning.

The effects of nonionic surfactant additive, Triton X-100, on the properties of PEDOT:PSS thin films has been investigated. The detailed mechanism for the well-known conductivity enhancement upon the addition of high boiling point nonionic surfactant has been elucidated based on various characterization results. The surfactant additive has been found to enhance the π–π stacking of PEDOT segment, leading to enhanced electrical conductivity. In addition, the added surfactant has facilitated the re

A fluoropolymer mold is introduced and used to pattern sub-100 nm features with the characteristics that cause problems in patterning with a mold. The low surface energy and inertness, stiffness, and permeable nature of the mold material make it possible to pattern without surface treatment densely populated very fine features, mixed patterns of small and large features, and features with a high aspect ratio, when the mold is used with a polymer solution for the patterning. The ultraviolet trans

We demonstrate room-temperature nanoimprint lithography using solvent vapor treatment of the polymer film on a substrate. In this method, the film treated with the solvent vapor is pressed with a mold at room temperature, requiring no heating that has been needed for the lithography. We show that the mold or mask patterns down to 60 nm can well be transferred onto the polymer film without any problem of the polymer adhering to the mold. The vapor treatment of the dried polymer film results in lo

Room-temperature welding and sintering of metal nanostructures, nanoparticles and nanowires, by capillary condensation of chemical vapors have successfully been demonstrated. Nanoscale gaps or capillaries that are abundant in layers of metal nanostructures have been found to be the preferred sites for the condensation of chemically oxidizing vapor, H2O2 in this work. The partial dissolution and resolidification at such nanogaps completes the welding/sintering of metal nanostructures within ∼10 m

Structuring Si, ranging from nanoscale to macroscale feature dimensions, is essential for many applications. Metal-assisted chemical etching (MaCE) has been developed as a simple, low-cost, and scalable method to produce structures across widely different dimensions. The process involves various parameters, such as catalyst, substrate doping type and level, crystallography, etchant formulation, and etch additives. Careful optimization of these parameters is the key to the successful fabrication

Abstract Highly efficient organic–inorganic hybrid solar cells of Si‐poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) have been demonstrated by simultaneous structural, electrical, and interfacial engineering with low processing temperature. Si substrate has been sculpted into hierarchical structure to reduce light reflection loss and increase interfacial junction area at the same time. Regarding the electrical optimization, highly conductive organic PEDOT:PSS layer has been fo

Bulk micromachining of Si is demonstrated by the well-known metal-assisted chemical etching (MaCE). Si microstructures, having lateral dimension from 5 μm up to millimeters, are successfully sculpted deeply into Si substrate, as deep as >100 μm. The key ingredient of this success is found to be the optimizations of catalyst metal type and its morphology. Combining the respective advantages of Ag and Au in the MaCE as a Ag/Au bilayer configuration leads to quite stable etch reaction upon a prolon

Despite the significant advantages of liquid metals, such as outstanding mechanical deformability and good electrical conductivity, their intrinsic opacity and unsuitability for conventional photolithography processing have limited their extensive utilization for transparent conductive films. Herein, we present the formation of transparent and stretchable electrodes of liquid metals using a direct printing method with high resolutions. Conductive grid structures of liquid metals can be printed d