Sacrificial gold coating enhances transport of liquid metal in pressurized fountain pen lithography
| Autor: | Takuya Matsumoto, Jiannan Bao, Yuki Usami, Tomoki Misaka, Leo Sakamoto, Gideon I. Livshits, Yoichi Otsuka |
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| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Liquid metal
Materials science Science Oxide Wetting 02 engineering and technology 010402 general chemistry 01 natural sciences Article chemistry.chemical_compound Conductive ink Ceramic Composite material Lithography Multidisciplinary 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology 0104 chemical sciences Design synthesis and processing chemistry visual_art visual_art.visual_art_medium Electrowetting Medicine 0210 nano-technology Layer (electronics) |
| Zdroj: | Scientific Reports Scientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021) |
| ISSN: | 2045-2322 |
| Popis: | Liquid metals have attracted attention as functional components for moldable electronics, such as soft flexible connectors, wires or conductive ink. The relatively high surface tension (> 400 mN m−1) and the fact that liquid metals do not readily wet ceramic or oxide surfaces have led to devising unique techniques to spread the liquid and mold its shape. These techniques include surface modification, electrowetting and vacuum filling of channels. This work presents an injection technique based on pressurized fountain pen lithography with glass nanopipettes developed to directly pattern liquid metal on flat hard substrates. The liquid metals were eutectic alloys of Gallium, including Gallium-Indium (EGaIn), Gallium-Indium-Zinc and Gallium-Indium-Tin. The nanopipettes were coated internally with gold, acting as a sacrificial layer and facilitating the wetting of the pipette down to its pore, with an inner diameter of ~ 100–300 nm. By applying hydrodynamic pressure to the connected end of the pipette, the metal was extruded through the pore, forming long continuous (> 3 mm) and narrow (~ 1–15 µm) metal lines on silicon oxide and gold surfaces at room temperature and ambient conditions. With this robust platform, it is possible to pattern liquid metals on a variety of substrates and geometries down to the micron range. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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