A review on techniques to fabricate silicon oxide arrays for biomolecules patterning

The development of methods for pattern proteins and other functional molecules on the surfaces with nanoscale accuracy is indispensable to take advantage of their properties in ultrasensitive and/or high-density devices. Several methods are used to fabricate organized micro/nanohierarchical structures on a surface and give the ability of molecules to self-assemble by using the mutual recognition properties. However, the supramolecular organization is difficult to extend from nano- to mesoscopic length scales or does not allow accurate placement of the desired structures on a specific region of an inhomogeneous surface. This paper reviews the different techniques used to fabricate nano/millimeter range patterns on SiO₂/Si substrates and local chemical grafting to perform successful attachment of biomolecules on predetermined areas.     

A new routine to fabricate Bi single crystalline tapering junction nanowire arrays

Large-scale tapering junction Bi nanowire arrays have been synthesized by pulsed electrodeposition within a porous anodic alumina membrane (AAM). Bi metal–semiconductor and semiconductor–semiconductor junction nanowires with different diameters were fabricated easily by modulating only the pulse time using only an ordinary AAM template. The morphology and structure of the tapering junction Bi nanowire arrays and individual nanowires are characterized by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The voltage–current measurements show the intrinsic nonlinear and asymmetric characteristics of metal–semiconductor junction nanowires. PACS 81.05.Bx; 82.80.Fk; 73.63.Nm     

A novel method to prepare Au nanocage@SiO_2 nanoparticle

Gold （Au） nanocage@SiO2 nanoparticles are prepared by a novel approach. The silver （Ag） nanocube@SiO2 structure is synthetized firstly. Next, the method of etching a SiO2 shell by boiling water is adopted to change the penetration rate of AuCl4- through the SiO2 shell. AuCl4- can penetrate through silica shells of different thickness values to react with the Ag nanocube core by changing the incubation time. The surface plasma resonance （SPR） peak of synthetic Au nanocage@SiO2 can be easily tuned into the near-infrared region. Besides, CdTeS quantum dots （QDs） are successfully connected to the surface of Au nanocage@SiO2, which testifies that the incubation process does not change the property of silica.     

Size-dependent optical properties of VO2 nanoparticle arrays

The size effects on the optical properties of vanadium dioxide nanoparticles in ordered arrays have been studied. Contrary to previous VO2 studies, we observe that the optical contrast between the semiconducting and metallic phases is dramatically enhanced in the visible region, presenting size-dependent optical resonances and size-dependent transition temperatures. The collective optical response as a function of temperature presents an enhanced scattering state during the evolving phase transition. The effects appear to arise because of the underlying VO2 mesoscale optical properties, the heterogeneous nucleation behind the phase transition, and the incoherent coupling between the nanoparticles undergoing an order-disorder-order transition. Calculations that support these interpretations are presented.     

A novel and expeditious method to fabricate superhydrophobic metal carboxylate surface

This article has presented a novel method to fabricate superhydrophobic metal carboxylate surface on substrates like copper, ferrum, etc. This method markedly shortened the fabrication time to less than one second. The superhydrophobic effect is even better that the contact angle (CA) is 170±1° and the sliding angle (SA) <2°. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed micro-nano flower-like structures. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed that the flower-like structures are composed of Cu[CH₃(CH₂)₁₂COO]₂. The ethanol solution containing fatty acid and metal salt plays a key role in this method. This method has tremendous potentials in industrial production of superhydrophobic materials.     

Collective resonances in gold nanoparticle arrays

We present experimental evidence of sharp spectral features in the optical response of 2D arrays of gold nanorods. A simple coupled dipole model is used to describe the main features of the observed spectral line shape. The resonance involves an interplay between the excitation of plasmons localized on the particles and diffraction resulting from the scattering by the periodic arrangement of these particles. We investigate this interplay by varying the particle size, aspect ratio, and interparticle spacing, and observe the effect on the position, width, and intensity of the sharp spectral feature.     

A novel sputtering oxidation coupling (SOC) method to fabricate VO2 thin film

VO₂ thin film synthesized by a novel sputtering oxidation coupling (SOC) method has been successfully fabricated. The experimental results show that the optimum oxidation time is 285 s and the thin film exhibits a good metal-insulator transition (MIT) approximately at 340 K. The corresponding structures and surface compositions of the films have been characterized by X-ray diffractometer and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy separately.     

A green approach to fabricate CuO nanoparticles

Uniform copper oxide (tenorite) nanoparticles have been prepared via a green pathway by thermal decomposition, using a novel supramolecular complex, in which β-cyclodextrin is selected to encapsulate the precursor copper(II) acetate.     

Spontaneous formation of size-selected bimetallic nanoparticle arrays

An original physical route is proposed to organize size-selected bimetallic nanoparticles on graphite surfaces. This approach is based on the soft landing of preformed clusters and is demonstrated for bimetallic Au_xPt_1 ? x clusters of different compositions. Particle coalescence is avoided thanks to cluster surface reactivity, leading to a self-assembly with a well-defined inter-particle separation (~ 1 nm).     

制备高质量聚苯乙烯微球胶粒晶体的蒸发自组装法

建立了一种组装亚微米级聚苯乙烯微球的方法，称作蒸发自组装法.该方法是在一定温度下 ，聚苯乙烯微球随着分散介质的蒸发在悬浮液的气-液相界面处进行高效组装的过程.扫描电 子显微镜显示组装体为规则排列的密堆积面心立方结构.研究发现，气-液界面处生成的组装 体强烈地阻碍着分散介质的蒸发，单位时间内消耗的颗粒总数量随组装面积的增大而增加. 通过调整悬浮液的蒸发温度和组装面积，可以有效地控制悬浮液相浓度的变化，从而实现在 相浓度基本不变的情况下组装出高质量的聚苯乙烯胶粒晶体. 关键词： 蒸发自组装法 胶粒晶体 聚苯乙烯微球 三维有序大孔材料     

A novel method to fabricate water-soluble hydrophobic agent and super-hydrophobic film on pretreated metals

This paper demonstrated a convenient method to prepare water-soluble hydrophobic agent and create super-hydrophobic film on the basic material of phosphating film and electroless Ni-P composite coating on carbon steels. Water contact angles and rolling angles of super-hydrophobic films were 155-168° and 2-3° on phosphating films, respectively, 145-155° and 15-20° on electroless Ni-P composite coatings, respectively. This water-soluble hydrophobic agent was white latex and had lots of micro-particles suspending in it. The thickness of the single-layer super-hydrophobic film with good corrosion resistance and stability was about 2-3 μm. The microstructure of super-hydrophobic film was discussed using XRD, EDS, optical and electronic microscope as analytical methods. This kind of super-hydrophobic film had a great many micro-particles dispersing in the surface, which contained F and Si and greatly increased the roughness of the surface.     

Tunable wavelength-division multiplexing based on metallic nanoparticle arrays

We report a tunable wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) structure based on two-dimensional silver nanoparticle arrays. The linewidth of the multiple geometric resonances of the arrays is of the order of several nanometers generally, which guarantees high wavelength selectivity. Optical channels can be selectively activated by setting the polarization of the incident wave. The operation wavelength can be tuned from the visible to the near infrared, and the free spectral range can be adjusted from hundreds to tens of nanometers by varying the size of the constituent particles and the interparticle distances. The proposed structure can provide an extinction ratio of ~10 and a quality factor of ~700. This tunable, easy-to-produce, and subwavelength WDM structure is desirable for plasmonic integrated circuits.     

Nonlinear optical properties of periodic gold nanoparticle arrays

Periodic Au nanoparticle arrays were fabricated on silica substrates using nanosphere lithography. The identical single-layer masks were prepared by self-assembly of polystyrene nanospheres with radius R = 350 nm. The structural characterization of nanosphere masks and periodic particle arrays was investigated by atomic force microscopy. The nonlinear optical properties of the Au nanoparticle arrays were determined using a single beam z-scan method at a wavelength of 532 nm with laser duration of 55 ps. The results show that periodic Au nanoparticle arrays exhibit a fast third-order nonlinear optical response with the nonlinear refractive index and nonlinear absorption coefficient being n₂ = 6.09 × 10⁻⁶ cm²/kW and β = −1.87 × 10⁻⁶ m/W, respectively.     

Aligned Ni nanoparticle arrays encapsulated in carbon nanotubes

Using the carbon nanotube (CNT) arrays embedded in anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template as an electrode, large amounts of Ni nanoparticles have been encapsulated into the CNTs by an alternating current (AC) electrodepostion technique. As deposited Ni nanoparticles with a typical size of 50–60 nm randomly nucleated on the CNT walls, thus inhomogeneously distributed in the CNTs. After annealing at 600 ^°C, the nanoparticles transformed into quasi-spherical structures with the diameter increasing to 60–80 nm. The quasi-spherical nanoparticles were aligned in orderly rows along the axis of the CNT channels. Magnetic hysteresis measured at 5 K showed that the coercivity was 450 Oe for the as-deposited sample and 385 Oe for annealed sample, with the applied magnetic field parallel with the CNT’s axis. The structures and magnetic properties were discussed for both as-deposited and annealed samples.     

Novel method to fabricate magnetic hollow silica particles with anisotropic structure

Magnetic Fe₃O₄/SiO₂ particles with rod-like structure and hollow interior have been constructed by a template method. During this procedure, β-FeOOH was firstly synthesized as the rod-like template to fabricate β-FeOOH/SiO₂ core/shell-like particles. These β-FeOOH/SiO₂ nanorods could be further transformed to Fe₃O₄/SiO₂ via the decomposition-reducing method. These particles showed ferromagnetic behavior at room temperature with high coercivity and may provide potential applications in biological area.     

A facile way to fabricate a superamphiphobic surface

Compared to superhydrophobic surfaces, superamphiphobic surfaces possess more potential applications but are difficult to fabricate. Herein, to address this problem, we describe a simple method to fabricate a superamphiphobic surface based on a CNTs–SiO₂ hybrid material. The CNTs–SiO₂ hybrid material obtained by a sol–gel approach was sprayed onto glass slides to form coatings. After surface fluorination, the sprayed coating displayed superamphiphobicity toward water and a number of organic liquids, such as dodecane. It was found that the time of fluorination slightly influenced the surface wettability of the sprayed coating. We also investigated the role of CNTs and SiO₂ on superamphiphobicity establishment separately, and such information allowed us to engineer surfaces with specific wettability.     

Subwavelength modulational instability and plasmon oscillons in nanoparticle arrays

We study modulational instability in nonlinear arrays of subwavelength metallic nanoparticles and analyze numerically nonlinear scenarios of the instability development. We demonstrate that modulational instability can lead to the formation of regular periodic or quasiperiodic modulations of the polarization. We reveal that such nonlinear nanoparticle arrays can support long-lived standing and moving oscillating nonlinear localized modes--plasmon oscillons.     

Nonlinear optical properties of Au/ZnO nanoparticle arrays

The triangular-shaped Au/ZnO nanoparticle arrays were fabricated on fused quartz substrate using nanosphere lithography. The structural characterization of the Au/ZnO nanoparticle arrays was investigated by atomic force microscopy. The absorption peak due to the surface plasmon resonance of Au particles at the wavelength of about 570 nm was observed. The nonlinear optical properties of the nanoparticle arrays were measured using the z-scan method at a wavelength of 532 nm with pulse duration of 10 ns. The real and imaginary part of third-order nonlinear optical susceptibility, Re χ⁽³⁾ and Im χ⁽³⁾, were determined to be 1.15 × 10⁻⁶ and −5.36 × 10⁻⁷ esu, respectively. The results show that the Au/ZnO nanoparticle arrays have great potential for future optical devices.     

3D computational method to study the focal laws of transducer arrays for NDE applications

Based on the impulse response and the discrete representation methods, a 3D computational method has been developed to calculate the optimal focal laws to focus the ultrasonic beams through interfaces of complex geometry, and the respective transmitted ultrasonic field generated by NDE transducer arrays. 1- and 2D array transducers are considered. Two different focusing techniques are used to obtain the time delays: the first travel time on each center of the array element, and the cross correlation between the simulated signals from neighboring array elements. Applying the time delays to the array, the transmitted field can be simulated using the same computational method. Several simulations were performed to present the ability of the computational method to focus through, for instance, curved and plane surfaces between two media (acrylic-steel). A comparison between the two focusing techniques is presented.     

A novel method to fabricate superhydrophobic surfaces based on well-defined mulberry-like particles and self-assembly of polydimethylsiloxane

A superhydrophobic surface was obtained by combining application of CaCO₃/SiO₂ mulberry-like composite particles, which originated from violent stirring and surface modification, and self-assembly of polydimethylsiloxane. Water contact angle and sliding angle of the superhydrophobic surface were measured to be about 164 ± 2.5° and 5°, respectively. The excellent hydrophobicity is attributed to the synergistic effect of micro-submicro-nano-meter scale roughness (fabricated by composite particles) and the low surface energy (provided by polydimethylsiloxane). This procedure makes it possible for widespread applications of superhydrophobic film due to its simplicity and practicability.