WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., April 22 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've developed a "self-assembling" method that could lead to improved optical communications and other technologies.
The Purdue University chemical engineers said their new technology, which might produce an inexpensive way of making diamond-like crystals, works by positioning tiny particles on a silicon template containing precisely spaced holes that are about 1-100th the width of a human hair. The template is immersed in water on top of which particles are floating and the particles automatically fill in the holes as the template is lifted.
The researchers have used the technique to create a "nearly perfect two-dimensional colloidal crystal," or a precisely ordered layer of particles.
Assistant Professor You-Yeon Won said that is a critical step toward growing three-dimensional crystals for use in optical technologies.
"Making the first layer is very difficult, so we have taken an important step in the right direction," Won said. "Creating three-dimensional structures poses a big challenge, but I think it's feasible."
The research by Won and graduate student Jaehyun Hur appeared in the April 9 online issue of the journal Soft Matter.
