Nanoscale three-dimensional fabrication based on mechanically guided assembly

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 833 - 10
• Main Authors: Ahn, Junseong, Ha, Ji-Hwan, Jeong, Yongrok, Jung, Young, Choi, Jungrak, Gu, Jimin, Hwang, Soon Hyoung, Kang, Mingu, Ko, Jiwoo, Cho, Seokjoo, Han, Hyeonseok, Kang, Kyungnam, Park, Jaeho, Jeon, Sohee, Jeong, Jun-Ho, Park, Inkyu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 14.02.2023; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 142/126; 147/135; 639/925/927; 639/925/930; Adhesion; Adhesives; Assembly; Configuration management; Design; Elastomers; Electrical properties; Fabrication; Humanities and Social Sciences; Manufacturing; Mechanical properties; multidisciplinary; Nanofabrication; Nanostructure; Nanotechnology devices; Nitrogen dioxide; Printing; Robustness (mathematics); Scanning electron microscopy; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Screen printing; Sensors; Substrates; Three dimensional printing
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-36302-9

The growing demand for complex three-dimensional (3D) micro-/nanostructures has inspired the development of the corresponding manufacturing techniques. Among these techniques, 3D fabrication based on mechanically guided assembly offers the advantages of broad material compatibility, high designability, and structural reversibility under strain but is not applicable for nanoscale device printing because of the bottleneck at nanofabrication and design technique. Herein, a configuration-designable nanoscale 3D fabrication is suggested through a robust nanotransfer methodology and design of substrate’s mechanical characteristics. Covalent bonding–based two-dimensional nanotransfer allowing for nanostructure printing on elastomer substrates is used to address fabrication problems, while the feasibility of configuration design through the modulation of substrate’s mechanical characteristics is examined using analytical calculations and numerical simulations, allowing printing of various 3D nanostructures. The printed nanostructures exhibit strain-independent electrical properties and are therefore used to fabricate stretchable H 2 and NO 2 sensors with high performances stable under external strains of 30%. 3D fabrication via mechanically guided assembly has greatly progressed in the recent years, but has not been applicable for nanodevices. Here the authors suggest a configuration-designable 3D nanofabrication through a nanotransfer printing and design of the substrate’s mechanical characteristics.