Light patterning semiconductor nanoparticles by modulating surface charges

Abstract Optical patterning of colloidal particles is a scalable and cost-effective approach for creating multiscale functional structures. Existing methods often use high-intensity light sources and customized optical setups, making them less feasible for large-scale microfabrication processes. Her...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiaoli He, Hongri Gu, Yanmei Ma, Yuhang Cai, Huaide Jiang, Yi Zhang, Hanhan Xie, Ming Yang, Xinjian Fan, Liang Guo, Zhan Yang, Chengzhi Hu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2024-11-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53926-7
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Summary:Abstract Optical patterning of colloidal particles is a scalable and cost-effective approach for creating multiscale functional structures. Existing methods often use high-intensity light sources and customized optical setups, making them less feasible for large-scale microfabrication processes. Here, we report an optical patterning method for semiconductor nanoparticles by light-triggered modulation of their surface charge. Rather than using light as the primary energy source, this method utilizes UV-induced cleavage of surface ligands to modify surface charges, thereby facilitating the self-assembly of nanoparticles on a charged substrate via electrostatic interactions. By using citrate-treated ZnO nanoparticles, uniform ZnO patterns with variable thicknesses can be achieved. These multilayered ZnO patterns are fabricated into a UV detector with an on/off ratio exceeding 104. Our results demonstrate a simple yet effective way to pattern semiconductor nanoparticles, facilitating the large-scale integration of functional nanomaterials into emerging flexible and robotic microdevices.
ISSN:2041-1723