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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

Fabrication of Zero Mode Waveguides for High Concentration Single Molecule Microscopy
Published on: May 12, 2020
Effects of liquid bridge between colloidal spheres and evaporation temperature on fabrication of colloidal
1Department of Biologic and Materials Sciences, University of Michigan, 1011 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1078, USA. ygko@umich.edu
Abstract:
For the application of colloidal crystal films as "photonic band gap" materials, their domain size and thickness are significant. The substrate withdrawing speed, the colloidal suspension volume fraction, and the colloidal suspension temperature have been studied for the domain size and thickness controls of colloidal crystals in this study. Stable dispersions of monodispersed polystyrene spheres with a diameter of 245 nm were synthesized according to a general emulsion polymerization for colloidal crystal films. By experimental results and the theoretical relationship between the number of layers and other parameters, we could know that the water bridge between colloidal spheres (which is formed by capillary force) influences the number of colloidal crystal layers significantly.
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