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All dissolvable and transient plasmonic device enabled by nanoimprint lithography
Yibo Xiao1, Xinyi Cao1, Qiao Dong1
1State Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics and Information Displays, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Institute of Advanced Materials, Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Nanjing 210023, People's Republic of China.
Nanotechnology
|April 23, 2023
Summary
Researchers developed fully dissolvable nanophotonic devices using polylactic-co-glycolic acid. These transient devices offer eco-friendly disposal and tunable plasmonic properties, degrading in water after use.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Photonics
Background:
- Transient electronic devices utilize dissolvable metals for tunable plasmonic resonances.
- Existing nanostructured substrates are often not dissolvable, limiting device environmental friendliness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To create large-area, dissolvable nanostructures for transient nanophotonic devices.
- To investigate the influence of imprinting parameters on nanostructure formation.
- To demonstrate a fully dissolvable plasmonic device with tunable optical properties.
Main Methods:
- Nanoimprint lithography was employed to fabricate polylactic-co-glycolic acid nanostructures.
- Thin metal layers, specifically zinc, were deposited to create quasi-3D plasmonic devices.
- The impact of imprinting temperature and ambient conditions on nanostructure morphology was analyzed.
Main Results:
- Large-area dissolvable polylactic-co-glycolic acid nanostructures were successfully fabricated.
- The deposition of zinc resulted in all-dissolvable plasmonic devices that degrade in water within days.
- Transmission spectra of the plasmonic devices exhibited tunability post-immersion in water.
Conclusions:
- A strategy for truly transient nanophotonic devices was demonstrated.
- The developed devices offer a pathway for environmentally friendly disposal and enhanced information security.
- Tunable plasmonic properties and controlled degradation are key features of this novel approach.
