硬質薄膜リッジ構造を利用した液体の脱濡れ様式制御

抄録

Dewetting of a liquid film leads to the formation of self-organized structures of substances that are initially distributed in the film. This phenomenon has actively been exploited to spontaneously pattern nanomaterials on a solid substrate surface, and the location where the self-organized nanomaterials form can precisely be adjusted when the dewtting dynamics is regulated using micro-/nanopatterned templates. However, such templates are generally fabricated by lithography-based methods, which involve complex processes and specialized facilities that are not readily accessible. Here, we show that periodic ridges of a diamond-like carbon (DLC) film that arise as a consequence of a mechanical instability can effectively be used to manipulate the dewetting manner of a liquid film containing DNA molecules on a flat substrate, which results in the formation of DNA nanowires that align unidirectionally with a given spacing.