Search
Menu
Gentec Electro-Optics Inc   - Measure With Gentec Accuracy LB

Light Twists Rigid Structures

Facebook X LinkedIn Email
ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 25, 2010 — While light has been known to affect matter on the molecular scale, it has not been observed causing such drastic mechanical twisting to larger particles – until now.

After more than three years of experiments, engineers at the University of Michigan demonstrated that light itself can twist ribbons of nanoparticles between 1 and 4 µm long.


After 72 hours of exposure to ambient light, strands of nanoparticles twisted and bunched together. (Image: Nicholas Kotov)

Matter bending light is the mechanism behind optical lenses and polarizing 3-D movie glasses, but the opposite interaction has rarely been observed, said Nicholas Kotov, principal investigator on the project. Kotov is a professor in the departments of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering.

"I didn't believe it at the beginning," Kotov said. "To be honest, it took us three and a half years to really figure out how photons of light can lead to such a remarkable change in rigid structures a thousand times bigger than molecules."

Kotov and his colleagues had set out in this study to create "superchiral" particles – spirals of nano-scale mixed metals that could theoretically focus visible light to specks smaller than its wavelength. Materials with this unique "negative refractive index" could be capable of producing Klingon-like invisibility cloaks, said Sharon Glotzer, a professor in the departments of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering who was also involved in the experiments. The twisted nanoparticle ribbons are likely to lead to the superchiral materials, the professors say.

To begin the experiment, the researchers dispersed nanoparticles of cadmium telluride in a water-based solution. They checked on them intermittently with powerful microscopes. After about 24 hours under light, the nanoparticles had assembled themselves into flat ribbons. After 72 hours, they had twisted and bunched together in the process. But when the nanoparticles were left in the dark, distinct, long, straight ribbons formed.

"We discovered that if we make flat ribbons in the dark and then illuminate them, we see a gradual twisting, twisting that increases as we shine more light," Kotov said. "This is very unusual in many ways."

Deposition Sciences Inc. - Difficult Coatings - MR-8/23

The light twists the ribbons by causing a stronger repulsion between nanoparticles in them.

The twisted ribbon is a new shape in nanotechnology, Kotov said. Besides superchiral materials, he envisions clever applications for the shape and the technique used to create it. Sudhanshu Srivastava, a postdoctoral researcher in his lab, is trying to make the spirals rotate.

"He's making very small propellers to move through fluid – nanoscale submarines, if you will," Kotov said. "You often see this motif of twisted structures in mobility organs of bacteria and cells."

The nanoscale submarines could conceivably be used for drug-delivery and in microfluidic systems that mimic the body for experiments.

This newly-discovered twisting effect could also lead to microelectromechanical systems that are controlled by light. And it could be utilized in lithography, or microchip production.

Glotzer and Aaron Santos, a postdoctoral researcher in her lab, performed computer simulations that helped Kotov and his team better understand how the ribbons form. The simulations showed that under certain circumstances, the complex combination of forces between the tetrahedrally-shaped nanoparticles could conspire to produce ribbons of just the width observed in the experiments.

A tetrahedron is a pyramid-shaped, three-dimensional polyhedron.

"The precise balance of forces leading to the self-assembly of ribbons is very revealing," Glotzer said. "It could be used to stabilize other nanostructures made of non-spherical particles. It's all about how the particles want to pack themselves."

Other collaborators include researchers from the University of Leeds in the UK, Chungju National University in Korea, Argonne National Laboratory, Pusan National University in Korea and Jiangnan University in China.

The research is funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation and the US Department of Energy.

For more information, visit: www.umich.edu  

Published: March 2010
Glossary
light
Electromagnetic radiation detectable by the eye, ranging in wavelength from about 400 to 750 nm. In photonic applications light can be considered to cover the nonvisible portion of the spectrum which includes the ultraviolet and the infrared.
lithography
Lithography is a key process used in microfabrication and semiconductor manufacturing to create intricate patterns on the surface of substrates, typically silicon wafers. It involves the transfer of a desired pattern onto a photosensitive material called a resist, which is coated onto the substrate. The resist is then selectively exposed to light or other radiation using a mask or reticle that contains the pattern of interest. The lithography process can be broadly categorized into several...
nano
An SI prefix meaning one billionth (10-9). Nano can also be used to indicate the study of atoms, molecules and other structures and particles on the nanometer scale. Nano-optics (also referred to as nanophotonics), for example, is the study of how light and light-matter interactions behave on the nanometer scale. See nanophotonics.
nanotechnology
The use of atoms, molecules and molecular-scale structures to enhance existing technology and develop new materials and devices. The goal of this technology is to manipulate atomic and molecular particles to create devices that are thousands of times smaller and faster than those of the current microtechnologies.
Aaron SantosAmericasAsia-PacificBasic ScienceBiophotonicscadmium tellurideEuropeindustrialinvisibility cloakslenseslightLight SourcesLight twists rigid structureslithographymicrochip productionmicroelectromechanicalMicroscopynanonano-scale mixed materialnanotechnologynegative refractive indexNicholas Kotovoptical lensesOpticspolarizing 3-DResearch & TechnologyRibbons of NanoparticlesSharon Glotzersuperchiral particlestetrahedronUniversity of Michiganvisible light

We use cookies to improve user experience and analyze our website traffic as stated in our Privacy Policy. By using this website, you agree to the use of cookies unless you have disabled them.