Researchers at the University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering have developed a technique that enables metallic nanocrystals to self-assemble into larger, complex materials for next-generation antennas and lenses. The metal nanocrystals are cube-shaped and, like bricks or Tetris blocks, spontaneously organize themselves into larger-scale structures with precise orientations relative to one another.
To control how the cubes organize, the team developed a method to graft polymer chains to the silver cube surfaces that modify how the cubes interact with each other. Using simulations, the researchers predicted that placing short polymer chains on the cube surface would cause them to stack normally, while placing long polymer chains would cause the cubes to stack edge-to-edge.
In demonstrating their technique, the researchers created macroscopic films of nanocubes with these two different orientations, and showed that the films reflected and transmitted different wavelengths of light.
Also: Learn about a single-layer, all-metal patch antenna element with wide bandwidth.
