title: Novel 3-D structures in polymer films by coupling external and internal fields.
abstract: A route to produce novel three-dimensional structures in thin films is demonstrated. Such structures are most difficult to produce in a simple manner without the use of multiple fabrication steps. Here, we show the generation of 3-D cage-type structures using a combination of electrohydrodynamic instabilities and dewetting in a polymer/polymer/air trilayer. Removal of one of the components by use of a selective solvent or by degradation of one of the components reveals the formation of a three-dimensional structure, where one polymer is encased in the other. Thus, by coupling an external field with a surface field inherent to the polymers, a novel fabrication strategy is shown that has clear applications in microfluidics and microelectromechanical systems with extensions to patterned surfaces and structured fluids, like block copolymers.
authors.affiliation: Polymer Science and Engineering Department, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA.
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Dickey
authors.forename: Suresh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: K Amanda
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Leach
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Collister
authors.forename: C Grant
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Willson
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Russell