title: Self-connected 3D architecture of microwires.
abstract: A defect or disclination line, prepared at a designed place in a nematic liquid crystal, is used as a template for realizing a microwire directly connected to the electrodes with an accuracy of a few microm. The line attracts and traps silica particles, until self-assembling a complete micronecklace. We then fix the colloids in the necklace by means of pyrrole electropolymerization. The process may be extended to connect many microwires simultaneously. This provides a new route for manufacturing automatic 3D connections, which could be important for electronic applications as Moore's law now seems to reach some limit in 2D.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg, UMR 7504 (CNRS-Université de Strasbourg), 23 rue du Loess, 67034 Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Baptiste
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Fleury
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pires
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Galerne