Manipulating spheres that sink: assembly of micrometer sized glass spheres for optical coupling
Manipulating spheres that sink: assembly of micrometer sized glass spheres for optical coupling
Previous work (Tull, E. J.; Bartlett, P. N.; Ryan, K. R. Langmuir 2007, 14, 7859; Tull, E. J.; Bartlett, P. N. Colloids Surf., A 2008, 327, 71) has demonstrated that, since convective forces have little influence over spheres in unstable sols, many conventional assembly techniques are ineffective for the organization of glassy spheres > 5 µm in diameter into sparse patterns of interest for optoelectronic device applications. Carefully designed bifunctional substrates are required for both planar and "in cavity" assembly. In the present work, novel selective chemical modification of structured Ta/glass substrates has been used to generate surfaces tailored to the assembly of glass microspheres from aqueous solution. Uniform arrays of 40-60 µm diameter glass spheres have been produced in pits of half diameter depth, demonstrating the suitability of this technique for fabricating optical devices where light is coupled from a waveguide into the equator of a sphere. Individual aspects of the assembly process have been examined, and their influence over defect densities and the positioning of the assembled spheres is discussed.
1872-1880
Tull, Elizabeth J.
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Bartlett, Philip N.
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Murugan, G.Senthil
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Wilkinson, James S.
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3 February 2009
Tull, Elizabeth J.
a5bc1534-4c85-400b-826d-2d9012442faa
Bartlett, Philip N.
d99446db-a59d-4f89-96eb-f64b5d8bb075
Murugan, G.Senthil
a867686e-0535-46cc-ad85-c2342086b25b
Wilkinson, James S.
73483cf3-d9f2-4688-9b09-1c84257884ca
Tull, Elizabeth J., Bartlett, Philip N., Murugan, G.Senthil and Wilkinson, James S.
(2009)
Manipulating spheres that sink: assembly of micrometer sized glass spheres for optical coupling.
Langmuir, 25 (3), .
(doi:10.1021/la803560s).
Abstract
Previous work (Tull, E. J.; Bartlett, P. N.; Ryan, K. R. Langmuir 2007, 14, 7859; Tull, E. J.; Bartlett, P. N. Colloids Surf., A 2008, 327, 71) has demonstrated that, since convective forces have little influence over spheres in unstable sols, many conventional assembly techniques are ineffective for the organization of glassy spheres > 5 µm in diameter into sparse patterns of interest for optoelectronic device applications. Carefully designed bifunctional substrates are required for both planar and "in cavity" assembly. In the present work, novel selective chemical modification of structured Ta/glass substrates has been used to generate surfaces tailored to the assembly of glass microspheres from aqueous solution. Uniform arrays of 40-60 µm diameter glass spheres have been produced in pits of half diameter depth, demonstrating the suitability of this technique for fabricating optical devices where light is coupled from a waveguide into the equator of a sphere. Individual aspects of the assembly process have been examined, and their influence over defect densities and the positioning of the assembled spheres is discussed.
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Published date: 3 February 2009
Organisations:
Chemistry, Optoelectronics Research Centre
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Local EPrints ID: 65778
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/65778
ISSN: 0743-7463
PURE UUID: 7f5e5687-0e4c-4421-914d-d0c1ce461652
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Date deposited: 23 Mar 2009
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:50
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Author:
Elizabeth J. Tull
Author:
G.Senthil Murugan
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