Phase-Separated\nNanophotonic Structures by Inkjet\nPrinting

Abstract

The\nspontaneous phase separation of two or more polymers is a thermodynamic\nprocess that can take place in both biological and synthetic materials\nand which results in the structuring of the matter from the micro-\nto the nanoscale. For photonic applications, it allows forming quasi-periodic\nor disordered assemblies of light scatterers at high throughput and\nlow cost. The wet process methods currently used to fabricate phase-separated\nnanostructures (PSNs) limit the design possibilities, which in turn\nhinders the deployment of PSNs in commercialized products. To tackle\nthis shortcoming, we introduce a versatile and industrially scalable\ndeposition method based on the inkjet printing of a polymer blend,\nleading to PSNs with a feature size that is tuned from a few micrometers\ndown to sub-100 nm. Consequently, PSNs can be rapidly processed into\nthe desired macroscopic design. We demonstrate that these printed\nPSNs can improve light management in manifold photonic applications,\nexemplified here by exploiting them as a light extraction layer and\na metasurface for light-emitting devices and point-of-care biosensors,\nrespectively.