Related papers: Breaking Chiral Symmetry with Microfluidics
The occurrence of biological homochirality is attributed to symmetry breaking mechanisms which are still debatable1. Studies of symmetry breaking require tools for monitoring the population ratios of individual chiral nano-objects, such as…
We investigate the transport dynamics of elongated microparticles in microchannel flows. While smooth-walled channels preserve the dependence of particle trajectories on initial orientation and lateral position, we show that introducing…
We develop a method to design tunable quasiperiodic structures of particles suspended in a fluid by controlling standing acoustic waves. One application of our results is to ultrasound directed self-assembly, which allows fabricating…
Optical vortices, as a kind of structured beam with helical phase wavefronts and doughnut shape intensity distribution, have been used for fabricating chiral structures in metal and spiral patterns in anisotropic polarization-dependent…
In microfluidic devices, inertia drives particles to focus on a finite number of inertial focusing streamlines. Particles on the same streamline interact to form one-dimensional microfluidic crystals (or "particle trains"). Here we develop…
We show that plane parabolic flow in a microfluidic channel causes nonmotile helically-shaped bacteria to drift perpendicular to the shear plane. Net drift results from the preferential alignment of helices with streamlines, with a…
Using molecular simulations and classical density functional theory, we study the liquid-crystalline phase behaviour of a series of bent rod-like mesogens with a controlled degree of chirality introduced through a twist at the centre of the…
Polymeric particles are strong candidates for designing artificial materials capable of emulating the complex twisting-based functionality observed in biological systems. In this letter, we provide the first detailed investigation of the…
Achieving intrinsic optical chirality requires breaking all mirror symmetries of an object, and maximum chirality, which allows interaction with only one helicity of light, is particularly promising for applications such as chiral sensing,…
We compare the various chirality measures most widely used in the literature to quantify chiral symmetry in extended solids, i.e., the continuous chirality measure, the Hausdorff distance, and the angular momentum. By studying these…
Chirality, handedness, is one of the most fundamental intriguing asymmetries in nature. By definition, chiral objects cannot be superimposed onto each other after mirror reflection operation. Numerous examples of chiral structures can be…
Photonic band structures are a typical fingerprint of periodic optical structures, and are usually observed in spectroscopic quantities such as transmission, reflection and absorption. Here we show that also the chiro-optical response of a…
Capillary-driven transport offers a simple, self-sustained alternative to externally pumped microfluidic systems, yet achieving precise control of such flows remains challenging. We experimentally and theoretically investigate capillary…
Chirality, or handedness, is a geometrical property denoting a lack of mirror symmetry. Chirality is ubiquitous in nature and is associated with the non-reciprocal interactions observed in complex systems ranging from biomolecules to…
The occurrence of coiled or helical morphologies is common in nature, from plant roots to DNA packaging into viral capsids, as well as in applications such as oil drilling processes. In many examples, chiral structures result from the…
Inertial microfluidic is able to focus and separate particles in microchannels based on the characteristic geometry and intrinsic hydrodynamic effect. Yet, the vertical position of suspended particles in the microchannel cannot be…
We present an optical interference model to create chiral microstructures (spirals) and its realization in photoresist using holographic lithography. The model is based on the interference of six equally-spaced circumpolar linear polarized…
Effective mixing is essential for biochemical reactions. In droplet-based microfluidics, immediate mixing of substances upon contact in the droplet formation stage can greatly enhance the uniformity of chemical reactions. Furthermore, it…
The unique topology and physics of chiral superlattices make their self-assembly from nanoparticles a holy grail for (meta)materials. Here we show that tetrahedral gold nanoparticles can spontaneously transform from a perovskite-like…
Capillarity-driven self-assembly at fluidic interfaces offers a scalable route to large, reconfigurable materials. Microscale particles with high horizontal-to-vertical aspect ratios become attractive building blocks for shape-directed…