Related papers: Anisotropic nanoscale wrinkling in solid state sub…
The orientation of the lamellae formed by the phase separation of symmetric diblock copolymer thin films is strongly affected by the wetting properties of the polymer blocks with respect to the substrate. On bare silicon wafers the lamellae…
The existence of nanoscale ductility during the fracture of silicate glasses remains controversial. Here, based on molecular dynamics simulations coupled with topological constraint theory, we show that nano-ductility arises from the…
We demonstrate that a sodium dimer, Na$_{2}$($1^3\Sigma_{u}^+$), residing on the surface of a helium nanodroplet, can be set into rotation by a nonresonant 1.0 ps infrared laser pulse. The time-dependent degree of alignment measured,…
Soft matter systems are common in nature and make up nearly all the essential components necessary for life, from cells to the organelles within those cells. The ability of these soft materials to deform is crucial for the proper…
Confined glasses and their anomalous interfacial rheology raise important questions in fundamental research and numerous practical applications. In this Letter, we study the influence of interfacial air nanobubbles on the free surface of…
Second-order nonlinearity in solids gives rise to a plethora of unique physical phenomena ranging from piezoelectricity and optical rectification to optical parametric amplification, spontaneous parametric down-conversion, and the…
Crystallization from an amorphous atomic structure is usually seen as a spontaneous process in pursuit of a lower energy state, but for alloy systems it is often hard to elucidate because of the intrinsic structural and compositional…
The adhesion of a stiff film onto a curved substrate often generates elastic stresses in the film that eventually give rise to its delamination. Here we predict that delamination of very thin films can be dramatically suppressed through…
Second-order nonlinear optics is the base for a large variety of devices aimed at the active manipulation of light. However, physical principles restrict its occurrence to non-centrosymmetric, anisotropic matter. This significantly limits…
Active control of wrinkling in soft film-substrate composites using electric fields is a critical challenge in tunable material systems. Here, we investigate the electro-mechanical instability of a soft dielectric film bonded to a…
Roughness and orientational order in thin films of anisotropic particles are investigated using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations on a cubic lattice. Anisotropic next-neighbor interactions between the lattice particles were chosen to mimic…
The shape of metal nanoparticles embedded in dielectric matrices influences the optical properties of the composite material. Swift heavy ion irradiation can induce a controllable shape transformation in gold and other metals embedded in…
The presence of wrinkles in Graphene Nanoribbons (GNR) and other two-dimensional (2D) materials significantly alter their mechanical, electronic, optical properties, which can be either beneficial or detrimental. Experimentally, it has been…
A controlled surface wrinkling pattern has been widely used in diverse applications, such as stretchable electronics, smart windows, and haptics. Here, we focus on hexagonal wrinkling patterns because of their great potentials in realizing…
Under partial wetting conditions, making a substrate uniformly rougher enhances the wetting characteristics of the corresponding smooth substrate {--} hydrophilic systems become even more hydrophilic and hydrophobic systems even more…
When ultrathin metal films are subjected to multiple cycles of rapid melting and resolidification by a ns pulsed laser, spatially correlated interfacial nanostructures can result from a competition among several possible thin film…
Block copolymers often create droplets when placed on a substrate. Such nanostructured droplets can be arranged into regular microstructured arrays, thereby forming hierarchically organized materials that can be used in microelectronics,…
Nanoporosity in silicon results in an interface-dominated mechanics, fluidics and photonics that are often superior to the ones of the bulk material. However, their active control, e.g. as a response to electronic stimuli, is challenging…
Ice accumulation hinders the performance of, and poses safety threats for infrastructure both on the ground and in the air. Previously, rationally designed superhydrophobic surfaces have demonstrated some potential as a passive means to…
Controlling the motion of non-Newtonian drops on surfaces is crucial for applications ranging from inkjet printing to biomedical devices and food processing. While the macroscopic behavior of viscoelastic drops sliding on tilted hydrophobic…