Bioreplication for optical applications
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Prospective Article
Bioreplication for optical applications Raúl J. Martín-Palma, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA Address all correspondence to Raúl J. Martín-Palma at [email protected] (Received 13 February 2018; accepted 17 April 2018)
Abstract Evolving from the oblique-angle deposition method used industrially for the deposition of thin films, the conformal-evaporated-film-by-rotation (CEFR) technique has been successfully applied to replicate surfaces of biologic origin. The CEFR technique is the first step of the Nano4Bio technique, an industrially scalable bioreplication process, the other three steps being electroforming, plasma ashing, and either stamping or casting. These techniques have found optical applications in diverse fields, including forensic science, pest control, and light sources.
Bioinspiration, biomimetics, and bioreplication Biologic species are endowed with multiscale structures ranging from the nano- to micro- to macroscales, which provide them with very specific functionalities. The objective of bioinspiration is to reproduce the outcome of a particular functionality of a given species, but the biologic structure responsible for the outcome is not reproduced. The objective of biomimetics is to imitate the particular mechanism behind a specific functionality of a living organism. Going one step further, bioreplication is the replication of a specific biologic structure to reproduce a particular functionality of that structure. These three methodologies of “engineered biomimicry” are highly multidisciplinary.[1–3] The broad field of engineered biomimicry is represented in current research in many fields, including such disciplines as solar-energy harvesting,[4] locomotion,[5–7] and surface science.[8–10] The scope of bioreplication is vast for the design and manufacture of devices as this methodology aims to reproduce spatial features of biologic structures. However, as the formation processes of biologic structures are very complex, the discovery of pathways for exact imitation of natural processes is generally infeasible on human time scales. In some instances, a simple alternative is to fabricate the replicas of a biologic surface by means of a high-fidelity templating technique that is capable of accurate replication of features at very different length scales. This approach could underlie an industrially scalable process for the inexpensive fabrication of surface structures with the desired functionalities. Indeed, then long-lasting bioreplicas could be made of environmentally stable materials.[11] We discuss, in the following sections, the fundamentals and some key applications of a new technique that emerged from physical vapor deposition of planar thin films for “traditional”
optical applications[12–14] and has been used for industrially scalable replication of biosurfaces,[15,16] f
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