Articles
microelectronics
by Derrick Corea Technosoft Innovations, IncIn the future, clothing can be printed with minuscule
electronics thanks to a new production technique, checked out of the gecko.
Geckos are masters in order to run upside down the ceiling,
or to walk against straight glass plates. The secret is in the microscopic
hairs under their paws. These hairs even have many small branches on the
nanoscale, so that the gecko can enlarge or reduce the contact surface for more
or less adhesion. A team of American researchers was inspired by the gecko for
a way to pick up microelectronics and to attach to a difficult surface, such as
clothing, plastics or leather. Their prototype system is described in PNAS this
week.
A minuscule stamp, made of an elastic polymer, forms the
basis of the system. The stamp measures one hundred to one hundred micrometer.
The stamp has on the four Corners pyramid-shaped bulges. Each pyramid has a
ground surface of fifteen by fifteen microns and a height of 10.5 micrometers.
This arrangement mimics the hairs with branches underneath the legs of a gecko.
As with the gecko, the adhesive strength of the stamp is adjustable by
increasing or decreasing the contact surface. And that goes by gently pushing
the stamp against an object.
When the stamp is pushed onto an object, the Micro pyramids
are pressed together and the contact surface is maximum. If the stamp is
lifted, the micro pyramids, under the weight of the object, jump back to their
original shape and the object only hangs at the tops of the pyramids. The
contact surface is now much smaller than when picking up, which has reduced the
adhesion by a factor of one thousand. The object is now easy to put down somewhere
else. According to the researchers, this system only works with exactly the
right proportions of the pyramids. Are the pyramids too large then they do not
squeeze well together while picking up; Are they too small then they do not
jump well back to their original form. The researchers are now going to perfect
the system for future micro-production techniques.
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About Derrick Corea 
Technosoft Innovations, Inc
27 connections, 0 recommendations, 100 honor points.Joined APSense since, January 2nd, 2018, From Suite C Morrisville, United States.
Created on May 27th 2019 01:05. Viewed 237 times.
