Microfabrication by Light-Directed Electrokinetics on Semiconductor Electrodes at the Atomic and Molecular Scale: Principles, Materials, and Applications

Abstract

Light-directed electrokinetics-based technology, a fusion of optics, electrokinetics, and microfluidics, integrating the high-resolution dynamic directionality of light and precise and programmable layer-by-layer manufacturing of additive manufacturing, has been demonstrated to assemble and fabricate 3D structures rapidly without a mask at the microscale. In this paper, we present a comprehensive review of the precise fabrication of micro/nanoparticles by light-directed electrokinetics-based technology, including light-directed dielectrophoretic (LDD) and light-directed electrochemistry (LDE), which is capable of fabricating arbitrary custom shapes and microscale structures at precise locations onto a semiconductor surface by shaping the projected light pattern under ambient conditions with high efficiency. Besides, current challenges facing the light-directed electrokinetics technique and future possible innovations on it are also explained.