Silicon Velcro

An exotic form of silicon that can be stuck together and then peeled apart has been developed by German researchers.

Thematerial, dubbed "silicon Velcro", could be used to manufacturemicroprocessors and devices that manipulate fluids on microscopicscales.

Researchers at the Technical Universityof Ilmenau in Germany created the material from "black silicon". Thisis generated when normal silicon is hit with a powerful laser beam orbombarded with high-energy ions, producing a dense, microscopic arrayof needle-like structures on its surface. Light bounces around betweenthe needles without escaping to give the material its black appearance.

TheGerman team used high-energy ions to generate black silicon bristlingwith around 1 million needles per square millimetre. Each needle isabout 15 to 25 micrometres in length. They found that two surfacescovered with the material adhere when pressed together. Microscopeanalysis shows this is because the needles on each surface jam inbetween one another under pressure.

Source: newscientisttech.comAdded: 20 June 2006