Fiber draw synthesis

• Main Authors: Orf, Nicholas D. (Contributor), Shapira, Ofer (Contributor), Sorin, Fabien (Contributor), Danto, Sylvain (Contributor), Fink, Yoel (Contributor), Baldo, Marc A (Author), Joannopoulos, John (Author)
• Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics (Contributor), Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Research Laboratory of Electronics (Contributor), Baldo, Marc A. (Contributor), Joannopoulos, John D. (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: National Academy of Sciences (U.S.), 2011-10-17T14:46:56Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

 The synthesis of a high-melting temperature semiconductor in a low-temperature fiber drawing process is demonstrated, substantially expanding the set of materials that can be incorporated into fibers. Reagents in the solid state are arranged in proximate domains within a fiber preform. The preform is fluidized at elevated temperatures and drawn into fiber, reducing the lateral dimensions and bringing the domains into intimate contact to enable chemical reaction. A polymer preform containing a thin layer of selenium contacted by tin-zinc wires is drawn to yield electrically contacted crystalline ZnSe domains of sub-100-nm scales. The in situ synthesized compound semiconductor becomes the basis for an electronic heterostructure diode of arbitrary length in the fiber. The ability to synthesize materials within fibers while precisely controlling their geometry and electrical connectivity at submicron scales presents new opportunities for increasing the complexity and functionality of fiber structures.