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Sawtooth ridges on a sapphire crystal guide the self-assembly of nanoscale elements.
Researchers have developed a faster, more efficient way to produce defect-free thin polymer films with the smallest chemically distinct domains ever achieved. The sawtooth ridges formed by cutting and heating a sapphire crystal, shown at top, serves to guide the self-assembly of nanoscale elements into an ordered pattern over arbitrarily large surfaces. Researchers say the new, easy-to-implement technique may transform the data storage industry.
Credit: Dong Hyun Lee/UMass Amherst
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