Switchable electrowetting of droplets on dual-scale structured surfaces
                  November 7, 2012
      
      
  
    
                  Journal Article
      
      
  
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      J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, Microelectron. Process. Phenon., Vol. 30, No. 6, November 2012, 06F801.
      
  
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    Summary
              The authors report on the development of surfaces containing artificially fabricated structures of dual nanometer and micrometer surfaces that allow an aqueous droplet to be reversibly switched by electrowetting from a Cassie state with low adhesion to a Wenzel state with high adhesion. A variety of geometries were fabricated to study parameters that affect switchable wetting-dewetting. Nanometer parallel corrugations, posts, and holes were fabricated and combined with micrometer features consisting of parallel corrugations, streets, and checkerboard patterns of varying widths and pitches. It was observed that many combinations of the dual-textured surfaces produced superhydrophobic wetting states and aqueous droplets on these surfaces could be electrically controlled to switch from a Cassie state to a Wenzel state. Reversible switching between these wetting states occurred on specific combinations of surface geometries, namely surfaces that had parallel corrugations.
          