Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

A hybrid photonic crystal made from an inverse crystalline silicon opal doped with germanium nanocrystals has been created by scientists in Japan and Canada. This is the first demonstration of ncGe doped into the photonic lattice of i-cSi-o. 

The team behind the research say the synergistic effects of i-ncGe-cSi-o materials could find use of in optoelectronic and photovoltaic applications.

Interested to know more? Read the full article for free until 30th November: Makoto Seino, Eric J. Henderson, Daniel P. Puzzo, Naoki Kadota and Geoffrey A. Ozin, J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 15895-15898

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A one-step process for mask-free wet etching of hard and flexible Indium Tin Oxide substrates at the micron scale has been developed by scientists in France. The process is quick and provides an inexpensive way to create patterns with micrometre-size insulating areas without altering the electrical and optical properties of the entire substrate the team say.

The method developed by Julienne Charlier and co-workers uses the probe of a scanning electrochemical microscope to generate a micrometric source of oxidizing agents in an aqueous acid solution. This electrochemical wet-lithographic process preserves the electrical and optical properties of the un-etched part of the remaining ITO film.

Read the article for free until 29^th November:

Scanning electrochemical microscopy as an etching tool for ITO patterning: Federico Grisotto, Roamin Métayé, Bruno Jousselme, Bernard Geffroy, Serge Palacin and Julienne Charlier, J. Mater. Chem., 2011, 21, 15962-15968

To keep up-to-date with all the latest research, sign up for the journal’s e-alerts or RSS feeds or follow Journal of Materials Chemistry on Twitter.