Laboratory of Photonic Materials and Fibre Devices (FIMAP), Institute of Materials, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Nat Nanotechnol. 2020 Oct;15(10):875-882. doi: 10.1038/s41565-020-0747-9. Epub 2020 Aug 3.
Micro- and nanoscale metallic glasses offer exciting opportunities for both fundamental research and applications in healthcare, micro-engineering, optics and electronics. The scientific and technological challenges associated with the fabrication and utilization of nanoscale metallic glasses, however, remain unresolved. Here, we present a simple and scalable approach for the fabrication of metallic glass fibres with nanoscale architectures based on their thermal co-drawing within a polymer matrix with matched rheological properties. Our method yields well-ordered and uniform metallic glasses with controllable feature sizes down to a few tens of nanometres, and aspect ratios greater than 10. We combine fluid dynamics and advanced in situ transmission electron microscopy analysis to elucidate the interplay between fluid instability and crystallization kinetics that determines the achievable feature sizes. Our approach yields complex fibre architectures that, combined with other functional materials, enable new advanced all-in-fibre devices. We demonstrate in particular an implantable metallic glass-based fibre probe tested in vivo for a stable brain-machine interface that paves the way towards innovative high-performance and multifunctional neuro-probes.
微纳尺度金属玻璃在医疗、微工程、光学和电子等领域的基础研究和应用方面提供了令人兴奋的机会。然而，与纳米尺度金属玻璃的制造和利用相关的科学和技术挑战仍然没有得到解决。在这里，我们提出了一种简单且可扩展的方法，通过在具有匹配流变性能的聚合物基质中热共拉丝，制造具有纳米结构的金属玻璃纤维。我们的方法可以得到具有可控特征尺寸（小至几十纳米）和大于 10 的纵横比的有序和均匀的金属玻璃。我们结合流体动力学和先进的原位透射电子显微镜分析，阐明了决定可达到特征尺寸的流体不稳定性和结晶动力学之间的相互作用。我们的方法得到了复杂的纤维结构，与其他功能材料结合，可以实现新的先进的全纤维器件。我们特别展示了一种可植入的基于金属玻璃的纤维探针，该探针在体内进行了稳定的脑机接口测试，为创新的高性能多功能神经探针铺平了道路。
