Dynamics of Wicking in Silicon Nanopillars Fabricated with Interference Lithography and Metal-Assisted Chemical Etching

作者：Mai Trong Thi; Lai Chang Quan; Zheng H; Balasubramanian Karthik; Leong K C; Lee P S; Lee Chengkuo; Choi W K^*

来源：Langmuir, 2012, 28(31): 11465-11471.

DOI：10.1021/la302262g

The capillary rise of liquid on a surface, or "wicking", has potential applications in biological and industrial processes such as drug delivery, oil recovery, and integrated circuit chip cooling. This paper presents a theoretical study on the dynamics of wicking on silicon nanopillars based on a balance between the driving capillary forces and viscous dissipation forces. Our model predicts that the invasion of the liquid front follows a diffusion process and strongly depends on the structural geometry. The model is validated against experimental observations of wicking in silicon nanopillars with different heights synthesized by interference lithography and metal-assisted chemical etching techniques. Excellent agreement between theoretical and experimental results, from both our samples and data published in the literature, was achieved.

• 出版日期2012-8-7