Magnetic handshake materials as a scale invariant platform for programmed self-assembly

Magnetic materials provide a unique solution to a long-standing challenge in material science: the development of a scale-invariant technology whichuses simple building blocks to build smart, digital, and structurally complex materials.

Using the 2x2 arrays of magnets pictured above, we are able to achieve specific binding by encoding information via dipole patterns. These centimeter-scale systems exhibit three canonical hallmarks of assembly:

1. Controlled polymerization of individual building blocks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqQ5izmdt7g

2. Assembly of 1-dimensional strands made of panels connected by elastic backbones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr7vlRB7IUI

3. Hierarchical self-assembly of 2-dimensional nets into 3-dimensional objects:

These panels can be made as small as a few hundred nanometers across and a few nanometers high before thermal effects dominate and flip the domain of each dipole.

To manufacture complex machines, we envision printing the flat patterns shown above (panels, strands, and nets) onto silicon wafers. These primary systems can be readily manufactured in bulk and are compatible with current semiconductor processing technologies.

Upon release, these primary structures could self-assemble into microscale secondary and even tertiary structures. These structures will be able to transmit information, act as mechanical elements driving conformational changes in reactions, or function as machines on scales ranging from nanometers to centimeters.