Martí Gich has participated in a study published today in Science
In this study, authors demonstrate the formation of oriented piezoelectrically active α-quartz thin films directly on silicon. Films are prepared by dip-coating from alcohol/ water solutions of soluble silicic acid precursors plus surfactant or block copolymer structure-directing agents. Solvent evaporation drives the self-assembly of amorphous silica films composed of ordered arrays of pores. An appropriate thermal treatment results on epitaxial quartz films.
We congratulate the authors and specially our group member Martí Gich. You can read the full article
Soft-Chemistry–Based Routes to Epitaxial α-Quartz Thin Films with Tunable Textures
A. Carretero-Genevrier, M. Gich, L. Picas, J. Gazquez, G. L. Drisko, C. Boissiere, D. Grosso, J. Rodriguez-Carvajal, C. Sanchez
www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 340 17 MAY 2013, 827
You can also read a highlight written by Jeff Brinker in the same issue: Quartz on Silicon. The integration of quartz with silicon may provide a route to fabricate advanced piezoelectric devices. Jeffrey Brinker and Paul G. Clem.
