Digital, Information-Encoded Magnetic Interactions for Addressable, Reconfigurable Micro-Assembly

ORAL  · Invited

Abstract

Magnetic self-assembly of complex structures requires building blocks with highly programmable interactions. We use lithographically defined nanomagnetic domains as elemental interaction units and pattern them into digital, multi-bit magnetic “barcodes” on micrometer-scale building blocks. The information needed to guide addressable assembly from a set of tiles is encoded in these barcodes, so that only tiles with matching barcodes form strong, highly specific bonds, yielding near-perfect pairing accuracy in mixtures containing up to 20 distinct species. This level of control enables addressable formation of prescribed 1D and 2D micro-architectures. Furthermore, because the interparticle interactions are field-responsive and field-reconfigurable, time-varying magnetic protocols can correct errors, drive assemblies out of equilibrium, and even alter the interaction from bonds, paving the way toward truly programmable, responsive magnetic materials.

*This work was performed in part at the Cornell NanoScale Facility, a member of the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI), which is supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant NNCI-2025233). This work made use of the Cornell Center for Materials Research shared instrumentation facility. This work made use of a Quantum Design MPMS-3 supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (DMR-1920086). The funding that supported this work includes NSF Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future, grant DMREF-89228, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation under grant No. G-2021-14198, and Cornell Center for Materials Research under grant No. DMR-1719875.

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Publication: Liang, Zexi, Melody Xuan Lim, Qian-Ze Zhu, Francesco Mottes, Jason Z. Kim, Livia Guttieres, Conrad Smart et al. "Magnetic decoupling as a proofreading strategy for high-yield, time-efficient microscale self-assembly." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 122, no. 35 (2025): e2502361122.

Presenters

  • Zexi Liang

    • Cornell University

Authors

  • Zexi Liang

    • Cornell University

  • Itai Cohen

    • Cornell University

  • Melody X Lim

    • Cornell University

  • Paul L McEuen

    • Cornell University

  • Michael Phillip Brenner

    • Harvard University

  • Francesco Mottes

    • Harvard University

  • Qian-Ze Zhu

    • Harvard University

  • Conrad Smart

    • Cornell University

  • Tanner Pearson

    • Cornell University

  • Weiyi Li

    • Cornell University