Wrinkling instability and its applications: From biomimetic tilted pillars to optics grating

Instability of a thin film attached to a compliant substrate often leads to emergence of exquisite wrinkle patterns with length scales that depend on the system geometry and applied stresses. These patterns have potential applications in many areas including tissue engineering, flexible electronics and semiconductor industry. In this talk, we will present several novel techniques for polymer surface engineering, including creation of controlled hierarchical patterns and wrinkles with high amplitude/wavelength aspect ratio. The applications of these techniques in microfluidics, optics, and also in development of biomimetic surfaces will be discussed.