Industrialists have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to do that. Lucky for Brinker, it looks like he's come up with the membrane that will let them do that. His latest results a follow-up on four earlier papers published by Brinker's group in Nature appear in the October 6th issue of Science . The material's seeming magic comes from photoacid molecules, which ordinarily self-assemble and snap into a uniform, nanoscale structure. When exposed to light, though, they break apart and form an acid that solidifies the silica nearby.
More light means more acid, more solidification and smaller pore sizes.
In addition to creating an overall pattern as achieved by conventional lithography, this kind of lithography also can help us define the internal structure of the films on the nanoscale. Even though the overal shapes we create are at the high end of the nanostructure regime, the light influences pore size and connectivity in the heart of nanoland.