Silicon life forms

Abstract

A simple chemical reduction process has been used to replicate intricate natural networks of silica at a relatively low temperature. The equally elaborate product is made of silicon — electronics' golden boy. A low-temperature method of reducing silica (SiO2) to silicon (Si) could open up a multitude of new applications for micro-scale structures previously available only as the insulating oxide, such as diatom microshells and self-assembled structures made to order. The method converts silica to silicon at 650 °C — compared with the 2,000 °C or so needed for approaches involving molten silicon — at the same time retaining the original silica architecture. Silicon replicas, like the 14 µm-long example pictured, could find applications as sensors, and in the worlds of electronics, optics and biomedicine.