Mechanics-informed ultrafast assembly of semiconductor optoelectronic fibers

Semiconductor optoelectronic fibers integrate semiconductor and metal materials and protective shields into a single fiber with ultrahigh aspect ratio, thus paving the way for versatile applications such as intelligent fabrics and highly efficient energy storage. However, scalable fabrication approaches to obtain long fibers in an endurable time in the industry are lacking. Recently, Wang et al. proposed an innovative drawing-based assembly strategy that can hopefully resolve these problems by utilizing mechanical analyses on the assembly processes in extremely high-temperature environments. With proper treatment for the capillary instability and strain mismatch problems, optoelectronic fibers of over hundreds of meters long can be fabricated at the speed of a few tens of meters per minute.