Hyperuniform monocrystalline structures by spinodal solid-state dewetting

Materials featuring anomalous suppression of density fluctuations over large length scales are emerging systems known as disordered hyperuniform. The underlying hidden order renders them appealing for several applications, such as light management and topologically protected electronic states. Spontaneous formation of stable patterns could be a viable solution for the implementation of this peculiar class of systems via bottom-up approaches. However, scalable fabrication methods for disordered hyperuniform architectures are missing, limiting their potential application over large-scale. Here we show for the first time that mono-crystalline, semiconductor structures can undergo spinodal solid-state dewetting and that they feature correlated disorder with an effective hyperuniform character. Nano- to micrometric sized structures can be engineered using silicon-on-insulator substrates and Si$_{1-x}$Ge$_{x}$ deposition. Phase-field simulations explain the underlying non-linear dynamics and the physical origin of the emerging patterns, which rely on solid-state dewetting triggered by elasticity. Our method is a distinct and scalable approach for the controlled self-assembly of mono-crystalline, dielectric, disordered hyperuniform metamaterials towards the manipulation of electricity, fluids, and light.