Towards an experimental proof of superhydrophobicity enhanced by quantum fluctuations freezing on a broadband-absorber metamaterial

Previous theoretical works suggested that superhydrophobicity could be enhanced through partial inhibitionof the quantum vacuum modes at the surface of a broadband-absorber metamaterial which acts in the extremeultraviolet frequency domain. This effect would then compete with the classical Cassie-Baxter interpretationof superhydrophobicity. In this article, we first theoretically establish the expected phenomenological featuresrelated to such a kind of “quantum” superhydrophobicity. Then, relying on this theoretical framework, weexperimentally study patterned silicon surfaces on which organosilane molecules were grafted, all the coatedsurfaces having similar characteristic pattern sizes but different profiles. Some of these surfaces can indeedfreeze quantum photon modes while others cannot. While the latter ones allow hydrophobicity, only theformer ones allow for superhydrophobicity. We believe these results lay the groundwork for further completeassessment of superhydrophobicity induced by quantum fluctuations freezing.