Dry adhesives and methods for making dry adhesives

A dry adhesive fiber array, comprising:

• a plurality of fibers, wherein each fiber of the plurality of fibers includes:
• a tip having a cross-sectional area and a height,
• wherein the tip is compliant;
• a stem having a first end and a second end,
• wherein the stem is stretchable along an axis extending from the first end to the second end,
• wherein a cross-sectional area of the stem is smaller than the tip cross-sectional area,
• wherein the second end comprises a base;
• and
• wherein the first end of the stem is connected to the tip, forming a junction between the tip and the stem, and
• a backing layer, wherein the base of each fiber of the plurality of fibers is connected to the backing layer at an angle of 90 degrees,
• wherein the cross-sectional area of the stem of the plurality of fibers further comprises a plurality of cross-sectional areas along a longitudinal length, wherein the plurality of cross-sectional areas comprise a first cross-sectional area smaller than a second cross-sectional area to form a non-uniform stem diameter along the longitudinal length,
• wherein the second cross-sectional area is directly adjacent to the tip of the each fiber of the plurality of fibers and the first cross-sectional area is directly adjacent to the backing layer.