Systems, devices, and methods for fabricating colloidal solids

A method of fabricating a colloidal solid, comprising:

• dispensing a colloidal particle suspension through an orifice of a dispensing component, towards a substrate, so as to establish and maintain a liquid bridge at the orifice of the dispensing component and precipitate a wet section of a colloidal solid from a base of the liquid bridge, the liquid bridge extending between the dispensing component and one of the substrate or a precipitating portion of the wet section of the colloidal solid, the colloidal particle suspension comprising a liquid and colloidal particles;
• maintaining continuous precipitation of colloidal particles in the liquid bridge to form a length of the wet section of the colloidal solid;
• removing at least a portion of the liquid from the dispensed colloidal particle suspension in a manner that causes the wet section of the colloidal solid to dry and establish a drying front that moves along the colloidal solid where the wet section transitions to a dry crystal structure, wherein the length of the wet section extends between the liquid bridge and the drying front;
• and
• controlling a rate of the dispensing to maintain the presence of the length of the wet section as the drying front moves along the colloidal solid;
• and
• controlling a rate at which the at least a portion of the liquid from the dispensed colloidal particle suspension is removed as a function of at least one of:
• one or more sizes of the colloidal particles;
• one or more dimensions of the wet section of the colloidal solid;
• geometry of the wet section of the colloidal solid;
• a temperature of the at least one of the substrate, a bounding surface located above the substrate, the bounding surface being opposed to the substrate, or an environment surrounding the dispensed colloidal particle suspension;
• a surface tension of the liquid;
• or a viscosity of the liquid,
• wherein the controlling the rate at which the at least a portion of the liquid from the dispensed colloidal particle suspension is removed comprises preventing crack formation by controlling an evaporation rate of the liquid to maintain one or more dimensions of the wet section as a function of a ratio of the surface area of the colloidal particle to the surface area of the wet section of the colloidal solid.