Natural lithography

Abstract

A maskless nano-lithography method by using polystyrene spheres (PSs) self-assembled on silver slab (NSSL) was proposed by Li et al. [Opt. Express 16(19), 14397 (2008)]. In order to understand the mechanism of the lithography technology in depth and improve the experiment results, we studied the energy distribution and the frequency spectrum of incident lights passing through the PS and Ag film. To optimize parameters, the effects of several important factors on the resolution were analyzed. The curves of the optimal Ag film thickness and the highest lithography resolution versus the PS diameter were presented by calculations. Based on the results of the calculations, experiments under the optimization condition were performed and nano holes with dimension of 75 nm and a period of 600 nm were obtained.

Fabrication, Assembly, and Application of Patchy Particles

“…Nanosphere lithography [94,95] or natural lithography [96] is a VPD-based surface modification technique where colloids or nanospheres are used as lithographic masks for creating patterns on surfaces. The presence of an external shadow mask between the source and the substrate creates a deposition pattern on the substrate in traditional VPD techniques.…”

Controlled Evaluation of Silver Nanoparticle Dissolution Using Atomic Force Microscopy

“…86 The self-assembly is accomplished simply by depositing a colloidal suspension on a substrate and allowing the solvent to evaporate. In this step, suspensions of latex spheres may be deposited by a number of simple methods, including drop-casting, 90 spin-coating, 91 or convective self-assembly. 92 As the solvent evaporates, the suspended spheres are pulled together by capillary forces to form a hexagonally close-packed monolayer or bilayer.…”

“…Deckman and co-workers researched this process more in-depth and coined the term "natural lithography" to highlight the self-assembly of the spherical colloids into a crystalline mask. 91,96,97 Rather than drop-casting the suspension onto a substrate, they deposited the latex spheres by spin-coating, which allowed them to cover larger areas with the mask. They also enumerated possible applications for this lithographic technique, including surface enhanced Raman scattering, photovoltaics, and formation of optical elements.…”

Reducing the Adhesion between Surfaces Using Surface Structuring with PS Latex Particle

“…32 There are also methods based on the combination of both bottom-up and top-down approaches, for example, casting of polymer solution and phase separation, 33 and electrospinning. 34 Among these methods, the application using two-dimensional (2D) colloidal crystals, "natural lithography", which has been suggested by Deckman and Dunsmuir, 35 has attracted attention due to it being a relatively easy process in comparison with conventional lithography. 35 Based on such a process, uniformly sized microstructures could be produced on a substrate using a monolayer coating of colloidal spheres instead of a conventional resist.…”

“…34 Among these methods, the application using two-dimensional (2D) colloidal crystals, "natural lithography", which has been suggested by Deckman and Dunsmuir, 35 has attracted attention due to it being a relatively easy process in comparison with conventional lithography. 35 Based on such a process, uniformly sized microstructures could be produced on a substrate using a monolayer coating of colloidal spheres instead of a conventional resist. In recent years, various techniques, which are often called "colloidal lithography" or "nanosphere lithography", have been reported for nano/microfabrication or nano/micropatterning of a wide variety of solid substrates including semiconductors, 36-40 metals 41 and ceramics.…”