Quick, Large-Area Assembly of a Single-Crystal Monolayer of Spherical Particles by Unidirectional Rubbing

Rubbing a dry powder of particles in one direction between two rubbery substrates is found to be a quick and highly reproducible, yet inexpensive fabrication technique for assembling particle monolayers with perfect spatial registry on flat or curved surfaces. The optimum rubbing conditions - pressure and speed - for a single-crystal monolayer are shown to depend on the particle size. Potential applications are biosensors, photovoltaics, and light manipulators.