Patterned crystallisation on self-assembled monolayers with integrated regions of disorder

This paper describes the engineering of patterned calcite films using templating by self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) supported on micropatterned mixed metal substrates. The substrates were prepared by deposition of one metal (Au, Ag) onto the surface of another metal (Au, Ag) through a stencil or photoresist masks. The micropatterning arises from the generation of disordered regions in SAMs at the interfaces between the two metals, where structurally different SAMs meet. The mechanism of diffusion-limited nucleation on these substrates that governs the formation of different patterns of calcite crystals, crystalline outlines of the underlying patterns, densely crystallised islands and patterned oriented films, is discussed. The ability to control patterned crystallisation with sub-50 nm resolution can find applications in the fabrication of crystalline inorganic materials with complex form.