Pyramidal assemblies of colloidal particles by micromolding underneath top-gathering pillar arrays

Assemblies of colloidal particles are known to have special photonic and optical properties. Periodic pyramidal assemblies of SiO2 particles with diameters of 0.5 and 1 mu m were fabricated using top-gathering pillar arrays as a new template. These top-gathering pillar arrays consisted of four pillars gathered at the top, and were fabricated by photolithography of an organic-inorganic hybrid material. The top-gathering units were obtained by controlling both the capillary and restoring forces. When a colloidal water suspension was spread on the template and the water was allowed to evaporate, the SiO2 particles were molded under the top-gathering pillars according to particle size, resulting in pyramidal assembly arrays of the particles. From in situ observation during the evaporation of water, it was found that the particles were molded underneath the top-gathering pillars by flux generated by the evaporation and by the capillary force among the particles. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.