Controllable Fabrication of Large-Size Defect-Free Domains of 2D Colloidal Crystal Masks Guided by Statistical Experimental Design

Large defect-free domains of a hexagonal packed monolayer of silica spheres with the size of 4000 mu m(2) were successfully prepared by dual-speed spin coating. Experimental design and statistical analysis instead of the traditional 'changing one separate factor at a time' (COST) approach were employed to guide the implementation of the experiments. With its assistance, the hexagonal-close-packed (HCP) percentage was elevated to 84% in this study. Furthermore, almost all the samples with parameters in the selected ranges possessed more than a 60% HCP percentage. In addition, the optimal values for parameters of the suspension concentration, the first rotation speed, and the spinning time to obtain well-ordered silica spheres arrays were also identified as 30 wt.%, 1000 rpm and 20 s, respectively.

Automated summary

In this study, a hexagonal packed monolayer of silica spheres with large defect-free domains was successfully prepared by dual-speed spin coating, with the HCP percentage elevated to 84% and almost all samples possessing over 60% HCP percentage. The optimal values for suspension concentration, first rotation speed, and spinning time were identified as 30 wt.%, 1000 rpm, and 20 s, respectively.