Nanosphere lithography from template-directed colloidal sphere assemblies

Conventional nanosphere lithography holds the drawbacks of lacking precise control over the shape and architecture of the resultant nanostructures. In this work, nanoimprinting lithography was used to construct various desired patterns on a polymer film coated on a silicon substrate. The patterns were then used as templates to direct the self-assembly of silica colloidal spheres, forming colloidal assemblies with well-controlled sizes, shapes, and structures. Subsequent nanosphere lithography using template-directed colloidal sphere assemblies resulted in complex nanostructures that can not be obtained using the conventional nanosphere lithography method.