Controlled Self-Assembly of Hexagonal Nanoparticle Patterns on Nanotopographies

Diblock copolymer micelle nanolithography (BCML) is a versatile and efficient method to cover large surface areas with hexagonally ordered arrays of metal nanoparticles, in which the nanoparticles are equally spaced. However, this method falls short of providing a controlled allocation of such regular nanoparticle arrays with specific spacing into micropatterns. We present here a quick and high-throughput method to generate quasi-hexagonal nanoparticle structures with well-defined interparticle spacing on segments of nanotopographic Si substrates. The topographic height of these segments plays a dominant role in dictating the spacing between the gold nanoparticles, as the nanoparticle arrangement is controlled by immersion forces and by their self-assembly within the segments. Our novel strategy of employing a single-step BCML routine is a highly promising method for the fabrication of regular gold nanopatterns in micropatterns for a wide range of applications.