Nanosphere lithography: A materials general fabrication process for periodic particle array surfaces

In this article nanosphere lithography ~NSL! is demonstrated to be a materials general fabrication process for the production of periodic particle array ~PPA! surfaces having nanometer scale features. A variety of PPA surfaces have been prepared using identical single-layer ~SL! and double-layer ~DL! NSL masks made by self-assembly of polymer nanospheres with diameter, D5264 nm, and varying both the substrate material S and the particle material M. In the examples shown here, S was an insulator, semiconductor, or metal and M was a metal, inorganic ionic insulator, or an organic p-electron semiconductor. PPA structural characterization and determination of nanoparticle metrics was accomplished with atomic force microscopy. This is the first demonstration of nanometer scale PPA surfaces formed from molecular materials. © 1995 American Vacuum Society.