Particle lithography with vapor deposition of organosilanes: A molecular toolkit for studying confined surface reactions in nanoscale liquid volumes

Combining particle lithography with molecular self-assembly provides a practical approach for producing 2D arrays of organosilane nanostructures with well-defined geometries and designated surface coverage. By combining heated chemical vapor deposition with particle lithography, the binding of organosilanes on substrates is narrowly confined to the locations of water residues surrounding the base of latex spheres. Localized meniscus sites of water designate specific locations for the hydrolysis and condensation reactions of organosilanes. With particle lithography, billions of regular nanopatterns can be generated with high throughput to provide exquisite nanoscale control of the geometry, density and surface coverage of organosilane nanostructures. In this report, examples of organosilane nanopatterns presenting different terminal groups and chain lengths are demonstrated with atomic force microscopy images. The effect of the terminal moieties of organosilanes was investigated for nanostructures prepared by particle lithography by evaluating parameters of the number density, surface coverage and thickness of layers formed. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved