Nanofabrication of Polymer Surfaces Utilizing Colloidal Lithography and Ion Etching

Abstract

In this paper, we utilize colloidal lithography based on electrostatic self-assembly of polystyrene colloidal particles onto a polymer surface as a nanoscale mask. The pattern is then transferred to the surface by ion beam etching. Each particle acts as an individual mask, resulting in an array of identical structure. Ion beam exposure etches away the unmasked surface between the particles, so the particle mask pattern can be transferred into the polymer surface. This method allows to nanofabricate bulk polymeric surfaces with systematic variation in relief, structure sizes, and aspect ratios. It is a fast, simple, and reliable method to fabricated different polymeric surfaces even on large area samples (> 1 cm2). The structural variation is achieved by use of different conditions during the self-assembly of the mask (e.g., different particles sizes) or different ion etching conditions during the pattern transfer (e.g., ion energy, ion flux, ion incident angle, etching time, gas environment).

Osteoprogenitor response to semi-ordered and random nanotopographies

“…The pattern of the colloidal mask was transferred into the substrates by collimated Ar ion bombardment (CAIBE Ion Beam SystemOxford Ionfab-500 eV 0.2 mA/cm 2 , 151 off of normal incident angle for 10 min) resulting polymeric hemispherical structures standing on silicon surface (referred to as Hemi) [30]. The samples were checked using AFM.…”

Group analysis of regulation of fibroblast genome on low-adhesion nanostructures

“…This approach is described in detail elsewhere [20,25,26], but in brief utilises electrostatically assembled dispersed monolayers of colloidal particles as masks for pattern transfer into substrate materials. In this work the substrate materials were pretreated with a light oxygen plasma (0.25 Torr, 50 W RF, 5 s-Batchtop) followed by electrostatic self-assembly of a multilayer of polyelectrolytes (poly-(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA, MW 2,00,000-3,50,000, Aldrich), poly(sodium 4-styrenesulphonate) (PSS, MW 70,000, Aldrich) and aluminium chloride hydroxide (ACH, Reheis)).…”

Evaluation of single‐cell force spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy to determine cell interactions with femtosecond‐laser microstructured titanium surfaces

“…Several methods have been successfully used to generate nano‐ and microstructures: electron beam lithography,38 colloidal lithography,39–41 polymer demixing,42, 43 and injection molding of polymers in precast shims 44, 45. Even though these methods can result in well‐defined structures, they are difficult to be applied for structuring implant surfaces with complex geometries 31.…”