Microspheres pattern forming using self-assembly template prepared by convective deposition

Abstract

Stacks pattern of microspheres and nanoparticles can be deposited by layer-by-layer coating with several techniques. In this work, we fabricated two pattern monolayers of polystyrene microparticle by convective horizontal deposition. For initial layer, glass substrate was dragged with velocity of 25 μm/s and also applied horizontal vibration with frequency of 50 Hz in order to supply higher kinetic energy for better assembly. Sizes of polystyrene microparticles were 3.2 micrometer for this initial template coating. For the second layer, the microparticle size was varied with 0.93, 1.00, and 1.50 micrometer. The packing of the second layer was investigated by scanning electron microscope. The filling quality of second coating layer strongly depend on particle size and dragging velocity. For the same dragging speed, the microparticle of 0.93 micrometer trended to be well arrangement on the initial template with honeycomb pattern.