Colloidal lithography for fabricating patterned polymer-brush microstructures

• Tao Chen,
• Debby P. Chang,
• Rainer Jordan and
• Stefan Zauscher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 397–403, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.46

• , USA Department of Physical Chemistry, Lund University, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden 10.3762/bjnano.3.46 Abstract We exploit a series of robust, but simple and convenient colloidal lithography (CL) approaches, using a microsphere array as a mask or as a guiding template, and combine this with surface

• : atom-transfer radical polymerization; colloidal lithography; patterning; self-assembled microsphere monolayer; Introduction It is well known that monodisperse colloidal microspheres easily self-assemble into hexagonally close-packed arrays on surfaces as a result of capillary forces arising from the

• technique for a large number of researchers in the field of micro/nanofabrication [2][3][4][6]. A variety of lithographic methods have since been developed, in which colloid microsphere arrays are used as masks for depositing nanomaterials and as scaffolds for templating 2-D or 3-D functional patterns [2][3

Switching adhesion forces by crossing the metal–insulator transition in Magnéli-type vanadium oxide crystals

• Bert Stegemann,
• Matthias Klemm,
• Siegfried Horn and
• Mathias Woydt

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 59–65, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.8

• . However, such tips are disadvantageous for quantitative measurements of interfacial forces, because reliable and accurate determination of the tip geometry and also comparison with theoretical predictions are difficult. In contrast, utilizing a microsphere attached to the free end of the cantilever

• , is thus better suited for quantitative and comparative adhesion force measurements [22][23][24]. Previously, the applicability and the sensitivity of the AFM in the spherical probe configuration (i.e., with a microsphere as a probe tip) operated under ultrahigh vacuum conditions for the

• contribution of the overall adhesion force. However, reference measurements with a silica microsphere on V3O5 showed the same qualitative behavior, i.e., a lower adhesion force in the metallic state. Accordingly, a possible tip-induced electrostatic contact charging is negligible. Conclusion The adhesion