Fabricating ordered 2-D nano-structured arrays using nanosphere lithography

Recent advances in the use of plasmonic metamaterials to improve absorption of light in thin-film solar photovoltaic devices has created a demand for a scalable method of patterning large areas with metal nanostructures deposited in an ordered array. This article describes two methods of fabricating ordered 2D nanosphere colloidal films: spin coating and interface coating. The two methods are compared and parameter optimization discussed. The study reveals that: •For smaller nanosphere sizes, spin coating is more favorable, while for larger nanospheres, the angled interface coating provides more coverage and uniformity.•A surfactant-free approach for interface coating is developed to fabricate zero-contamination colloidal films.•Each of the methods reaches an overall coverage of more than 90% and can be used for nanosphere lithography to form plasmonic metamaterials.