Nano- and Micropatterning by Organic–Inorganic Templating of Hierarchical Self-Assembled Structures

Without large investments in new clean-room facilities, the nano- and microstructures described here can be achieved by the combination of wet-chemistry with existing conventional lithographic techniques. One of the advantages of the method is that it allows the specific formation of aperiodic patterns, which are of specific interest, since the symmetry that is an intrinsic part of the self-assembly of molecules can be overridden. Another advantage is that the use of organic–inorganic templates allows access to pure inorganic nanostructures.