Free-Standing, Patternable Nanoparticle/Polymer Monolayer Arrays Formed by Evaporation Induced Self-Assembly at a Fluid Interface

We report a general and facile method to prepare free-standing, patternable nanoparticle/polymer monolayer arrays by interfacial NP assembly within a polymeric photoresist. The ultrathin monolayer nanoparticle/polymer arrays are sufficiently robust that they can be transferred to arbitrary substrates and suspended as free-standing membranes over cm-sized holes even with free edges. More importantly, the polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) in the system serves as a photoresist enabling two modes of electron beam (e-beam) patterning. Lower e-beam doses direct differential nanoparticle solubility and result in nanoparticle patterns with somewhat diffuse interfaces. At higher e-beam doses the PMMA serves as a negative resist resulting in submicrometer patterns with edge roughness comparable to that of the nanoparticle diameter. These ultrathin films of monolayer nanoparticle arrays are of fundamental interest as 2D artificial solids for electronic, magnetic, and optical properties and are also of technological interest for a diverse range of applications in micro- and macroscale devices including photovoltaics, sensors, catalysis, and magnetic storage.