Ordered binary arrays of Au nanoparticles derived from colloidal lithography.

By using angle-resolved colloidal lithography and O2-plasma etched bilayers of hexagonally packed spheres as templates, we succeeded in fabrication of highly ordered binary arrays of gold nanoparticles with varied shapes, for instance, with a shuttlecock-like shape composed of a small crescent-shaped nanoparticle and a big fan-shaped one. The size and shape of both small and big nanoparticles obtained were manipulated by the plasma etching period and the incidence angle of Au vapor flow. The subsequent thermal annealing led to binary arrays of round Au nanoparticles with a rather narrow distribution in terms of size and shape. Our approach should pave a simple and versatile colloidal way to form binary nanoparticle arrays, holding immense promise for technical applications such as nanoelectronics and nanophotonics.