Lithographically patterned micro-/nanostructures via colloidal lithography

Colloidal lithography is an effective and facile strategy for highly ordered nanostructure arrays that is a simple, inexpensive, and high-throughput process with a broad choice of materials in manufacturing various lithographically patterned nanostructures on substrates. To develop such nanostructured systems, various nanofabrication techniques are employed on two-dimensional (2D) colloidal masks for evaporation, electrochemical deposition, etching, dewetting and mask replication. Ordered nanostructures associated with feature shapes and sizes can be diversified through a choice of methodology and a control of experimental conditions. This review presents an overview of colloidal crystals as a mask and nanostructure arrays (nanopillars, nanoring, nanopores) fabricated by colloidal lithography as well as introducing practical applications using ordered nanostructures.