ABSTRACT
Plasma etching of 2-D colloidal crystals is an important step in the nanofabrication of many functional materials. The plasma etching is dependent on several parameters including etching time, total system pressure, gas composition, temperature, and substrate material. Anisotropic deformation of colloid particles occurs during plasma etching that is well investigated in case of polystyrene particles in an oxygenated (O2/Ar) plasma and can be described with a facile model based on a ratio of completely isotropic and completely anisotropic etching. This model enables the prediction of the maximum material deposition thickness for nanofabrication utilizing plasma-etched nanosphere lithography or colloidal lithography.
