Thin film formation through the array of colloidal meso beads

Abstract

A convective two-dimensional self-assembly array was used to fabricate dense hexagonal colloidal monolayer on a glass substrate. The dense monolayer sintered at various time and temperature conditions. When the temperature was 160degreesC, the fully sintered film was achieved within 10 minutes. The resulting film thickness was about 260 nm. The sintering mechanism was explained following Frenkel's viscous model.