Fabrication of chemical templates via selective laser-induced desorption of hexadecanethiol self-assembled monolayers

► Rapid photothermal cw-laser fabrication of chemical templates is addressed. ► Micro-/millisecond irradiation allows for selective processing of hexadecanethiol monolayers. ► Substrate ablation, if at all, is marginal. ► Backfilling with mercaptohexadecanoic acid yields flat chemical patterns. ► Chemical patterns act as functional hydrophilic/hydrophobic templates.