Recent advancement on micro-/nano-spherical lens photolithography based on monolayer colloidal crystals

• Micro-/nano-spherical lens photolithography (SLPL) based on monolayer colloidal crystals (MCC) are extensively reviewed.
• Applications of highly ordered nanostructures derived from MCC–based SLPL are demonstrated.
• A perspective on the future development of MCC–based SLPL is provided.

Highly ordered nanostructures have gained substantial interest in the research community due to their fascinating properties and wide applications. Micro-/nano-spherical lens photolithography (SLPL) has been recognized as an inexpensive, inherently parallel, and high-throughput approach to the creation of highly ordered nanostructures. SLPL based on monolayer colloidal crystals (MCCs) of self-assembled colloidal micro-/nano-spheres have recently made remarkable progress in overcoming the constraints of conventional photolithography in terms of cost, feature size, tunability, and pattern complexity. In this review, we highlight the current state-of-the-art in this field with an emphasis on the fabrication of a variety of highly ordered nanostructures based on this technique and their demonstrated applications in light emitting diodes, nano-patterning semiconductors, and localized surface plasmon resonance devices. Finally, we present a perspective on the future development of MCC-based SLPL technique, including a discussion on the improvement of the quality of MCCs and the compatibility of this technique with other semiconductor micromachining process for nanofabrication.

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