Simple fabrication of micro-polygons and micro-honeycombs utilizing thermal deformation of monolayer colloidal crystals during reactive ion etching

• Micro-polygons and micro-honeycombs were fabricated using monolayer colloidal crystals.
• The monolayer was composed of polystyrene particles (3 μm diameter).
• The monolayer was etched by oxygen RIE with attention paid to thermal diffusion.
• The balance of physical etching, chemical etching, and thermal deformation seems to be important.

The recent development of scaffolds with controlled topography has garnered a good deal of interest from researchers in various fields. In this paper, the authors focused on thermal deformation during reactive ion etching (RIE) of monolayers of two-dimensional polystyrene colloidal crystals as a simple method for the fabrication of such scaffolds. Various interesting structures, such as micro-polygons and micro-size honeycombs, were prepared in a one-step etching process. These interesting structures were fabricated on 3-μm-diameter particles but not on 1-μm-diameter particles because thermal deformation requires collective motion of bulk polymer. The balance of physical etching, chemical etching, and thermal deformation seems to have an important role in the fabrication of these micro structures.

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