Ordered monolayer of silica nanoparticles assembled on solid substrates is useful for a variety of promising applications in photonics, plasmonics, and solar cell. Nanoparticles are usually assembled into close- or non-close-packed monolayer (CPM) form. The non-close packed monolayer can be directly deposited from mono-dispersed colloidal suspension onto a solid substrate in terms of using complicated techniques or tuning the size of nanoparticles in the CPM. An effective method for forming the non-close packed monolayer of silica nanoparticles is reported. Silica nanoparticles are self-assembled into the CPM on silicon substrate. The size of silica nanoparticles is tuned by high frequency vapour etching. The dependence of the size and shape of silica nanoparticles on etching time is presented. The effect of sintering conditions on the etching process is also investigated.

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Non-close packaged monolayer of silica nanoparticles on silicon substrate using HF vapour etching

References

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