Summary and Outlook

Abstract

The motivation and unifying basis for the different projects presented in this thesis was to develop approaches and techniques to create surface patterns based on the assembly of colloidal particles in two dimensions. Two distinct approaches were pursuit. First, the focus was set on the self-assembly processes of colloids. Crystallization approaches were developed to simplify the fabrication of classical, single-size particle monolayers and to produce more complex architectures in a controlled way. Second, innovative approaches to lithography were elaborated with the aim to introduce specific functions or structural features to the nanostructure arrays that set them apart from existing approaches and add to their utility.