Near-field nanoimprinting using colloidal monolayers.

We experimentally and theoretically explore near-field nanopatterning obtained by irradiation of hexagonal monolayers of micron-sized polystyrene spheres on photosensitive Ge2Sb5Te5 (GST) films. The imprinted patterns are strongly sensitive to the illumination conditions, as well as the size of the spheres and the orientation of the monolayer, which we change to demonstrate control over the resulting structures. We show that the presence of multiple scattering effects cannot be neglected to describe the resulting pattern. The experimental patterns imprinted are shown to be robust to small displacements and structural defects of the monolayer. Our method enables the design and experimental verification of patterns with multiple focii per particle and complex shapes, which can be directly implemented for large scale fabrication on different substrates. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America