Dewetting of Ni Thin Films and Formation of Ni Nanoparticle Arrays on Laser-interference Patterned Substrates

We present a method for fabricating ordered arrays of metal nanoparticles over a large area. In this method, a simple two-step process combining laser interference patterning (LIP) and thermal dewetting was developed. Two-dimensional (2D) arrays of Ni nanoparticles with uniform sizes and narrow interparticle distances were fabricated on laser-interference patterned silicon substrates. The mechanism for the self-organization due to the modified Rayleigh instability was analyzed.