Direct Thermal Patterning of Self-Assembled Nanoparticles

A general methodology for direct thermal patterning of self-assembled nanoparticle films is presented. Specifically, using laser heating we have fabricated ferromagnetic FePt nanoparticle array patterns with 0.8 μm pitch and an edge resolution of ∼100 nm. The nanoparticle arrays have been investigated by scanning SQUID microscopy and MFM. Finally, we have measured the patterning rate as a function of temperature by monitoring the change in optical reflectance.