Fabrication of nanoscale rings, dots, and rods by combining shadow nanosphere lithography and annealed polystyrene nanosphere masks.

The application of shadow nanosphere lithography for the preparation of large-area, two-dimensional, metallic nanostructures of different shape is described. Through changing the mask morphology by temperature processing and varying the evaporation conditions, particles with morphologies such as rings, rods, and dots have been produced. This process allows outstanding control of the size and morphology of the particles.