Rapid Self-Assembly of Shaped Microtiles into Large, Close-Packed Crystalline Monolayers on Solid Surfaces.

The rapid self-assembly of photolithographic microtiles into large crystalline monolayers is achieved. Crystalline monolayers get trapped at the liquid-liquid interface and re-emerge at the air-liquid interface by mixing a cosolvent, which then deposits on the solid surface in seconds. This method has the potential to assemble different shapes and sizes of microtiles into complex architectures.