Crystallization on surfaces of well-defined topography

Single crystals of calcite with regular patterned surfaces comprising close-packed arrays of hemispherical cavities or domes were produced by crystallization on colloidal monolayers or PDMS replicas of these monolayers, respectively. Perfect replication of the substrate topography was achieved for all colloidal particles, irrespective of their size and surface chemistry when the substrate geometry permitted unrestricted ion flow to the growing crystal. This work demonstrates that crystallization within a mould provides a very general route to producing single crystals with curved surfaces and unusual morphologies and that such patterning can be applied from the micro- to the nanoscale.