Nanoimprint Lithography‐Directed Self‐Assembly of Heterobimetallic FeM (M = Pd, Pt) Complexes for Magnetic Patterning

Self-assembly of d8 metal polypyridine systems is a well-established approach for the creation of 1D organometallic assemblies but there are still challenges for the large scale construction of nanostructured patterns from these building blocks. We describe here the use of high-throughput nanoimprint lithography (NIL) to direct the self-assembly of the heterobimetallic complexes [4'-ferrocenyl-(2,2':6',2''-terpyridine)M(OAc)]+(OAc)- (M = Pd or Pt; OAc = acetate). Uniform nanorods are fabricated from the molecular self-organization and evidenced by morphological characterisation. More importantly, when top-down NIL is coupled with the bottom-up self-assembly of the organometallic building blocks, regular arrays of nanorods can be accessed and the patterns can be controlled by changing the lithographic stamp, where the mold imposes a confinement effect on the nanorod growth. In addition, patterns consisting of the products formed after pyrolysis are studied. The resulting arrays if ferromagnetic FeM alloy nanorods suggest promising potential for the scalable production of ordered magnetic arrays and fabrication of magnetic bit patterned media.