text: to a certain extent the particle-particle attraction. Normally, the solution is deposited on to a plain 
  
  silicon substrate that is covered by the native oxide layer only [34]. However, one may locally 
  
  change the wetting behaviour of the solvent by further oxidising the substrate [38]. By adding 
  
  excess thiol one can also vary the properties of the solvent [40]. 
  
  Two different procedures are employed for the deposition of the solution on to the substrate: spin- 
  
  coating or a meniscus technique [61, 62]. The choice is important as it strongly inﬂuences the 
  
  evaporation rate and, as a result, the pattern formation process. When using spin-coating, one ﬁnds 
  
  that directly after deposition, evaporation competes with dewetting until all the solvent has evapo- 
  
  rated. The resulting deposits of nanoparticles are imaged by atomic force microscopy (AFM). For 
  
  spin-coated ﬁlms, the evaporation rate is high and structuring is normally ﬁnished before the spin- 
  
  coater is stopped. Conversely, the solvent evaporation rate is strongly decreased when employing 
  
  the meniscus technique [61], i.e., by depositing a drop of solution on a Teﬂon ring that is wetted by 