FIG. 15A illustrates deposited mask material on a substrate after different deposition times 1510a-d. As can be seen, in image 1510a, nanoparticles of a silver mask material have a size of approximately 12 nm with substantial gaps visible between the particles. The particle sizes grow until adjacent particles join together, until ultimately only a few small gaps are visible in image 1510d.

FIG. 15B illustrates the same mask layers shown in FIG. 15A; however, the mask layers in FIG. 15B have been heat-soaked at 190 degrees Celsius for 50 minutes. As can be seen, the particles in each mask layer have coalesced into discrete particles, providing a discontinuous mask layer on the underlying substrate. Such an effect is visible even in image 1520d, which is the resulting mask layer following a heat-soak of the mask layer shown in image 1510d. Thus, a continuous, or nearly continuous, thin film of mask material may still be rendered into a suitable discontinuous mask layer via a thermal soak process.

Referring now to FIGS. 11A-11C, FIGS. 11A-11C illustrate the use of self-assembling masks to create surface roughness on a substrate. FIG. 11A shows a cross-section of a substrate 1100, such as an LCP substrate material, having a self-assembled mask formed on its surface from a masking material 1110. The self-assembled mask may be any suitable self-assembled mask that defines a plurality of gaps to expose the underlying substrate 1100, such as the masks 1020a-c shown in FIGS. 10A-10C.