A simple microfabrication technique for silver (Ag) based on spatially defined silver mirror reaction using a photolithographically micropatterned aldehyde (CHO)-terminated self-assembled monolayer (SAM) is proposed. First, both a Si substrate covered with native oxide and a quartz glass plate were exposed to a vapor of triethoxysilylundecanal (TESUD) diluted with absolute toluene for 3 h at 403 K. This vapor phase treatment produced a 1.2-nm-thick TESUD-SAM with a flat, homogeneous surface. Several samples were then photolithographically micropatterned using an excimer lamp radiating 172 nm vacuum ultraviolet light, and subsequently employed as templates for area-selective electroless Ag plating. Optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed that Ag metal was preferentially deposited on the CHO-terminated regions, resulting in the formation of well-ordered Ag microstructures composed of rectangular 5 mu m x 25 mu m features. The CHO terminal groups of the TESUD-SAM were found to be effective in reducing Ag ionic species at the solid/liquid interface. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.