Visualization of surface plasmon interference by imprinting intensity patterns on a photosensitive polymer
- We report on sub-wavelength structuring of photosensitive azo-containing polymer films induced by a surface plasmon interference intensity pattern. The two surface plasmon waves generated at neighboring nano-slits in the metal layer during irradiation interfere constructively, resulting in an intensity pattern with a periodicity three times smaller than the wavelength of the incoming light. The near field pattern interacts with the photosensitive polymer film placed above it, leading to a topography change which follows the intensity pattern exactly, resulting in the formation of surface relief gratings of a size below the diffraction limit. We analyze numerically and experimentally how the depth of the nano-slit alters the interference pattern of surface plasmons and find that the sub-wavelength patterning of the polymer surface could be optimized by modifying the geometry and the size of the nano-slit.
Author details: | Tobias König, Svetlana SanterORCiDGND |
---|---|
DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1088/0957-4484/23/48/485304 |
ISSN: | 0957-4484 |
Title of parent work (English): | Nanotechnology |
Publisher: | IOP Publ. Ltd. |
Place of publishing: | Bristol |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Year of first publication: | 2012 |
Publication year: | 2012 |
Release date: | 2017/03/26 |
Volume: | 23 |
Issue: | 48 |
Number of pages: | 7 |
Funding institution: | DFG [SA1657/4-1] |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Physik und Astronomie |
Peer review: | Referiert |