Fabrication of metallic nanodot structures using focused ion beam (Fib) and electron Beam-induced deposition for plasmonic waveguides

Fabrication of a linear array of metallic nanodots and nanopillars for plasmonic waveguides is reported in this paper by two different processes - FIB milling of deposited thin films and electron beam-induced deposition of metallic nanostructures from a organometallic precursor gas introduced into the chamber. In the first FIB fabrication method, metallic nanorods and nanopillars were fabricated by depositing a 30-150 nm layer of a metallic (gold or silver) film on a planar substrate and subsequently employing FIB milling to pattern out the metallic nanopillars from the film. Employing FIB allowed formation of nanostructures such that the plasmon resonances associated with the nanostructures could be engineered and precisely controlled by controlling the nanostructure size and shape. Multistep FIB fabrication procedures were developed to form the nanostructures of complex geometries on planar substrates. The second fabrication processed used to create nanodots and nanopillars for plasmonic waveguides discussed in this paper is direct deposition of metal nanostructures, created when an electron beam (e-beam) is used to dissociate metal from an organometallic precursor gas in a predefined reaction region. Ionization energy required for decomposition of the Au precursor, i.e. Dimethyl Au (III) Fluoro Actylacetonate, is matched with that of the secondary electrons (between 5-50 eV) that are generated by exposing the substrate to a focused electron beam. © 2009 SPIE.

Duke Scholars

Author Tuan Vo-Dinh Biomedical Engineering