FABRICATION OF NOVEL PLASMONIC DEVICES USING A HELIUM ION MICROSCOPE

Abstract

WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY DEVELOPED A COMPREHENSIVE FABRICATION, SIMULATION AND CHARACTERIZATION CYCLE WHICH YIELDS PLASMONIC DEVICES WITH UNPRECEDENTED DIMENSIONS AND QUALITY. THE HELIUM ION MICROSCOPE WAS UTILIZED TO PATTERN VARIOUS PLASMONIC STRUCTURES WITH SUB-10NM SCALE. A COMPARISON WAS PERFORMED BETWEEN FOCUSED HELIUM AND GALLIUM ION BEAM TO HIGHLIGHTS THIS PERFORMANCE AND MEANWHILE THE OPTIMAL PATTERNING REGIMES OF TWO BEAMS ARE ESTABLISHED. PHYSICAL MILLING INDUCED DAMAGES AS WELL AS THE EFFECT OF CRYSTALLINE QUALITY ON NANOFABRICATION WERE CAREFULLY ADDRESSED. HIGH RESOLUTION EELS CHARACTERIZATION AND FDTD SIMULATIONS WERE UTILIZED TO EXPLORE THE RESONANCE BEHAVIOR OF FABRICATED PLASMONIC APERTURES WHERE VISUALIZATION OF PLASMONIC RESONANCES IN NANOMETER SPATIAL AND FEMTOSECOND TEMPORAL SCALE WAS DEMONSTRATED. THE SUPERIOR QUALITY OF FABRICATED DEVICES WAS CONFIRMED WITH QUALITY FACTOR ANALYSIS. THE GOOD AGREEMENT BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL AND SIMULATION RESULTS DEMONSTRATES THE CAPABI