title: Micro/nanoscale patterning of nanostructured metal substrates for plasmonic applications.
abstract: The ability to precisely control the pattern of different metals at the micro- and nanoscale, along with their topology, has been demonstrated to be essential for many applications, ranging from material science to biomedical devices, electronics, and photonics. In this work, we show a novel approach, based on a combination of lithographic techniques and galvanic displacement reactions, to fabricate micro- and nanoscale patterns of different metals, with highly controlled surface roughness, onto a number of suitable substrates. We demonstrate the possibility to exploit such metal films to achieve significant fluorescence enhancement of nearby fluorophores, while maintaining accurate spatial control of the process, from submicron resolution to centimeter-sized features. These patterns may be also exploited for a wide range of applications, including SERS, solar cells, DNA microarray technology, hydrophobic/hydrophilic substrates, and magnetic devices.
authors.affiliation: National Nanotechnology Laboratory of CNR-INFM, IIT Research Unit, Via Arnesano 16, 73100 Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: S Shiv
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Shankar
authors.forename: Loris
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rizzello
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cingolani
authors.forename: Ross
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rinaldi
authors.forename: Pier Paolo
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Pompa