title: Single-step holographic fabrication of large-area periodically corrugated metal films.
abstract: We have developed a simple, high-throughput, and cost-effective method to fabricate one-dimensional and two-dimensional periodically corrugated silver films over centimeter scale areas. This fabrication uses a single-step holographic patterning technique with laser intensities as low as 88.8 mW/cm(2) to deposit silver nanoparticles directly from solution to create gratings with periodicities of 570 nm. A dip in the transmission spectrum for these samples is observed due to certain visible wavelengths coupling to surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) and the peak wavelength of this dip has a linear relationship with the surrounding material's refractive index (RI) with a sensitivity of 553.4 nm/RIU. The figure of merit (the ratio of refractive index sensitivity to the full width at half maximum (FWHM)) is typically in the range of 12-23. Our technique enables single-step fabrication of uniform, sub-wavelength periodic metal structures over a large area with low cost. Such sub-wavelength periodic metal structures are promising candidates as disposable sensors in applications such as affordable environmental monitoring systems and point-of-care diagnostics.
authors.forename: Mengqian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Bala
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Krishna Juluri
authors.forename: Yanhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jun Liu
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Bunning
authors.forename: Tony
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jun Huang