| Through this work a new all-solid, ambient processing condition direct metal patterning technique has been developed and characterized. This ionic-transport-based patterning technique is capable of sub-50nm feature resolution under ambient conditions. It generates features with a rate that is comparable to conventional dry-etching techniques. A numerical model has also been developed to understand the mixed electronic-ionic transport characteristics as well as the metal-solid electrolyte interface kinetics. This model can also benefit the study and design of batteries in the field of renew-able energy. With the nanopatterning technique developed, plasmonic features with resonance in the optical range have been fabricated to study their effect on the Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering as well as Metal Enhanced Fluorescence of an adsorbate. New insight into whether farfield scattering of such structures or the nearfield EM-field is more important to the enhancement to Raman scattering was gained from comparing the experimental results with the numerical one. A systematic way of characterizing the electromagnetic enhancement part of metal enhanced fluorescence has also been developed that can be utilized to design plasmonic features for fluorescence-based applications. |
