Surface plasmon resonance in super-periodic metal nanostructures

Surface plasmon resonances in periodic metal nanostructures have been investigated over the past decade. The periodic metal nanostructures have served as new technology platforms in fields such as biological and chemical sensing. An existing method to determine the surface plasmon resonance properties of these metal nanostructures is the measurement of the light transmission or reflection from these nanostructures. The measurement of surface plasmon resonances in either the transmission or reflection allows one to resolve the surface plasmon resonance in metal nanostructures. In this dissertation, surface plasmon resonances in a new type of metal nanostructures were investigated. The new nanostructures were created by patterning traditional periodic nanohole and nanoslit arrays into diffraction gratings. The patterned nanohole and 11anoslit arrays have two periods in the structures. The new nanostructures are called "super-periodic" nanostructures. With rigorous finite difference time domain (FDTD) numerical simulations, surface plasmon resonances in super-periodic nanoslit and nanohole arrays were investigated. It was found that by creating a super-period in periodic metal nanostructures, surface plasmon radiations can be observed in the non-zero order diffractions. This discovery presents a new method of characterizing the surface plasmon resonances in metal nanostructures. Super-periodic gold nanoslit and nanohole arrays were fabricated with the electron beam lithography technique. The surface plasmon resonances were measured in the first order diffraction by using a CCD. The experimental results confirm well with the FDTD numerical simulations.