Surface plasmon resonant interference nanolithography technique

A nanofabrication method, used to fabricate fine patterns beyond the diffraction limit, by employing surface plasmon polariton (SPP) resonance was analyzed. Surface plasmon polaritonic interference in the optical near field excited by a wavelength of 436 nm was used to pattern photolithographically the sub-100 mm lines. For arbitrary patterning, the unperforated metallic mask approach which has corrugated surfaces on both sides was proposed. It was found that the near-field pattern can be optimized by changing the parameters of the mask to generate arrays of features with the smallest lateral dimensions.