Influence of dimensional variation of metal-insulator-metal stack in spectral response

Abstract

Depending on the fabrication process and steps, dimensional and structural variation is generally expected during fabrication of plasmonic antenna arrays. It is important to know the critical design parameter and the effect of dimensional variation in device performance so as to predict experimental results. In this study we examine the effect of dimensional variation that could occur during fabrication of a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) patch antenna structure in its spectral response. The variation in width, edge roundness, stack slope, and slope of top metal layer are studied. We showed that the slope of the MIM stack (both dielectric and metal) plays an important role in determining the resonance peak while edge roundness of the stack layer severely affects the spectral width of periodically arranged differently sized patch antenna.