UV-visible transmission through nanohole arrays in aluminum and magnesium

Abstract

Extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) is a classic phenomenon in plasmonics. The study of plasmonic nanostructures in the ultraviolet (UV) is a relatively uncharted field due to challenges in both engineering (nanostructure design, optimization, and fabrication) and materials science (detailed composition analysis). Our previous research has been mainly focused on UV field enhancement ofdifferent Al nanostructures. In this work, two-dimensional periodic nanohole arrays in Aluminium (Al) and Magnesium (Mg) films were fabricated using Ga focused ion beam (FIB) lithography. Optical transmission through the arrays was obtained in the UV and visible range, with varying array periodicity. Transmission results showed strong resonance enhancement in the UV and visible region resulting from SPP coupling, with corresponding red-shift as the period increases, while waveguide mode peaks remain in place. Comparing Al and Mg EOT results, Al hole-array enabled larger transmission than that of Mg. Dips in transmission through Al arrays occur at similar spectral positions to those of Mg arrays with same periods. Numerical analysis was carried out through finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) method, which showed far-field transmission consistent with experiments in general. The model was constructed based on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) of cross-sectioned samples. The effect of Gallium (Ga) implantation from FIB fabrication was qualitatively studied, which indicated Ga implants inside the hole bottom as well as higher implantation within Mg than that within Al. The model also takes into account sidewall geometry and undercut into the substrate.