Open AccessPlasmonic arrays of titanium nitride nanoparticles fabricated from epitaxial thin films
Author(s) -
Shinji Murai,
Koji Fujita,
Yohei Daido,
Ryuichiro Yasuhara,
Ryosuke Kamakura,
Katsuhisa Tanaka
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.24.001143
Subject(s) - materials science , nanoimprint lithography , plasmon , thin film , optoelectronics , titanium nitride , nanoparticle , reactive ion etching , sapphire , tin , surface plasmon resonance , nanophotonics , nanotechnology , nitride , etching (microfabrication) , optics , laser , layer (electronics) , medicine , alternative medicine , physics , pathology , fabrication , metallurgy
We have fabricated two-dimensional periodic arrays of titanium nitride (TiN) nanoparticles from epitaxial thin films. The thin films of TiN, deposited on sapphire and single crystalline magnesium oxide substrates by a pulsed laser deposition, are metallic and show reasonably small optical loss in the visible and near infrared regions. The thin films prepared were structured to the arrays of nanoparticles with the pitch of 400 nm by the combination of nanoimprint lithography and reactive ion etching. Optical transmission indicates that the arrays support the collective plasmonic modes, where the localized surface plasmon polaritons in TiN nanoparticles are radiatively coupled through diffraction. Numerical simulation visualizes the intense fields accumulated both in the nanoparticles and in between the particles, confirming that the collective mode originates from the simultaneous excitation of localized surface plasmon polaritons and diffraction. This study experimentally verified that the processing of TiN thin films with the nanoimprint lithography and reactive ion etching is a powerful and versatile way of preparing plasmonic nanostructures.