Fabrication of multilayer metal-dielectric nanoparticles and their optical properties

We use nanosphere lithography and thermal evaporation techniques to fabricate multilayer metal-dielectric cone nanoparticle arrays. Scanning electron microscope measurements reveal that the ordered nanoparticles are of triangular shapes. Optical transmittance measurements show that there is a transmittance dip for each sample, and the transmittance dip is caused by the localized surface plasmon resonance of the metal/dielectric particles. With the increase of the number of the metal/dielectric layers of a sample, the position of the transmittance dip of the sample shows a blue-shift. Moreover, the transmittance spectrum and the electric field distribution of the metal/dielectric nanoparticles are simulated by HFSS, and the electric field distribution is used to explain the blue-shift phenomenon.