Direct fabrication and characterization of gold nanohole arrays

Direct Synthesis of Gold Nanoparticles in Polymer Matrix

We report an original method for directly fabricating gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) in a polymer matrix using a thermal treatment technique and theoretically and experimentally investigate their plasmonic properties. The polymeric-metallic nanocomposite samples were first prepared by simply mixing SU-8 resist and Au salt with different concentrations. The Au NPs growth was triggered inside the polymer through a thermal process on a hot plate and in air environment. The Au NPs creation was confirmed by the color of the nanocomposite thin films and by absorption spectra measurements. The Au NPs sizes and distributions were confirmed by transmission electron microscope measurements. It was found that the concentrations of Au salt and the annealing temperatures and durations are all crucial for tuning the Au NPs sizes and distributions, and, thus, their optical properties. We also propose a simulation model for calculations of Au NPs plasmonic properties inside a polymer medium. We realized that Au NPs having large sizes (50 to 100 nm) play an important role in absorption spectra measurements, as compared to the contribution of small NPs (<20 nm), even if the relative amount of big Au NPs is small. This simple, low-cost, and highly reproducible technique allows us to obtain plasmonic NPs within polymer thin films on a large scale, which can be potentially applied to many fields.

Large-range and high-precision autofocus method based on an annular DOE for a laser direct writing system

We present a large-range and high-precision autofocus method based on an annular diffractive optical element (DOE) for a laser direct writing system. By analyzing the shape of the return spot, the defocus direction and the defocus amount can be obtained at the same time. The experimental results show that the linear detection range of the proposed method can reach at least 76 µm, the sensitivity can reach 100 nm, the detection accuracy can reach 100 nm, and the noise fluctuation does not exceed 50 nm. Apparently, with the advantages of a large detection range, high detection, and good stability, the automatic focus detection method proposed in this paper can be widely applied in various wafer-scale complex microstructure preparation systems.