Application of 3D direct laser writing combining with DC sputtering techniques in fabrication of plasmonic structures

Abstract

This paper presents the 3D direct laser writing technique and a method for fabricating plasmonic structures using 3D direct laser writing combining with DC sputtering techniques. The plasmonic structure consists of a two-dimensional (2D) array of polymer pillars arranged on a glass substrate and coated with a silver (Ag) film. The exposure time and laser intensity used in the fabrication process were experimentally determined to obtain suitable fabrication conditions. To determine the morphology and composition of the fabricated structures, we used field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The fabrication results confirm that DLW has successfully generated designed hypersurfaces with different lattice constants and model sizes with good resolution. The DC sputtering method also produced silver thin films on polymer structures with controllable thickness. This method has shown the advantages in fabricating plasmonic structures such as low cost and ease of fabrication, aiming towards applications in bioimaging and biosensing, infrared resonant devices, and advanced quantum communication.