Plasmon Printing - a New Approach to Near-Field Lithography

Abstract

We propose a method for replicating patterns with a resolution well below the diffraction limit, using broad beam illumination and standard photoresist. In particular it is shown that visible exposure (?=410 nm) of silver nanoparticles in close proximity to a thin film of g-line resist (AZ 1813) can produce selectively exposed areas with a diameter smaller than ?/20. The technique relies on the local field enhancement around metal nanostructures when illuminated at the surface plasmon resonance frequency. The method can be extended to various metals, photosensitive layers, and particle shapes.