Fabrication of large-area patterned nanostructures for optical applications by nanoskiving

Cost-effective and convenient methods for fabrication of patterned metallic nanostructures over the large (mm2) areas required for applications in photonics are much needed. In this paper, we demonstrate the fabrication of arrays of closed and open, loop-shaped nanostructures by a technique (nanoskiving) that combines thin-film deposition by metal evaporation with thin-film sectioning. These arrays of metallic structures serve as frequency-selective surfaces at mid-infrared wavelengths. Experiments with structures prepared using this technique demonstrate that a closed-looped structure has a single dominant resonance regardless of the polarization of the incident light, while open structures have resonances that are anisotropic with respect to the polarization of the electric field. Finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations reproduce the scattering spectra of these frequency-selective surfaces, provide an explanation of the wavelength of the experimentally observed resonances, and rationalize their polarization dependence based on the patterns of current induced in the nanostructures.