Impact of lithography on the fluorescence dynamics of self-assembled fluorophores

Micro- and nano-patterned fluorescent materials are important for many photonic devices and applications. In this paper, we investigate the impact of three common lithographical techniques, deposition and removal of sacrificial masks, ultraviolet ablation, and focused ion beam milling, on self-assembled fluorophores. We find that different patterning techniques can dramatically change the fluorescence lifetime of the fluorophores and that the degree of modification depends on the patterning techniques.