Anomalous infrared transmission of indium tin oxide thin films on two-dimensional nanosphere arrays

The excitation of surface plasmons was studied by nano-structural indium tin oxide (ITO) films in the infrared range using nano-imprint lithography (NIL). We investigated the effect of the diameter of silica spheres, thickness of ITO film, and ordering degree of the mask plate on the transmission spectra of structural ITO films by experiments and simulations. Increasing the diameter of silica spheres makes the transmission valley blueshift, while increasing the thickness of ITO film leads the transmission valley redshift. The transmission valley corresponds to the absorption band which results from the excitation of surface plasmons. The ordering degree and the surface coverage ratios of mask plate affect the transmission feature directly. An excitation of local surface plasmons may exist on the undulated ITO surface.