Multiple beam interference lithography: A tool for rapid fabrication of plasmonic arrays of arbitrary shaped...

A novel method enabling rapid fabrication of 2D periodic arrays of plasmonic nanoparticles across large areas is presented. This method is based on the interference of multiple coherent beams originating from diffraction of large-diameter collimated beam on a transmission phase mask. Mutual orientation of the interfering beams is determined by parameters of the used phase mask. Herein, parameters of the phase mask (periods and modulation depth) are selected to yield an interference pattern with high contrast and narrow well-separated maxima. Finally, multiple beam interference lithography (MBIL)-based fabrication of periodic plasmonic arrays with selected nanomotifs including discs, disc dimers, rods and bowtie antennas is demonstrated.