AFM reconstruction of complex-shaped chiral plasmonic nanostructures

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Nanotechnology
• Optics

Background:

• Optical metamaterial phenomena are often plasmonic, necessitating precise knowledge of fabricated nanostructure shapes.
• Accurate characterization of periodic features in nanostructures is essential for understanding their optical properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and present a consistent approach for the shape reconstruction of plasmonic nanostructures.
• To improve the analysis of periodic features in complex nanostructures using atomic force microscopy (AFM).

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of specialized vertical and tilted spike AFM probes.
• High-resolution AFM imaging of plasmonic nanostructures.
• Development and application of specific post-processing algorithms for AFM data.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated a robust method for reconstructing the shape of plasmonic nanostructures.
• Successfully applied the method to a complex-shaped chiral metamaterial.
• The post-processing routine significantly enhances the characterization of periodic features.

Conclusions:

• The described post-processing routine extends the capabilities of existing deconvolution algorithms for periodic structures.
• This approach provides valuable information about periodic features, crucial for optical metamaterial research.
• The method is particularly effective for structures with known rotational symmetry.