Large Area Sub-Micrometric Silver Structures

Periodic structures in the sub-micro and nano scales have attracted the attention of researchers lately due to the novel properties they exhibit. One of the main issues which slow down the integration of this type of structures in real devices is the lack of fabrication techniques which can scale to mass production. The present work studies the fabrication of silver sub-micrometric structures by two different techniques: self-assembly of colloidal spheres and laser interference lithography. The self-assembly technique consists of different steps which are studied and optimized, starting with the optimization of the deposition conditions of indium tin oxide thin films. The next steps are the assembly of colloidal spheres, the infiltration of the resultant opals with silver and the inversion of the infiltrate opals, giving rise to ordered silver structures. The laser interference lithography technique is also used to obtain this type of structures. The resulting silver structures are structurally and optically characterized. It is demonstrated in this work that these structures present optical properties which make them feasible for future photonic applications.