Publications
Engineered liquid crystal anchoring energies with nanopatterned surfaces
Summary
Summary
The anchoring energy of liquid crystals was shown to be tunable by surface nanopatterning of periodic lines and spaces. Both the pitch and height were varied using hydrogen silsesquioxane negative tone electron beam resist, providing for flexibility in magnitude and spatial distribution of the anchoring energy. Using twisted nematic liquid...
Nonlinear bleaching, absorption, and scattering of 532-nm-irradiated plasmonic nanoparticles
Summary
Summary
Single-pulse irradiation of Au and Ag suspensions of nanospheres and nanodisks with 532-nm 4-ns pulses has identified complex optical nonlinearities while minimizing material damage. For all materials tested, we observe competition between saturable absorption (SA) and reverse SA (RSA), with RSA behavior dominating for intensities above ~50 MW/cm^2. Due to...
Rational design and optimization of plasmonic nanoarrays for surface enhanced infrared spectroscopy
Summary
Summary
We present an approach for rational design and optimization of plasmonic arrays for ultrasensitive surface enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) spectroscopy of specific protein analytes. Motivated by our previous work that demonstrated sub-attomole detection of surface-bound silk fibroin [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 106, 19227 (2009)], we introduce here a general...
Angle-and polarization-dependent collective excitation of plasmonic nanoarrays for surface enhanced infrared spectroscopy
Summary
Summary
Our recent work has showed that diffractively coupled nanoplasmonic arrays for Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy can enhance the Amide I protein vibrational stretch by up to 105 times as compared to plain substrates. In this work we consider computationally the impact of a microscope objective illumination cone on array...
A nanoparticle convective directed assembly process for the fabrication of periodic surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrates
Summary
Summary
A highly scalable approach for producing surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrates is introduced. The novel method involves assembling individual nanoparticles in pre-defined templates, one particle per template, forming a high denisity of nanogaps over large areas, while decoupling nanostructure synthesis from placement.
Optical limiting with complex plasmonic nanoparticles
Summary
Summary
Optical limiting by suspensions of Au nanoparticles is enhanced by several orders of magnitude with the use of complex plasmonic shapes, such as spined "nanourchins," instead of nanospheres. Similar enhancements are observed by changing the material of nanospheres from Au to Ag. The experiments, measuring intensity-dependent transmission over a wavelength...
Impact of photoacid generator leaching on optics photocontamination in 193-nm immersion lithography
Summary
Summary
Leaching of resist components into water has been reported in several studies. Even low dissolution levels of photoacid generator (PAG) may lead to photocontamination of the last optical surface of the projection lens. To determine the impact of this phenomenon on optics lifetime, we initiate a set of controlled studies...
Nanocomposite approaches toward pellicles for 157-nm lithography
Summary
Summary
Pellicle materials for use at 157 nm must display sufficient transparency at this wavelength and adequate lifetimes to be useful. We blended a leading candidate fluoropolymer with silica nanoparticles to examine the effect on both the transparency and lifetime of the pellicle. It is anticipated that these composite materials may...
Marathon evaluation of optical materials for 157-nm lithography
Summary
Summary
We present the methodology and recent results on the longterm evaluation of optical materials for 157-nm lithographic applications. We review the unique metrology capabilities that have been developed for accurately assessing optical properties of samples both online and offline, utilizing VUV spectrophotometry with in situlamp-based cleaning. We describe ultraclean marathon...