Investigation of periodically modified thin silver films displaying enhanced transmission spectra

Full text: In 1998, Ebbesen et al first reported greatly enhanced zero order transmission spectra from thin metal films patterned with a two dimensional array of sub-wavelength apertures. Such devices have applications in the fields of photonics, biotechnology and photolithography. Here, we report on the fabrication of periodically structured silver films using a 20nm focused ion beam driven by an Elphy Quantum lithography system. The expected transmission through these structures in the visible and near-infrared as well as the near-zone electromagnetic fields calculated using the finite difference time domain technique will also be presented. Copyright (2005) Australian Institute of Physics