Period reduction lithography in normal UV range with surface plasmon polaritons interference and hyperbolic metamaterial multilayer structure

A plasmonic lithography method is proposed to generate a large-area, period-reduced, subwavelength one-dimensional grating pattern. It is demonstrated with a surface plasmon polaritons interference effect and a hyperbolic metamaterial multilayer structure by UV radiation at 405 nm wavelength. Photoresist patterns of 1.5 x 1.5 cm(2) area with 350 nm period and 100 nm linewidth were fabricated on polyethylene terephthalate films by using a 700-nm-period Al grating mask and exposed to a transverse magnetic polarized laser. The proposed lithography approach provides a cost-effective and less laborious pathway for the fabrication of large-area periodic nano-patterns. (C) 2015 The Japan Society of Applied Physics