Growth of plasmonic gold nanostructures by electron beam induced deposition

The authors report on the growth of organometallic dots for optical applications using electron beam induced gold deposition on a transparent substrate. The effects of the substrate material and the deposition parameters, such as beam current and water vapor pressure, on both the deposition rate and gold purity are investigated. Ex situ annealing of the sample is used as a purity improvement method. Scattering optical measurements on the purified dots reveal that they support localized surface plasmon resonances. This technique opens new perspectives in the fabrication of substantial height-base aspect ratio plasmonic nanostructures and may become particularly relevant for nonflat substrates. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.