Optical properties of sub-wavelength dielectric gratings and their application for surface-enhanced Raman scattering

We fabricated and measured the far-field optical properties of a sub-wavelength Si(3)N(4) (silicon nitride) two dimensional grating. Frequency-dependent transmission measurements from a white-light source revealed that both transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) modes were excited on the grating. We determined the dispersion relations of the modes by tilting the sample with respect to the incoming light beam and measuring the frequency shift of the absorption features. By comparing to a simple model, we determined the effective refractive index for the TM and TE modes and the geometrical constants for the grating. This information enables gratings with desired optical properties to be designed and fabricated. The application of the sub-wavelength grating for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is demonstrated.