Comparison of Plasmonic Arrays of Holes Recorded by Interference Lithography and Focused Ion Beam

In this paper, we compare the geometric characteristics and the optical properties of plasmonic hole arrays recorded in gold (Au) films using two different techniques, namely, focused ion beam (FIB) and interference lithography (IL). The morphology of the samples was analyzed using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and the plasmonic peaks were measured from the transmission spectrum of the samples. The diameters of the holes recorded by IL present approximately the same statistical deviation as those fabricated by FIB but in a much larger area. Although the transmittance measurements of both types of samples exhibit the characteristic plasmonic peaks, the intrinsic fabrication errors of each technique affect differently the optical spectra.