Controlled Topography Change of Subdiffraction Structures Based on Photosensitive Polymer Films Induced by Surface Plasmon Polaritons

We discuss the controlled subdiffraction modulations of photosensitive polymer films that are induced by surface plasmon interference in striking contrast to well-known conventional microscopic gratings. The near-field light intensity patterns were generated at the nanoslits fabricated in a silver layer with the photosensitive polymer film placed above. We observed that the topographical modulations can be excited only when the polarization is perpendicular to the nanoslits. Moreover, we have shown that light with certain wavelengths resulted in a characteristic topographical pattern with the periodicity three times smaller than the wavelength of incoming light. A combination of experimental observations with simulations showed that the unique subdiffraction topographical patterns are caused by constructive interference between two counter-propagating surface plasmon waves generated at neighboring nanoslits in the metal layer beneath the photosensitive polymer film. The light intensity distribution was simulated to demonstrate strong dependency upon the slit array periodicity as well as wavelength and polarization of incoming light.