FDTD modeling of realistic semicontinuous metal films

Uday K. Chettiar, Purdue University
P Nyga, Mil Univ Technol
Mark D. Thoreson, Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University
Alexander V. Kildishev, Birck Nanotechnology Center, School of ECE
V. P. Drachev, Birck Nanotechnology Center, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University
V. M. Shalaev, Birck Nanotechnology Center and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University

Abstract

We have employed a parallelized 3D FDTD (finite-difference time-domain) solver to study the electromagnetic properties of random, semicontinuous, metal films. The structural features of the simulated geometries are exact copies of the fabricated films and are obtained from SEM images of the films themselves. The simulation results show good agreement with the experimentally observed far-field spectra, allowing us to also study the nonlinear moments of the optical responses for these realistic nanostructures. These results help to further our understanding of the details of the electromagnetic response of randomly structured metal films. Our results can also be applied in the optimization of random metal nanostructures and in the design of surface-enhanced spectroscopies and other plasmonic applications.

Discipline(s)

Engineering | Nanoscience and Nanotechnology