Atomic force microscopy reconstruction of complex-shaped chiral plasmonic nanostructures

Abstract

A significant part of the optical metamaterial phenomena has the plasmonic nature and their investigation requires very accurate knowledge of the fabricated structures shape with a focus on the periodical features. We describe a consistent approach to the shape reconstruction of the plasmonic nanostructures. This includes vertical and tilted spike AFM probes fabrication, AFM imaging and specific post-processing. We studied a complex-shaped chiral metamaterial and conclude that the described post-processing routine extends possibilities of the existing deconvolution algorithms in the case of periodical structures with known rotational symmetry, by providing valuable information about periodical features.