Plasmonic color printing based on third-order gap surface plasmons [Invited]

Abstract

Metasurfaces for color printing rely on the resonant interaction of light with nanostructures, which translates to small physical resonator sizes for visible wavelengths, thus demanding very high fabrication accuracy that necessitates low-throughput processes and prevents the economical large-scale coloration and printing. Through the use of third-order gap plasmon resonances, element sizes necessary for visible resonances can be scaled to be compatible with several large-scale techniques for nanofabrication while retaining the capability of generating vivid colors. We demonstrate this using a 450-nm-periodic gold nanodisc array on SiO 2 of different thicknesses (20, 40 and 50 nm) atop a thick gold substrate-a composite structure supporting gap plasmon resonances for both linear polarizations. A third-order resonance occurs for discs of 300 nm diameter and larger, while first-order resonances occur below 100 nm for red light (630 nm). By fabricating nanodiscs of different diameters, we observe vivid shades of red and green colors, with dark shades for third-order gap plasmon nanodiscs resonators due to inherent losses and bright shades for small discs of fundamental resonance counterparts. The third-order gap plasmon based nanodiscs are further spectrally characterized and tested for uniformity and reproducibility by demonstrating printed patterns. The significant improvement in both size and color range using the approach of higher-order based resonances can have a significant impact on the practical applicability and economic feasibility of plasmonic color printing.

Nanophotonic Structural Colors

“…80 The colors from some of these implementations are more dependent on periodicity (e.g., hole arrays) while other implementations are more sensitive to the nanostructure geometry and less sensitive to periodicity, e.g., gap plasmon resonators (GPR). [81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94] The metals commonly used in plasmonic color printing, i.e., Au, Ag, Al, suffer from Ohmic losses that affect the optical resonances and limit the color gamut generated, although a large color gamut (~50% of sRGB) with the subwavelength resolution has also been achieved with GPR. 95 In addition, Au and Ag are not compatible with complementary-metal-oxidesemiconductor (CMOS) processes and cannot be incorporated into semiconductor manufacturing processes.…”

“…Despite the myriad configurations, one can make sense of these resonances through analogy with equivalent circuits consisting of inductances and capacitances, that is, LC oscillators . The colors from some of these implementations are more dependent on periodicity (e.g., hole arrays), while other implementations are more sensitive to the nanostructure geometry and less sensitive to periodicity, for example, gap plasmon resonators (GPR). − …”

Scalable Reflective Plasmonic Structural Colors from Nanoparticles and Cavity Resonances – the Cyan‐Magenta‐Yellow Approach

“…Few studies actively addressed strategies to improve brightness within a gamut or to achieve balance between chromaticity and brightness appropriate for an application. [21][22][23] In this context, a major appeal of a subtractive color palette is the potential for producing brighter colors than that of a red, green, and blue (RGB) gamut. The subtractive colors cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMY) inherently reflect more of the visible spectrum.…”

Employing SiO2 nano-particles in conformal and in-cup structures of 8500 K white LEDs

“…Ziegler et al recommended silica-encapsulated QDs to resolve these difficulties and have a high CRI for increased LED emission spectrums. Nanocomposites which have the base of inorganic nanocrystals have been of great attentiveness in previous decades as the ability of them to control their physical and chemical features for diverse implementations like light-emitting diodes (LEDs), catalysts, creating biological images [5]- [9]. The most thoroughly studied of these are silica-based nanocomposites with quantum dots (QDs).…”