Controlling microscopic and spectroscopic properties of metallic photonic crystals written by interference ablation

The microscopic and spectroscopic properties of the metallic photonic crystals (MPCs) are controlled by adjusting the annealing temperature after the direct writing process using interference ablation. Strong surface tension and possible nano-scale flowability of the molten gold nanoparticles enable reshaping and aspect-ratio adjustment of the gold nanostructures during the annealing processes. This consequently leads to the tuning of the spectroscopic response of localized surface plasmon resonance by changing the annealing temperature, thus enhancing the flexibility and extending the application of the fabrication technique using interference ablation.