Patterning Gold Nanorod Assemblies by Deep-UV Lithography

We present a new method to pattern assemblies of gold nanorods (GNRs) on substrates and a study of the near-field coupling induced by the aggregation of the nanoparticles. The combination of deep-UV lithography and controlled deposition of functionalized GNRs generates complex GNR assemblies. Near-field coupling is investigated by photoemission electron micros-copy (PEEM) on single, dimer, and elongated aggregates of GNRs. This comparative study exhibits different kinds of near-field coupling efficiency that occur depending of the incident light polarization, interparticle gaps and angles between the nanorods. Hot spots of the near-field are associated with the interparticle gap regions.