Effect of chromium interlayer deposition on periodic silver nanoparticle array structure fabricated by nanosphere lithography

Effect of chromium interlayer deposition on 2-dimensional, periodic silver nanoparticle array structure was systematically investigated. The silver nanoparticle array was fabricated by nanosphere lithography with assembled polystyrene nanospheres being as a deposition mask. The chromium interlayer was deposited by thermal evaporation either on the nanosphere mask or directly on the silicon substrate. The structures of the achieved silver nanoparticle arrays were characterized by scanning electron microscope and were compared with that of silver nanoparticle array without the interlayer. With analysis of the anomalies among the structures the critical role of the interlayer in the periodic nanoparticle array fabrication was revealed.