Thin film patterning by surface-plasmon-induced thermocapillarity

It will be reported that laser-induced standing surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) waves can cause regular thickness undulations of thin polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) films above a metallic substrate [1]. Ripples, rings, and hillock arrays with long-range order were found.Numerical simulations reveal that periodic in-plane temperature profiles are generated in the PMMA due to the non-radiative damping of SPP interference patterns. Calculations of the temperature-gradient-generated Laplace pressure and mass transport confirm
that thermocapillarity is the dominating mechanism of the observed surface patterning.
[1] L. Röntzsch, K.-H. Heinig, J.A. Schuller, M.L. Brongersma, Appl. Phys. Lett. 90 (2007) 044105