Engineering Materials and Characterization Methods for Mass-produced Plasmonic Devices

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. JUne 2017. Major: Electrical Engineering. Advisor: Bethanie Stadler. 1 computer file (PDF); xiv, 123 pages.Over the last decade, plasmonic devices have seen considerable attention, and while there has been significant scientific advancement for plasmonic devices in the laboratory, there still are no industrially produced, high-tech devices which incorporate plasmonics on the market. Industry is in need of robust characterization methods for the development of near-field based devices en route to final product manufacturing lines as well as stable plasmonic materials that can easily be integrated into existing complex process flows. In this dissertation, original research that opens up doors for mass-produced plasmonic devices is presented. Engineered characterization methods include the development of a theoretical model for the prediction of scattering scanning near-field optical microscopy behavior of plasmonic devices, the use of this near-field characterization technique together with scanning electron microscopy cathodoluminescence to perform complete and convergent characterization of plasmonic excitation and coupled near-field emission. Engineered materials are centered on plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposited titanium nitride, discovering its chemistry and behavior under a variety of conditions, and demonstrating its fabricability as both two dimensional etched structures and three dimensional coatings of complex shapes