Generation of line pattern in thin polymer films with embedded gold nanoparticles by irradiation with ultrashort, linearly polarized laser pulses

The laser induced photomodification of metal nanoparticles currently attracts considerable technological interest as an uncomplicated low cost method to control an optimize size, shape and spatial arrangement of metal clusters in nanostructured composite materials. Recently, femtosecond (fs) laser pulse assisted shape modification was demonstrated for metal nanoparticles embedded in silica glass, in this contribution we introduce a new and simple, non-tactile method to generate periodically arranged submicron structures in thin organic films with embedded gold nanoparticles. The periodically arranged line pattern within the film appears when the samples are subjected to irradiation with intense, linearly polarized fs-laser pulses. The nanoparticle-containing films, having a thickness of a bout 100 nm, were deposited by alternating plasma polymerization of hexamethyldisilazane and metal evaporation.