J. Parra-Barranco, J.R. Sanchez-Valencia, A. Barranco, A. R. González-Elipe.
Nanotechnology, 28 (2017), 485602 (10 pp)
In this work we have developed an infiltration methodology t o incorporate metal nanoparticles (NPs) with controlled size and shapes into the open voids available in Oblique Angle Deposited (OAD) thin films. These NPs exhibited well-defined surface plasmon resonances (SPR). The nanometric confined space provided by their porous microstructure has been used as a template for the growth of anisotropic NPs with interesting surface plasmon resonance properties. The fabrication methodology has been applied for the preparation of films with embedded silver and gold NPs with two associated plasmon resonance features that developed a dichroic behaviour when examined with linearly polarized light. A confined alloying process was induced by near IR nanosecond laser irradiation yielding bimetallic NPs with SPR features covering a large zone of the electromagnetic spectrum. The possibilities of the method for the tailored fabrication of a wide range colour palette based on SPR features are highlighted.