Highly ordered transparent conductive oxide nanopillar metamaterials for mid-infrared plasmonics

Plasmonics for the mid-infrared wavelength regime offers unique applications such as molecular vibrational absorption spectroscopy for bio-sensing [1]. The quest for novel materials and structures has been continuing in the last decade [2]. Meanwhile, the fabrication of plasmonic metamaterial structures with large area in a reproducible manner is a tremendous challenge. In this report we show that highly ordered nanopillar structures made of aluminum-doped ZnO (AZO) can work as plasmonic components in the mid-infrared wavelength region.