Ordered gold nanostructures on sapphire surfaces: Fabrication and optical investigations

The possibilities of obtaining ordered gold nanoarrays on sapphire surfaces with oriented nanorelief are demonstrated. The structures are morphologically described using atomic force microscopy data. A study of the angular dependence of the reflectivity in the visible range of electromagnetic waves has revealed some features which are likely to indicate surface plasmon-polariton excitation at the air-gold interface under exposure to p-polarized radiation. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with the theoretical calculations.