Massively Parallel Printing of J-Aggregate Dyes for the Formation of Optical Antennas Based on Polariton Responances

The utilization of exciton-polariton resonances in dielectric materials represents a novel pathway for the realization of next generation sensors and optical devices. Recently, the J-aggregation of cyanine dyes has been demonstrated to produce a Frenkel excitonic absorption features strong enough to enable the formation of surface exciton polariton states at room temperatures. The implementation of these optical dyes has an inherent advantage for the development of low cost, optically resonant surfaces, as they can be easily deposited from aqueous solutions to a variety of differing substrates. Here, we demonstrate the massively parallel printing of J-aggregate dyes using polymer pen lithography to fabricate large scale arrays of optical antenna nanostructures. Here, through the control of the contact parameters of the polymer pen array and annealing conditions, we demonstrate the multiplexed fabrication of dye-based optically resonant nanostructures. Reducing structure sizes into the nanoscale to reach sub-wavelength dimensions, we explore the formation of localized exciton polariton resonances in these materials. We further relate the connection between the local morphology of the J-aggregate dye nanostructures to localized optical resonances through a combination of characterization techniques including atomic force microscopy, scattering spectroscopy, and finite element method optical modeling of the near-and far- field optical response.