The formation of periodic diffractive plasmonic nanostructures with implanted copper nanoparticles by local ion etching of silica glass

Silica glass was subjected to a low-energy implantation with 40-keV Cu$^+$ ions at a dose of 7.5 $\times$ 10$^{16}$ ions/cm$^2$ and an ion-beam current density of 5 $\mu$A/cm$^2$ through a surface metal-wire mask with square holes of $\sim$40 $\mu$m. The formation of copper nanoparticles in the glass was determined from the occurrence of characteristic plasmon optical absorption and through the detection of particles using an atomic force micro- scope. The formation of periodic surface microstructures via the local etching of silica glass during implantation was observed using a scanning electron microscope. The operating efficiency of the diffractive optical plasmonic element based on silica glass microstructures with metallic copper nanoparticles was shown during its sounding by the emission of a helium-neon laser.