The use of an attenuated total reflection-coupling mode of prism coated with metal film to excite the interference of the surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) was proposed for periodic patterning with a resolution of subwavelength scale. High intensity of electric field can be obtained because of the coupling between SPPs and evanescence under a resonance condition,which can reduce exposure time and improve contrast. In this paper,several critical parameters for maskless surface plasmon resonant lithography are described,and the preliminary simulation based on a finite difference time-domain technique agrees well with the theoretical analysis,which demonstrates this scheme and provides the theoretical basis for further experiments.
