$LON = (); 
$LON[0][0] = "Tim";

##</code><code>##

my $LON ;             # scalar is array  ref
$LON->[0][0] = "Tim";
...
return $LON;

##</code><code>##

my @LON;              # array 
$LON[0][0] = "Tim";
...
return \@LON;         # return ref