Optical properties of thin Ag - In films prepared by interdiffusion in bimetallic nanolayered stacks

Abstract

Abstract The present work reports on the preparation, structural and optical properties of thin bimetallic films from the Ag-In system. Thin films with required compositions were prepared by annealing of Ag/In stacks. The chemical and phase composition, as well as the surface morphology of thin films were analyzed by energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis, X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy, respectively. The optical properties of the thin film coatings were characterized by spectroscopic ellipsometry. The increase of the indium content increases the values of the imaginary part of the complex permittivity in the visible spectral region and decreases them in the ultraviolet spectral region. As a result, a shift of the plasmonic activity towards higher photon energies was achieved.