Dependence of Plasmonic Properties of Silver Island Films on Nanoparticle Size and Substrate Coverage

Abstract

Localized surface plasmon resonance displayed by metal nanoparticles has been studied in silver island films prepared by the simple technique of vacuum evaporation, which is one of the options that is easily adaptable for large area and low cost applications. Silver island films with varying island sizes and areal coverages are prepared by depositing silver films with varying thicknesses followed by annealing. The optical properties of the samples have been explained in terms of dependence of scattering and absorption on the metal island size, interparticle interaction and matrix effects, and the wavelength range over which the plasmonic effects are present.