Abstract
We demonstrate a method to fabricate ultra-thin, ultra-smooth and low-loss silver (Ag) films using a very thin germanium (Ge) layer as a wetting material and a rapid post-annealing treatment. The addition of a Ge wetting layer greatly reduces the surface roughness of Ag films deposited on a glass substrate by electron-beam evaporation. The percolation threshold of Ag films and the minimal thickness of a uniformly continuous Ag film were significantly reduced using a Ge wetting layer in the fabrication. A rapid post-annealing treatment is demonstrated to reduce the loss of the ultra-thin Ag film to the ideal values allowed by the quantum size effect in smaller grains. Using the same wetting method, we have also extended our studies to ultra-smooth silver-silica lamellar composite films with ultra-thin Ag sublayers.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 5124-5134 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Optics Express |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 1 2010 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics