Influence of the Microstructure and Optical Constants on Plasmonic Properties of Copper Nanolayers

Tomasz Rerek; Beata Derkowska-Zielinska; Marek Trzcinski; Robert Szczesny; Mieczyslaw K Naparty; Lukasz Skowronski

doi:10.3390/ma14237292

Influence of the Microstructure and Optical Constants on Plasmonic Properties of Copper Nanolayers

Materials (Basel). 2021 Nov 29;14(23):7292. doi: 10.3390/ma14237292.

Authors

Tomasz Rerek¹, Beata Derkowska-Zielinska², Marek Trzcinski¹, Robert Szczesny³, Mieczyslaw K Naparty¹, Lukasz Skowronski¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Mathematics and Physics, Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology, Kaliskiego 7, 85-796 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
² Institute of Physics, Faculty of Physics, Astronomy and Informatics, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Grudziadzka 5, 87-100 Torun, Poland.
³ Faculty of Chemistry, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Gagarina 7, 87-100 Torun, Poland.

Abstract

Copper layers with thicknesses of 12, 25, and 35 nm were thermally evaporated on silicon substrates (Si(100)) with two different deposition rates 0.5 and 5.0 Å/s. The microstructure of produced coatings was studied using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and powder X-ray diffractometer (XRD). Ellipsometric measurements were used to determine the effective dielectric functions <ε˜> as well as the quality indicators of the localized surface plasmon (LSP) and the surface plasmon polariton (SPP). The composition and purity of the produced films were analysed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS).

Keywords: microstructure; optical properties; thin copper layers.