OPTICAL-PROPERTIES OF AG ISLAND FILMS PREPARED BY RADIOFREQUENCY MAGNETRON-SPUTTERING USING ATTENUATED TOTAL-REFLECTION METHOD

The optical properties of Ag island films deposited on glass substrate s at room temperature by rf magnetron-sputtering have been investigate d. The reflection of p- and s-polarized laser light with a wavelength of 633 nm by the Ag thin films was measured in an attenuated total ref lection (ATR) configuration. The effective dielectric constants epsilo n and effective optical thickness d(opt). Of the films were obtained f rom theoretical fitting of the p-polarized ATR data. The measured ATR curves were very sensitive to metal island structure. For films with a thickness of less than about 16 nm, epsilon was very dependent upon d (opt). and both the real and imaginal parts of epsilon increased consi derably for thinner films.