Structural and optical properties of thin silver films deposited on Si(111)

Silver films in the thickness range 3-12 nm were deposited on very clean Si (lll) substrates at ambient temperature. The annealing up to temperatures o f 650 degrees C was then studied using LEED/Auger, SEM and X-ray diffractio n as well as resistivity and ellipsometry measurements. The films crack dur ing annealing and silver islands are formed on the silicon surface. The coa gulation results in a steep drop of the ellipsometric parameters Delta and Psi in the temperature range 150-300 degrees C which can be attributed to t he generation of surface plasmons and Mie plasmon polaritons, respectively.