Surface second-harmonic generation on thin Au-TiO2 cermet films

We study the second-harmonic generation (SHG) in Au-TiO2 thin cermet films. The samples are prepared by RF-sputtering technique. The gold volumic frac tion in the cermets is varied in the 3-100% (continuous gold layer) range, X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are used to characterize the samples. The Nd:YAG laser used works in a picosecond pulse regime and the SH signal is detected in reflection conf iguration at 532 no, Experiments are performed by varying the angle of inci dence and the polarization of the omega and 2 omega beams. (C) 2000 Elsevie r Science B.V. All rights reserved.