title: Infrared surface plasmon resonance of AZO-Ag-AZO sandwich thin films.
abstract: Near-infrared surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectra were collected of thin multilayer films of aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO) / silver (Ag) / AZO on BK-7 glass in the Kretschmann configuration in air, with the silver layer thickness varying from 5 nm to 50 nm. The SPR results were interpreted by modeling the reflectance with a five-layer transfer-matrix method, with the aid of a simplex algorithm. The model indicated that the Ag plasma frequency was significantly higher than the bulk value, possibly due to Schottky effect charge transfer from the AZO to the Ag layer. Continuous silver films were made as thin as 10 nm, indicating an inhibition of metal island formation for Ag deposited on AZO.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, North Carolina State University, 2620 Yarbrough Drive, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8204, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Guske
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Welsh
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Franzen
mesh_terms: D008027:Light; D008422:Materials Testing; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000379:methods*; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012834:Silver; D015034:Zinc Oxide