Strategies to control the spectral properties of Au-Ni thin films

Authors

David J. McPherson, University of Technology, Sydney
Supitcha Supansomboon, University of Technology, Sydney
Benjamin Zwan, University of Newcastle
Vicki J. Keast, University of Newcastle
David Laurence Cortie, University of WollongongFollow
Angus Gentle, University of Technology, Sydney
Annette Dowd, University of Technology, Sydney
Michael B. Cortie, University of Technology, Sydney

RIS ID

87193

Publication Details

McPherson, D. J., Supansomboon, S., Zwan, B., Keast, V. J., Cortie, D. L., Gentle, A., Dowd, A. & Cortie, M. B. (2014). Strategies to control the spectral properties of Au-Ni thin films. Thin Solid Films, 551 200-204.

Abstract

Gold and nickel have quite different dielectric functions. Here we use a combination of calculation and sample manufacture to assess two strategies by which thin films of these elements can be produced with a controlled range of far-field optical properties. In the first approach, control can be achieved by manipulating the density of states of metastable solid solutions, which in turn controls the dielectric function. In the second approach the optical properties of the films are controlled by varying the geometry of stacks fabricated from the constituent elements. We show that the two approaches can produce equivalent results so both are viable options in practice. Modeling is used to reveal how the structure controls the optical properties and to map out the possible color gamut. Predictions are tested with thin film samples fabricated by magnetron sputtering.