Black metal thin films by deposition on dielectric antireflective moth-eye nanostructures

32Citations
Citations of this article
51Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

Although metals are commonly shiny and highly reflective, we here show that thin metal films appear black when deposited on a dielectric with antireflective moth-eye nanostructures. The nanostructures were tapered and close-packed, with heights in the range 300-600â €‰nm, and a lateral, spatial frequency in the range 5-7â €‰Î 1/4m â '1. A reflectance in the visible spectrum as low as 6%, and an absorbance of 90% was observed for an Al film of 100â €‰nm thickness. Corresponding experiments on a planar film yielded 80% reflectance and 20% absorbance. The observed absorbance enhancement is attributed to a gradient effect causing the metal film to be antireflective, analogous to the mechanism in dielectrics and semiconductors. We find that the investigated nanostructures have too large spatial frequency to facilitate efficient coupling to the otherwise non-radiating surface plasmons. Applications for decoration and displays are discussed.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Christiansen, A. B., Caringal, G. P., Clausen, J. S., Grajower, M., Taha, H., Levy, U., … Kristensen, A. (2015). Black metal thin films by deposition on dielectric antireflective moth-eye nanostructures. Scientific Reports, 5. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep10563

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free