Thin films of nanostructured noble metals

Abstract

The optical characterisation of nanostructured noble metal films is discussed. A good description of the optical response of a 2D layer of identical metal particles on a support is obtained with the so-called Thin Island Film theory, which is based on the polarisability of an individual nanoparticle. The influence of particle shape, density, and the optical properties of both the support and the surrounding ambient is discussed as well as the ability of the commonly used Maxwell Garnett approximation to model these films. The possibilities and limits of this approach is illustrated with several examples. A short outlook towards the ellipsometric analysis of metamaterials is given.