National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, RO-077125 Magurele, Romania
Bogdan Alexandru Sava
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, RO-077125 Magurele, Romania
Rares Victor Medianu
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, RO-077125 Magurele, Romania
Lucica Boroica
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, RO-077125 Magurele, Romania
Marius Catalin Dinca
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, RO-077125 Magurele, Romania
Rovena Pascu
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, RO-077125 Magurele, Romania
Nicolae Tigau
Centre of Nanostructures and Functional Materials-CNMF, Faculty of Science and Environment, “Dunărea de Jos”, University of Galati, RO-800008 Galati, Romania
Andreea Andrei
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, RO-077125 Magurele, Romania
Antoniu Moldovan
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, RO-077125 Magurele, Romania
Marius Dumitru
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, RO-077125 Magurele, Romania
Mihai Oane
National Institute for Laser, Plasma and Radiation Physics, RO-077125 Magurele, Romania
Mihai Eftimie
Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science, University Politehnica of Bucharest, RO-060042 Bucharest, Romania
The interest in ultrathin silver (Ag) films has increased due to their high surface plasmon resonance for coatings of only a few nm. Low roughness ultrathin films of 1 to 9 nm have been deposited on different substrates, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and optical glass, using radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering. Films show good surface plasmon resonance up to 7 nm thickness, as revealed by the ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectra. The roughness of the films, investigated by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), is small, and one can conclude that depositions are smooth and homogeneous. The bandgap values decrease with film thickness. The refractive index of the films, calculated from ellipsometry measurements, leads to values of under 1 visible domain, with minima in the wavelength range of 400–600 nm. The results are useful for obtaining lower roughness ultrathin Ag films with good surface plasmon resonance for photonic applications.
