Novel properties of light transmission in multilayer stacks of air/silver

thin lms
Arturo Robledo-Martinez

, Juan Carlos Sandoval, P. Pereyra

Division CBI, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Ave. S. Pablo 180, 02200 Mexico City, Mexico
a r t i c l e i n f o
Available online 24 January 2009
Keywords:
Multilayer structures
Thin-lm optics
a b s t r a c t
The transfer matrix method was used to calculate the transmission of electromagnetic waves through
alternate layers of thin silver lms separated by air. It was found that the plasma frequency is a clear
divide between good and poor transmission. Equally the calculations show that for frequencies above
the plasma frequency the transmission coefcient shows a Bragg-like behavior with oscillations that
manifest coherent reections on the entrance side of the layer at favored wavelengths.
& 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
The transfer matrix method (TMM) is a powerful technique for
calculating transmission through complex structures and is
especially suited for highly repetitive structures such as multi-
layer systems [1]. In the present work we use it to calculate the
transmission of light through alternate thin layers of air and silver
of equal width.
The TMM method is based on the fulllment of continuity
conditions at the interfaces. In this approach, the reection and
transmission amplitudes r and t of a single or a multilayer or a
nite periodic system are given by extremely simple relations. In
fact, if we have a lossless superlattice structure with a single-cell
transfer matrix M given by
Ml
c
; 0
a b
g d
!
, (1)
M
n
nl
c
; 0
a
n
b
n
g
n
d
n
!

U
n
a

U
n1
bU
n1
b

U
n1
U
n
aU
n1
!
(2)
with t
n
1=a

n
. For the calculations we employed a complex
permittivity 1 w, where w is the complex electric suscept-
ibility that is a function of the frequency given by [2]
w
o
2
p
o
1
1 iot
1
, (3)
where o
p
is the plasma frequency and t is the relaxation time.
The conductivity s is also a complex number that varies with
frequency as follows:
s

0
o
2
p
t
1 iot
. (4)
2. Numerical results
2.1. Single-layer calculations
Fig 1 shows the calculated transmittance T for a single layer of
silver having a width d that is sandwiched between two identical
layers of air of thickness d=2 each. The transmittance as a function
of frequency was calculated for different thickness of the metallic
layer. The graph shows that as the thickness is increased the point
where transmission begins is displaced further to higher frequen-
cies. Above the plasma frequency 5:7 10
15
rad=s the transmis-
sion is good for all layer thickness. It is also evident that for the
200-nm thickness when the wavelength of the incident light is
comparable to the thickness of the metallic layer, Bragg-like
structures appear in the transmission characteristics. The results
obtained for a single cell as a function of the angle of incidence are
shown in Fig. 2. To compute it, the thickness of the silver lm d
was kept at 50nm while the frequency was set at two different
values: (a) 9 10
15
rad=s and (b) 1 10
15
rad=s. The graphs show
that for a frequency of incident light that is above the plasma
frequency there is good transmission for angles up to 60

and
afterwards it diminishes at a steady pace. For ooo
p
, on the
contrary, transmission is poor throughout the range but it
experiences a boost at around y 80

.
Above the plasma frequency transmission is very good.
However it is desirable to investigate concurrently the effect of
the cell thickness and the angle of incidence (measured from the
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Microelectronics Journal
0026-2692/$ - see front matter & 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.mejo.2008.11.047

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: arm@correo.azc.uam.mx (A. Robledo-Martinez).
Microelectronics Journal 40 (2009) 788790
normal to the surface) on the transmittance. Fig. 3 shows the
results obtained for three different thicknesses of the layers for
xed frequency 9 10
15
rad=s). The graphs show that starting
from normal incidence transmission is fairly constant until the
curve reaches a knee whose position is related to the layer
thickness whereupon the transmission drops quickly. It is evident
that if structures like those in Fig. 3 are used as UV lters all
thicknesses are good for normal incidence but care has to be taken
for incidence at higher angles. If an all-angle UV blocking is
required, then the silver layer must not be several hundred
nanometer thick.
The transmittance as a function of silver-layer thickness d for a
single cell was calculated at four different, xed frequencies of the
incident light. The results obtained are shown in Fig. 4. The curves
in the gure show that for the frequency o 5:7 10
15
rad=s
which is below the plasma frequency 5:7 10
15
rad=s the
transmission decreases monotonically with an increasing layer
thickness. The same happens when the frequency is equal to
the plasma frequency. The decrement is attributed to losses in the
absorbing medium. At frequencies above o
p
however the
transmission increases and exhibits Bragg-like oscillations with
a minimum that correspond to coherent, increased reectance on
the input face.
2.2. Multilayer
The transmittances as a function of the silver-layer thickness
for a 2-cell conguration are shown in Fig. 5. In this case the
calculations were performed at three different xed frequencies.
Here the same rapid attenuation at frequencies belowo
p
obtained
for Fig. 4 is also observed. For frequencies above the plasma
frequency the transmission is again increased and exhibits a
Bragg-like behavior. For o 7 10
15
rad=s the oscillations in
T contain a double frequency: one attributable to the reection in
the left-hand side of the rst layer and the other to a reection on
the far side of the second layer.
Fig. 6 shows the results obtained in calculating T for a system
consisting of ve cells under normal incidence and at the xed
frequency of 9 10
15
rad=s. The calculations were carried out for
three different values of d. As in Fig. 2 it is observed that
increasing the angle of incidence increases the transmittance
which for both d 10 and 50nm reaches their maxima at y 62

.
For the 100nm thickness the marked dip observed at y 47

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1E14
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
50 nm
10 nm
200 nm
100 nm
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
t
a
n
c
e
(rad/s)
1E15 1E16
Fig. 1. Transmittance for one layer of variable thickness. Normal incidence.
0
0.00
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
t
t
a
n
c
e

(
p
.

u
.
)
Angle (degrees)
0
0.00
0.25
0.50
0.75
1.00
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
t
t
a
n
c
e

(
p
.

u
.
)
>
p
20 40 60 80
20 40 60 80
<
p
Fig. 2. Transmittance as a function of the angle of incidence for one layer of
thickness d 50nm. (a) Fixed frequency: 9 10
15
rad=s and (b) xed frequency:
1 10
15
rad=s.
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
t
t
a
n
c
e

(
p
.

u
.
)
Incidence angle (degrees)
10 nm
50 nm 100 nm
20 40 60 80
Fig. 3. Transmittance for one layer of variable thickness under normal incidence.
Fixed frequency: 9 10
15
rad=s.
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
5.9x10
15
6x10
15
5.75x10
15
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
t
t
a
n
c
e

(
p
.

u
.
)
d (nm)
5x10
15
200 400 600 800 1000
Fig. 4. Transmittance as function of d at four different frequencies. Single layer.
Normal incidence.
A. Robledo-Martinez et al. / Microelectronics Journal 40 (2009) 788790 789
cannot be attributed to a Bragg reection as 2d sin43

136nm
which is well below the 209 nm wavelength of the incident light.
One plausible explanation for the through in T could be the
presence of a surface plasmon; silver is known to exhibit this type
of phenomenon in the neighborhood of y 42:5

[3].
The calculated transmittance for ve identical layers under
normal incidence is shown in Fig. 7. Each curve was obtained
using a different value of d (indicated in the inset). For thickness
10nm there is transmission belowthe plasma frequency; in fact at
o o
p
it is already 23%. As the thickness of the layers is increased
the transmission begins at ever higher frequencies but the
T curves eventually merge with that of 10nm. For 50 nm
the sharp fall observed at 9:96 10
15
rad=s corresponds to a
second order Bragg reection at the entrance side. The plot for
d 100nm also shows Bragg oscillations.
When the calculations with the conditions used in Fig. 7 were
repeated for an incidence angle of 301 the results obtained are
shown in Fig. 8. For d 10nm the effect of the plasma frequency
that was absent in Fig. 7 can now be clearly seen in the sharp
dip in the transmittance at o o
p
. For d 50nm on the contrary,
the sharp dip seen at o 1 10
16
rad=s has disappeared.
For d 10nm the T graph recovers after the dip and retains the
overall shape observed for y 0

.
3. Conclusions
Using the TMM and the theory of nite periodic systems, it was
possible to study the transmission of electromagnetic waves
through multilayer stacks of air/silver thin lms. We found that
the plasma frequency is a clear divide between good and poor
transmission. The calculations show that for frequencies above
the plasma frequency the transmission coefcients present a
Bragg-like behavior with oscillations that obey coherent reec-
tions on the entrance side of the layer at favored wavelengths.
References
[1] P. Pereyra, J. Phys. A Math. Gen. 31 (1998) 4521.
[2] J.P. Pe rez, R. Carles, R. Fleckinger, E

lectromagnetisme: Fondements et
Applications, 4th ed., Dunod, Paris, 2002.
[3] H.J. Simon, D.E. Mitchell, J.G. Watson, Am. J. Phys. 43 (1975) 630.
ARTICLE IN PRESS
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
6x10
15
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
t
t
a
n
c
e

(
p
.

u
.
)
d (nm)
5x10
15
7x10
15
200 400 600 800 1000
Fig. 5. Transmittance as function of d for two cells. Normal incidence.
0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
T
r
a
n
s
m
i
t
t
a
n
c
e

(
p
.

u
.
)
Incidence angle (degrees)
10 nm
50 nm
100 nm
= 9x10
15
20 40 60 80
Fig. 6. Transmittance as a function of angle of incidence for a ve layer system
having thickness d. Fixed frequency: o 9 10
15
rad=s.
1E15
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
T
r
a
n
s
i
t
t
a
n
c
e

(
p
.

u
.
)
d = 10 nm
d = 50 nm
d = 10 0nm
(rad/s)
1E16
Fig. 7. Transmittance for ve layers of thickness d. Normal incidence.
1E16 1E15
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
T
r
a
s
n
m
i
t
t
a
n
c
e

(
p
.

u
.
)
10 nm
50 nm
100 nm
(rad/s)
Fig. 8. Transmittance for ve layers of equal thickness d. Incident angle y 30

.
A. Robledo-Martinez et al. / Microelectronics Journal 40 (2009) 788790 790