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Effects of Different Wetting Layers on the Growth of Smooth Ultra-thin Silver Thin Films

Ni, Chuan
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1405688534

Abstract Details

2014, Master of Science (M.S.), University of Dayton, Electro-Optics.
Ultra-thin silver films (thickness below 10 nm) are of great interest as optical coatings in low emissive windows and plasmonic devices. However, producing these films has been a continuing challenge because of their tendency to form clusters rather than smooth contiguous thin films. In this work we have studied the effects of Cu, Ge and ZnS as wetting layers to achieve ultra-smooth ultra-thin silver films. The silver films (5 nm) were grown by RF sputter deposition on silicon and glass substrates using a few monolayers of the different wetting materials. SEM imaging was used to characterize the surface properties such as island formation and roughness of the films. And the optical properties, such as reflection and transmission, were measured to identify the optical impact of the different wetting layers. Then, a multi-layer silver based structure, low emissive coating was designed. The low emissive coating combines high transmittance over most visible spectrum and high reflectance over infrared spectrum. Such kind of coating is utilized as highly transparent in the visible and heat-reflective coating for the purpose of energy saving. The designed coatings were fabricated and their performances were evaluated. The comparison between the samples with different wetting layers shows that the designs with Cu wetting layer which has similar optical properties to silver produces the best overall performance. In the absence of a wetting layer, the measured optical spectra shows a significant departure from the model prediction, which we attribute primarily to the formation of silver film clusters.
Andrew Sarangan (Advisor)
Joseph Haus (Committee Member)
Imad Agha (Committee Member)
65 p.
Nanotechnology; Optics
ultra-thin film; Ag film; wetting layer; low emissive coating

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ni, C. (2014). Effects of Different Wetting Layers on the Growth of Smooth Ultra-thin Silver Thin Films [Master's thesis, University of Dayton]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1405688534

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ni, Chuan. Effects of Different Wetting Layers on the Growth of Smooth Ultra-thin Silver Thin Films. 2014. University of Dayton, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1405688534.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ni, Chuan. "Effects of Different Wetting Layers on the Growth of Smooth Ultra-thin Silver Thin Films." Master's thesis, University of Dayton, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=dayton1405688534

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

dayton1405688534
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© 2014, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Dayton and OhioLINK.