mcpeak_2015#
K. M. McPeak, S. V. Jayanti, S. J. P. Kress, S. Meyer, S. Iotti, A. Rossinelli and D. J. Norris, “Plasmonic films can easily be better: rules and recipes”, ACS Photonics 2, 326-333 (2015)
Source record · Catalogue · Review register
DOI: 10.1021/ph5004237
Source kind: measurement
Recorded technique: Variable-angle spectroscopic ellipsometry (J. A. Woollam) of 300 nm films of Al, Cu, Au and Ag thermally evaporated at room temperature onto native-oxide Si(100) wafers (Kurt J. Lesker Nano36, 30 cm source distance, tungsten dimple boats) and template-stripped (soda-lime counter-substrate, Norland NOA61 epoxy) immediately before measurement under flowing N2. V-VASE for Cu, Au and Ag (and the 5 A/s Al film): psi and delta every 10 nm from 400 to 1750 nm at 65, 70 and 75 deg; VUV-VASE for the Al recipe film (and the 150 A/s film of Fig. 5): every 5 nm from 150 to 1700 nm at 65, 70 and 75 deg. The dielectric function from the two-phase (substrate-ambient) model point by point; for Al an aluminium-oxide top layer was added, its thickness fitted point by point (Supporting Information, PDF pp. 1-2).
Materials in structured entries: Ag, Al, Au, Cu
Dataset quantities: permittivity_imaginary, permittivity_real
Contents: 8 datasets; 0 formulas.
Curation notes#
Main article PDF pages 1-19 (a manuscript layout; figures and Table 1 after the references) and Supporting Information (original/source_02, 10 pages). Identity checked against the first page. The paper and the library’s Supporting Information PDF print the optical constants in figures only; the numbers come from the Supporting Information’s data files (below).
THE DATA FILES. ‘Digital files containing the actual data points are provided in the Supporting Information’ (main text, PDF pp. 7-8, of Fig. 4). The library’s copy of the Supporting Information is its PDF (ph5004237_si_001); the two data files (obtained 2026-09-28) are attached to the paper in the library, with their SHA-256: ph5004237_si_002.txt, ‘Optical Data for template stripped Silver, Gold and Copper’ (Optical Materials Engineering Laboratory, ETH Zurich, January 2015), wavelength (nm) and e1, e2 of Ag, Au and Cu, 300-1700 nm every 10 nm (141 rows); ph5004237_si_003.txt, ‘Optical Data for template stripped Aluminum’, wavelength (nm), e1, e2, 200-1700 nm every 5 nm, 287 rows (1360-1425 nm are absent: the file jumps from 1355 to 1430 nm). The files do not name the recipe, but they are the data of Fig. 4 (‘Digital files ... of Fig. 4’; the Fig. 4 curves start at 300 nm for Cu, Au and Ag and at 200 nm for Al, as the files do), i.e. the recipe films (Fig. 2 conditions; below). Extracted as permittivity_real and permittivity_imaginary per metal (datasets eps1_*, eps2_*), use = primary, form = film. No uncertainty is stated. Whether the files are smoothed is not stated: the Fig. 4 caption says the plotted film data ‘were smoothed with a five-point moving average’. The wavelength is presumably in vacuum (ellipsometry; not stated).
MEASURED RANGE AGAINST THE FILES. The SI (PDF p. 2): the V-VASE (Cu, Au, Ag) took psi and Delta every 10 nm from 400 to 1750 nm, the VUV-VASE (the Al recipe film) every 5 nm from 150 to 1700 nm, at 65, 70 and 75 deg. The Ag, Au and Cu files run 300-1700 nm: their first ten rows, 300-390 nm, lie OUTSIDE the stated measured range (and Fig. 4 plots them); 1710-1750 nm, measured, are not in the file. The Al file (200-1700 nm) lies inside the VUV-VASE range; 150-195 nm, measured, are not in the file (the refractiveindex.info Al/McPeak page, which solprop uses, starts at 150 nm: its source for 150-195 nm is not these files). The rows outside the stated range are kept, not excluded: the decision is left to review.
COMPARISONS (2026-09-28; the files’ epsilon against other curated data at the same wavelength, interpolated). REFRACTIVEINDEX.INFO: solprop’s aluminium table (the database’s Al/McPeak page, 0.15-1.7 um) equals this Al file converted to n, k at all 287 of its wavelengths (to 4e-9 relative); its ten rows at 150-195 nm are not in the file (their source is not stated in solprop’s header). ALUMINIUM against ordal_1988 (Shiles et al.’s data, bulk) where they overlap, 667-1700 nm: the film’s |epsilon| is 22-25 % smaller (e.g. 1550 nm: -197.9 + 38.1i against -258.6 + 47.5i; n, k = 1.35, 14.13 against 1.47, 16.15; 800 nm, the interband peak: -51.0 + 35.7i against -65.6 + 46.4i). SILVER, GOLD, COPPER against babar_2015 Table 1 (single crystals): Ag epsilon_1 within 3 % at 400-1000 nm (-4.50 against -4.57 at 400 nm; -52.6 against -51.5 at 1000 nm) and 4-5 % larger in magnitude at 1550-1700 nm, epsilon_2 lower at 400-500 nm (0.19-0.26 against 0.23-0.32) and higher above 800 nm (1.28 against 1.00 at 1000 nm); Au |epsilon_1| 15-18 % larger at 650-1700 nm (-126.8 against -107.2 at 1550 nm) and epsilon_2 larger by 20-70 %; Cu epsilon_1 within 2.5 % at 650-1700 nm, epsilon_2 higher (1.66 against 1.08 at 1000 nm). At 300 nm (outside the stated measured range) Ag epsilon = 1.77 + 3.20i against Table 1’s 1.09 + 2.70i.
THE FILMS (recipes, pp. 11-13; Fig. 2 caption): all 300 nm, room temperature, base pressure 3e-8 Torr unless stated, template-stripped surfaces (RMS roughness from AFM, Fig. S4). Ag: 99.99 % pellets, 50 A/s, 0.37 nm RMS (also 3e-7 Torr at 150 A/s, 0.30 nm, similar or better; Fig. S5). Cu: 99.99 %, 35 A/s (the fastest the boat allowed), 0.25 nm (3e-7 Torr at 25 A/s essentially the same; Fig. S6). Au: 99.999 %, 10 A/s, 0.30 nm (2e-6 Torr at 0.5 A/s marginally worse in the visible, marginally better in the IR, 0.4 nm; Fig. S7). Al: 99.999 %, ~150 A/s (1e-6 Torr or below), 0.58 nm (400 A/s gave 0.8 nm and no better optics; 1-5 A/s films were much worse and could not be template-stripped; Fig. 5). Grain sizes 500 nm to 1 um (p. 3).
FIGURES (not digitised). Fig. 4a,b: epsilon_1 and epsilon_2 of the four recipe films against wavelength with Palik (Cu, Au, Ag) and Rakic (Al); Fig. 4c,d: the quality factors Q_LSPR and Q_SPP. Fig. 5: Al at 5 and 150 A/s. Figs. S1 (Ag at 1, 5, 25 A/s), S2 (the recipe films against Johnson and Christy), S5-S7 (Ag, Cu, Au at other pressures and rates): epsilon_1, epsilon_2 and the quality factors; the film data in the S figures are ‘smoothed with a five-point moving average’. The text: the recipe films’ epsilon_1 of Cu, Au and Ag ‘agree well with Palik’ while epsilon_2 is ‘significantly better’ (lower loss); Al is ‘very similar to’ Rakic (p. 8).
TABLE 1 (tbl_2931e67349ea, PDF p. 17; image checked, the library merges the three metals’ cells per wavelength): the percentage increase of the figures of merit over Palik (Cu, Au, Ag) or Rakic (Al), and the SPP propagation length of the recipe films. 280 nm, Al: Q_LSPR +11 %, Q_SPP -12 %, L_SPP 2.5 um. 650 nm: Ag 200, 250 %, 84 um; Cu 120, 130 %, 24 um; Au 32, 38 %, 20 um. 1000 nm: Ag 160, 200 %, 340 um; Cu 100, 93 %, 190 um; Au 51, 61 %, 190 um. 1550 nm: Ag 270, 480 %, 1200 um; Cu 140, 120 %, 820 um; Au 81, 95 %, 730 um. These are derived figures of merit, with no quantity.
Recorded bibliographic identity status: VALIDATED_WITH_WARNINGS. This concerns identification of the source; it does not establish the scientific correctness of its contents.
Datasets#
mcpeak_2015/eps1_Ag#
{
"id": "eps1_Ag",
"material": "Ag",
"file": "Ag/mcpeak_2015__eps1_Ag.csv",
"table": "data/ph5004237_si_002.txt",
"quantity": "permittivity_real",
"abscissa_unit": "nm",
"use": "primary",
"parameters": {
"form": "film",
"technique": "spectroscopic ellipsometry (V-VASE), two-phase model"
}
}
Supporting Information data file ph5004237_si_002.txt: epsilon_1 of the template-stripped Ag recipe film (99.99 % Ag, 50 A/s at 3e-8 Torr, 0.37 nm RMS; 300 nm thick), 300-1700 nm, 141 rows, as printed; the rows 300-390 nm lie outside the stated V-VASE range (400-1750 nm).
mcpeak_2015/eps2_Ag#
{
"id": "eps2_Ag",
"material": "Ag",
"file": "Ag/mcpeak_2015__eps2_Ag.csv",
"table": "data/ph5004237_si_002.txt",
"quantity": "permittivity_imaginary",
"abscissa_unit": "nm",
"use": "primary",
"parameters": {
"form": "film",
"technique": "spectroscopic ellipsometry (V-VASE), two-phase model"
}
}
Supporting Information data file ph5004237_si_002.txt: epsilon_2 of the template-stripped Ag recipe film (99.99 % Ag, 50 A/s at 3e-8 Torr, 0.37 nm RMS; 300 nm thick), 300-1700 nm, 141 rows, as printed; the rows 300-390 nm lie outside the stated V-VASE range (400-1750 nm).
mcpeak_2015/eps1_Au#
{
"id": "eps1_Au",
"material": "Au",
"file": "Au/mcpeak_2015__eps1_Au.csv",
"table": "data/ph5004237_si_002.txt",
"quantity": "permittivity_real",
"abscissa_unit": "nm",
"use": "primary",
"parameters": {
"form": "film",
"technique": "spectroscopic ellipsometry (V-VASE), two-phase model"
}
}
Supporting Information data file ph5004237_si_002.txt: epsilon_1 of the template-stripped Au recipe film (99.999 % Au, 10 A/s at 3e-8 Torr, 0.30 nm RMS; 300 nm thick), 300-1700 nm, 141 rows, as printed; the rows 300-390 nm lie outside the stated V-VASE range (400-1750 nm).
mcpeak_2015/eps2_Au#
{
"id": "eps2_Au",
"material": "Au",
"file": "Au/mcpeak_2015__eps2_Au.csv",
"table": "data/ph5004237_si_002.txt",
"quantity": "permittivity_imaginary",
"abscissa_unit": "nm",
"use": "primary",
"parameters": {
"form": "film",
"technique": "spectroscopic ellipsometry (V-VASE), two-phase model"
}
}
Supporting Information data file ph5004237_si_002.txt: epsilon_2 of the template-stripped Au recipe film (99.999 % Au, 10 A/s at 3e-8 Torr, 0.30 nm RMS; 300 nm thick), 300-1700 nm, 141 rows, as printed; the rows 300-390 nm lie outside the stated V-VASE range (400-1750 nm).
mcpeak_2015/eps1_Cu#
{
"id": "eps1_Cu",
"material": "Cu",
"file": "Cu/mcpeak_2015__eps1_Cu.csv",
"table": "data/ph5004237_si_002.txt",
"quantity": "permittivity_real",
"abscissa_unit": "nm",
"use": "primary",
"parameters": {
"form": "film",
"technique": "spectroscopic ellipsometry (V-VASE), two-phase model"
}
}
Supporting Information data file ph5004237_si_002.txt: epsilon_1 of the template-stripped Cu recipe film (99.99 % Cu, 35 A/s at 3e-8 Torr, 0.25 nm RMS; 300 nm thick), 300-1700 nm, 141 rows, as printed; the rows 300-390 nm lie outside the stated V-VASE range (400-1750 nm).
mcpeak_2015/eps2_Cu#
{
"id": "eps2_Cu",
"material": "Cu",
"file": "Cu/mcpeak_2015__eps2_Cu.csv",
"table": "data/ph5004237_si_002.txt",
"quantity": "permittivity_imaginary",
"abscissa_unit": "nm",
"use": "primary",
"parameters": {
"form": "film",
"technique": "spectroscopic ellipsometry (V-VASE), two-phase model"
}
}
Supporting Information data file ph5004237_si_002.txt: epsilon_2 of the template-stripped Cu recipe film (99.99 % Cu, 35 A/s at 3e-8 Torr, 0.25 nm RMS; 300 nm thick), 300-1700 nm, 141 rows, as printed; the rows 300-390 nm lie outside the stated V-VASE range (400-1750 nm).
mcpeak_2015/eps1_Al#
{
"id": "eps1_Al",
"material": "Al",
"file": "Al/mcpeak_2015__eps1_Al.csv",
"table": "data/ph5004237_si_003.txt",
"quantity": "permittivity_real",
"abscissa_unit": "nm",
"use": "primary",
"parameters": {
"form": "film",
"technique": "spectroscopic ellipsometry (VUV-VASE), two-phase model"
}
}
Supporting Information data file ph5004237_si_003.txt: epsilon_1 of the template-stripped Al recipe film (99.999 % Al, ~150 A/s at 1e-6 Torr or below, 0.58 nm RMS; the model included an aluminium-oxide top layer; 300 nm thick), 200-1700 nm, 287 rows, as printed; all rows inside the stated VUV-VASE range (150-1700 nm); 1360-1425 nm absent.
mcpeak_2015/eps2_Al#
{
"id": "eps2_Al",
"material": "Al",
"file": "Al/mcpeak_2015__eps2_Al.csv",
"table": "data/ph5004237_si_003.txt",
"quantity": "permittivity_imaginary",
"abscissa_unit": "nm",
"use": "primary",
"parameters": {
"form": "film",
"technique": "spectroscopic ellipsometry (VUV-VASE), two-phase model"
}
}
Supporting Information data file ph5004237_si_003.txt: epsilon_2 of the template-stripped Al recipe film (99.999 % Al, ~150 A/s at 1e-6 Torr or below, 0.58 nm RMS; the model included an aluminium-oxide top layer; 300 nm thick), 200-1700 nm, 287 rows, as printed; all rows inside the stated VUV-VASE range (150-1700 nm); 1360-1425 nm absent.
Formulas#
No formulas are recorded.
Corrections#
No dataset errata are recorded in this source record.
Formula corrections, where recorded, appear with their formulas above. Curation notes may also discuss corrections or unresolved interpretation. Consult the review register for the checks and decisions.