Abstract
This work aims to report a comparative study of two transparent conducting oxides, namely indium tin oxide (ITO) and aluminium-doped zinc oxide (AZO or ZnO:Al) for the excitation and propagation of surface plasmon polariton wave. Resonance curves for several thicknesses and angle of incidence have been simulated in order to study the resonant behaviour of these materials, using MATLAB. It can be shown that ZnO: Al can support plasmonic excitation by an incident electromagnetic wave of 2.5 micrometer wavelength in MID IR wavelength window. In the frequency range of interest, 200 nm or thicker AZO film gives lower value of minimum reflectivity compared to ITO film for the angle of incidence varying from 42 to 51°, other structural parameters remaining unaltered.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
F. Wooten, Optical properties of solids (Academic, San Diego, 1972)
H. Raether, Surface plasmons on Smooth and Rough Surface and on Gratings Springer, New York (1988)
P.B. Johnson, R.W. Christy, Optical constants of the noble metals. Phys. Rev. B 6, 4370–4379 (1972)
J.P. Marton, B.D. Jordan, Optical properties of aggregated metal systems: interband transitions. Phys. Rev. B 15, 1719–1727 (1977)
B. Rech, H. Wagner, Potential of amorphous silicon for solar cells. Appl. Phys. A Mater. Sci. Process. 69(2), 155–167 (1999)
M. Zeman, R.A.C.M.M. van Swaaij, J.W. Metselaar, R.E.I. Schropp, Optical modeling of a-Si:H solar cells with rough interfaces: effect of back contact and interface roughness. J. Appl. Phys. 88(11), 6436–6443 (2000)
S. Ferlauto, G.M. Ferreira, J.M. Pearce, C.R. Wronski, R.W. Collins, X. Deng, G. Ganguly, Analytical model for the optical functions of amorphous semiconductors from the near-infrared to ultraviolet: applications in thin film photovoltaics. J. Appl. Phys. 92(5), 2424–2436 (2002)
H. Brewer, S. Franzen, Calculation of the electronic and optical properties of indium Tin oxide by density functional theory. Chem. Phys. 300(1–3), 285–293 (2004)
S. Franzen, C. Rhodes, M. Cerruti, R.W. Gerber, M. Losego, J.P. Maria, D.E. Aspenes, Plasmonic phenomena in indium tin oxide and ITO-Au hybrid films. Opt. Lett. 34(18), 2867–2869 (2009)
S. Franzen, Surface plasmon polaritons and screened plasma absorption in indium Tin oxide compared to silver and gold. J. Phys. Chem. C 112(15), 6027–6032 (2008)
S.H. Brewer, S. Franzen, Optical properties of indium tin oxide and fluorine-doped tin oxide surfaces: correlation of reflectivity, skin depth, and plasmon frequency with conductivity. J. Alloys Compd. 338, 73–79 (2002)
M. D. Losego, A. Y. Efremenko, C. L. Rhodes, M. G. Cerruti, S. Franzen and J. P. Maria, Conductive oxide thin films: Model systems for understanding and controlling surface plasmon resonance. J. Appl. Phys. 106 (2), 02490 3–10 (2009)
C. Rhodes, S. Franzen, J.P. Maria, M. Losego, D. N. Leonard, B. Laughlin, G. Duscher, and S.Weibel, “Surface plasmon resonance in conducting metal oxides,” J. Appl. Phys. 100, 054905 1–4 (2006)
C. Rhodes, M. Cerruti, A. Efremenko, M. Losego, D. E. Aspnes, J.-P. Maria, and S. Franzen, “Dependence of plasmon polaritons on the thickness of indium tin oxide thin films,” J. Appl. Phys. 103 (9), 093108 1–6 (2008)
A. Solieman, M.A. Aegerter, Modeling of optical and electrical properties of In2O3: Sn coatings made by various techniques. Thin Solid Films 502(1–2), 205–211 (2006)
M. Hiramatsu, K. Imaeda, N. Horio, M. Nawata, Transparent conducting ZnO thin films prepared by XeCl excimer laser ablation. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A 16(2), 669–673 (1998)
Ikehata, T. Itoh, and Y. Ozaki, Surface plasmon resonance near-infrared spectroscopy. Anal. Chem. 76 (21), 6461–9 (2004)
M.H. Lee, Y.J. Park, S.K. Park, J.T. Kim, M.S. Kim, S. Park, J.J. Ju, 40Gbit/s light signal transmission in long-range surface Plasmon waveguides. Appl. Phys. Lett. 91(17), 171117 (2007)
F. Michelotti, L. Dominici, E. Descrovi, N. Danz, F. Menchini, Thickness dependence of surface Plasmon polariton dispersion in transparent conducting oxide films at 1.55 μm. Opt. Lett. 34(6), 839–841 (2009)
W.N. Hansen, Electric fields produced by the propagation of plane coherent electromagnetic radiation in a stratified medium. J. Opt. Soc. Am. 58(3), 380–388 (1968)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rajak, S., Ray, M. Comparative study of plasmonic resonance in transparent conducting oxides: ITO and AZO. J Opt 43, 231–238 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12596-014-0215-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12596-014-0215-8