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Optical Properties of Electronic Materials: Fundamentals and Characterization

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Springer Handbook of Electronic and Photonic Materials

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Abstract

Light interacts with materials in a variety of ways; this chapter focuses on refraction and absorption. Refraction is characterized by a material’s refractive index. We discuss some of the most useful models for the frequency dependence of the refractive index, such as those due to Cauchy, Sellmeier, Gladstone–Dale, and Wemple–DiDominico. Examples are given of the applicability of the models to actual materials. We present various mechanisms of light absorption, including absorption by free carriers, phonons, excitons and impurities. Special attention is paid to fundamental and excitonic absorption in disordered semiconductors and to absorption by rare earth, trivalent ions due to their importance in modern photonics. We also discuss the effect of an external electric field on absorption, and the Faraday effect. Practical techniques for determining the optical parameters of thin films are outlined. Finally, we present a short technical classification of optical glasses and materials.

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Acknowledgements

Authors are grateful to Stephen Karrer O’Leary (University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus) for many insightful discussions on the subject and his invaluable help in the first edition chapter. This work was supported by the grants LM2015082 and CZ.1.05/4.1.00/11.0251 from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports of the Czech Republic.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center of Materials and Nanotechnology, University of Pardubice, Pardubice, Czech Republic

    Jan Mistrik

  2. University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

    Safa Kasap

  3. Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, and Edward Rogers Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Harry E. Ruda

  4. Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

    Cyril Koughia

  5. School of Engineerng and Information Technology, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia

    Jai Singh

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  1. Jan Mistrik
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  2. Safa Kasap
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  3. Harry E. Ruda
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  4. Cyril Koughia
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  5. Jai Singh
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Correspondence to Jan Mistrik .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

    Safa Kasap

  2. Formerly with Leonardo MW Ltd, Southampton, UK

    Peter Capper

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Mistrik, J., Kasap, S., Ruda, H.E., Koughia, C., Singh, J. (2017). Optical Properties of Electronic Materials: Fundamentals and Characterization. In: Kasap, S., Capper, P. (eds) Springer Handbook of Electronic and Photonic Materials. Springer Handbooks. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48933-9_3

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