Plasmonic excitations in ZnO/Ag/ZnO multilayer systems: Insight into interface and bulk electronic properties

Journal Article · Tue Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Journal of Applied Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3565047· OSTI ID:21538169

Philipp, Martin; Knupfer, Martin; Buechner, Bernd ^[1]; Gerardin, Hadia ^[2]

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1. Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research, IFW Dresden, Helmholtzstrasse 20, 01069 Dresden (Germany)
2. Saint-Gobain Recherche, 93303 Aubervilliers Cedex (France)

Electron energy-loss spectroscopy experiments in transmission were carried out on silver-based multi-layer systems, consisting of a silver layer of various thicknesses (8, 10 and 50 nm) sandwiched between two Al-doped ZnO layers. The films were produced by magnetron sputtering using potassium bromide single crystals as substrates. The electronic structure of these systems was probed and analyzed with respect to their plasmonic excitations, which can be basically split up into excitations of the electrons in the bulk silver and excitations at the ZnO:Al/Ag interface. A detailed examination of the momentum dependence of the plasmon peaks revealed a positive dispersion for both, the volume and the interface plasmon, where only for the first one a quadratic behavior (as expected for a free electron gas) could be observed. Furthermore, the peak width was analyzed and set into relation to electrical conductivity measurements by calculating the plasmon lifetime and the electron scattering rate. Here, a good agreement between these different methods was obtained.

• OSTI ID: 21538169
• Journal Information: Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 109, Issue 6; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3565047; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0021-8979
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALUMINIUM ADDITIONS
DEPOSITION
DISPERSIONS
DOPED MATERIALS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRON GAS
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE
ENERGY-LOSS SPECTROSCOPY
EXCITATION
FILMS
MAGNETRONS
MONOCRYSTALS
POTASSIUM BROMIDES
SCATTERING
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIALS
SILVER
SPUTTERING
SUBSTRATES
TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS
ZINC OXIDES
ALKALI METAL COMPOUNDS
ALLOYS
ALUMINIUM ALLOYS
BROMIDES
BROMINE COMPOUNDS
CHALCOGENIDES
CRYSTALS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
ELECTRON TUBES
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
ELEMENTS
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
EQUIPMENT
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
MATERIALS
METALS
MICROWAVE EQUIPMENT
MICROWAVE TUBES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POTASSIUM COMPOUNDS
PROTEINS
SPECTROSCOPY
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
ZINC COMPOUNDS