Electron energy loss spectroscopy of plasmon resonances in titanium nitride thin films

Journal Article · Mon Apr 25 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4947442· OSTI ID:22591627

Guler, Urcan ^[1]; Zhou, Xiuli; Norris, Theodore B. ^[2]; Boltasseva, Alexandra; Shalaev, Vladimir ^[1]

---

1. School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907 (United States)
2. Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (United States)

The plasmon resonance characteristics of refractory TiN thin films were analyzed using electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS). A bulk plasmon resonance was observed at 2.81 eV and a weaker surface plasmon resonance peak was detected at 2.05 eV. These findings are compared to finite-difference time-domain simulations based on measured optical data. The calculated values for both the bulk and surface resonances (2.74 eV and 2.15 eV, respectively) show reasonable agreement with those measured via EELS. The amplitude of the experimentally observed surface resonance was weaker than that typically encountered in noble metal nanostructures, and this is discussed in the context of electron density and reduced spatial confinement of the resonance mode in the thin-film geometry.

• OSTI ID: 22591627
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 108, Issue 17; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AMPLITUDES
ELECTRON DENSITY
ENERGY-LOSS SPECTROSCOPY
NANOSTRUCTURES
PEAKS
PLASMONS
REFRACTORIES
SIMULATION
SURFACES
THIN FILMS
TITANIUM NITRIDES