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Silver nanoparticles were prepared on glass substrates at room temperature using four different deposition times (10, 15, 20, and 25 minutes). The dc magnetron sputtering technique is used to prepare the surface, with thicknesses of (30, 40, 50, and 60) nm, respectively. The effect of deposition times on the microstructure and morphology of the surface of deposited thin films was examined. Moreover, X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and atomic force microscopy were used to examine the structural properties and morphological characterization of sputtered films. Parameters such as crystallite size are also measured. The research indicates that the XRD pattern has a polycrystalline structure with a preference for orientation along the (111) axis. The AFM images confirmed that the thin films shaped uniformly distributed spherical particles (in terms of size). Finally, increasing the film thickness causes the average surface roughness of the films to increase between (2.6-11.6) nm.

The production of a high-sensitivity surface Plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor depends on a few main factors, such as metal thin film types and thicknesses, light coupling techniques and acceptable EM wave polarization modes. This work is carried out to investigate the impact on the SPR characteristics of noble metal thicknesses, namely gold and silver, for optical sensor applications. To excite surface Plasmon polaritons (SPP), a Kretschmann prism coupling was used. The thicknesses of noble metal thin films were varied between t=30nm and 60nm. The characteristics of SPR peaks such as Q-factor and FWHM were studied in SPR signal analyses. In comparison with silver, Q-factor results showed an outstanding optical property of gold at t= 40 nm due to its high Q-factor values, which confirms its ability to produce excellent SPP quantities. In conclusion, gold noble metal at t= 40nm is capable of producing optimum SPR. In the development of the highly sensitive SPR sensor, this excellent criterion put gold as a spectacular candidate for optical sensor applications.