No abstract

We present data on the NIWVIS/UV optical constants of thin composite layers. built up from a copper phthalocyanine matrix with embedded metal clusters.The metal clusters (copper, gold and silver) have diameters on a nanometre scale and act as strong absorption centres. In particular, local plasmon resonances and metal interband transitions could be obselved from a fit of the experimentally determined dielectric functions by means of a Lorentzian multi-oscillator model Average dipole transition matrix elements with respect to a single metal cluster have been estimated from the oscillator parameters.

Copper island films have been prepared by thermal evaporation in vacuum and characterized by in situ as well as ex situ spectrophotometry. The parallel investigation of the island morphology by means of transmission electron microscopy allowed us to establish a clear correlation between film structure and optical properties. The effective optical constants of the copper island films could be determined by means of a fit of their ex situ transmission and reflection spectra. The effective optical constants have been used for designing and preparing optical multilayer coatings applicable for attenuator or color filter specifications. Measured characteristics of the multilayer coatings are in very good agreement with the calculated spectra.

Aluminum layers protected with fluoride coatings have been deposited by evaporation and characterized with respect to their suitability as vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) mirrors. Optical characterization has been performed by spectrophotometry, while the surface quality of the layers has been judged by means of x ray reflection, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. In particular, protection with aluminum fluoride results in superior VUV reflection properties. VUV reflectance values between 80% and nearly 90% have been verified even two years after deposition and exposure to the atmosphere.

We present data on the optical constants of thin molecular films formed from phthalocyanines and fullerenes obtained by means of thin film spectrophotometry. On the basis of the optical constants, the oscillator strength values for the relevant electronic transitions could be calculated. For phthalocyanines, our data agree well with Henriksson and co-workers' theoretical predictions.