• Milestone

Optical Constants of the Noble Metals

P. B. Johnson and R. W. Christy
Phys. Rev. B 6, 4370 – Published 15 December 1972
An article within the collection: Physical Review B 50th Anniversary Milestones
PDFExport Citation

Abstract

The optical constants n and k were obtained for the noble metals (copper, silver, and gold) from reflection and transmission measurements on vacuum-evaporated thin films at room temperature, in the spectral range 0.5-6.5 eV. The film-thickness range was 185-500 Å. Three optical measurements were inverted to obtain the film thickness d as well as n and k. The estimated error in d was ± 2 Å, and that in n, k was less than 0.02 over most of the spectral range. The results in the film-thickness range 250-500 Å were independent of thickness, and were unchanged after vacuum annealing or aging in air. The free-electron optical effective masses and relaxation times derived from the results in the near infrared agree satisfactorily with previous values. The interband contribution to the imaginary part of the dielectric constant was obtained by subtracting the free-electron contribution. Some recent theoretical calculations are compared with the results for copper and gold. In addition, some other recent experiments are critically compared with our results.

  • Received 7 July 1972

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.6.4370

©1972 American Physical Society

Collections

This article appears in the following collection:

Physical Review B 50th Anniversary Milestones

These Milestone studies represent lasting contributions to physics by way of reporting significant discoveries, initiating new areas of research, or substantially enhancing the conceptual tools for making progress in the burgeoning field of condensed matter physics.

Authors & Affiliations

P. B. Johnson and R. W. Christy

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 6, Iss. 12 — 15 December 1972

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review B

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×