The homogeneous optical response in conducting nanostructured layers, and in insulating layers containing dense arrays of self assembled conducting nanoparticles separated by organic linkers, is examined experimentally through their effective complex indices (n*, k*). Classical effective medium models, modified to account for the 3-phase nanostructure, are shown to explain (n*, k*) in dense particulate systems but not inhomogeneous layers with macroscopic conductance for which a different approach to homogenisation is discussed. (n*, k*) data on thin granular metal films, thin mesoporous gold, and on thin metal layers containing ordered arrays of voids, is linked to properties of the surface plasmon states which span the nanostructured film. Coupling between evanescent waves at either surface counterbalanced by electron scattering losses must be considered. Virtual bound states for resonant photons result, with the associated transit delay leading to a large rise in n* in many nanostructures. Overcoating n-Ag with alumina is shown to alter (n*, k*) through its impact on the SP coupling. In contrast to classical optical homogenisation, effective indices depend on film thickness. Supporting high resolution SEM images are presented.
Profiles of the electric field strength |E|2/|E0|2 for spherical metallic shells on a dielectric core are presented both inside the particle and outside. The dependence of the near-field strength and extent on shell thickness and total particle size is discussed qualitatively. Although the internal fields inside the shell and in the core are larger than for homogeneous particles, for not too thick shells, this does not translate into a stronger near-field away from the surface of the shell. The fields inside the shell, at the low energy resonance and close to it, are rotated by π/2 with respect to fields inside homogeneous particles, which means that the maximum field strengths in the shell are perpendicular to the incident polarisation. This follows from the fact that the low energy resonance for a shell is for the largest dipole moment of the whole system, which compensates the incident field. The largest moment is created when the same charges are collected at both interfaces (shell/medium and core/shell) along the incident polarisation. This creates regions of low field densities at the poles along the incident polarisation, because same charge fields repel each other. Following from that, the field lines are bunched up at the perpendicular poles, creating large field line densities and hence large fields at these points. The case for opposite charges across the interfaces creates the high energy, antisymmetric resonance.
Films consisting of self-assembled gold nanoparticles cross-linked with alkane-dithiols were prepared by a filtration method and studied with scanning electron microscopy to determine the structure of the films and spectrophotometry and ellipsometry to ascertain their optical properties. The structural characterization showed the
existence of nanometer sized voids within the films. This previously unmentioned feature is responsible for the previous difficulties in modelling the optical properties with effective medium models.This can be remedied, using a two-tiered hierarchical effective medium model, which takes into account the existence of the voids. Using
this model we were able to fit the experimental data,with only the void volume fraction to be determined by the overall fit, while the gold volume fraction in the linker medium is fixed by the wavelength of the resonance peak. Our model should be applicable to all such films, when the deposition method, which determines the microstructure, is properly taken into account.
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