Optoelectronic Properties and Surface Plasmon Polaritons of CdO/Ag/CdO Multilayer Films Deposited by DC Pulsed Magnetron Sputtering

The optoelectronic characteristics and surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) of nanostructured CdO/Ag/CdO multilayer films prepared by DC pulsed magnetron sputtering were inspected. The multilayer films were deposited with different Ag metallic interlayer thickness ranging from 2 nm to 20 nm. It was observed that the CdO single-layer has high transmittance and it decreased from 85% to 70% in the visible range as the Ag metallic interlayer thickness increased from 2 nm to 20 nm. The CdO/Ag (20nm)/CdO multilayer film has the lowest transmittance and highest reflection in the NIR. The mobility, charge carrier concentration and the conductivity increased as the Ag metallic interlayer increased. The energy gap decreased from 2.77 eV for CdO single-layer to 2.44 eV for CdO/Ag (20nm)/CdO multilayer film. The CdO/Ag (16nm)/CdO multilayer film recorded the highest figure of merit value of 2.45 x 10(-3) omega(-1), which acts as an electrode in optoelectronic applications. The absorption of light was interpreted by the creation of surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) modes along Ag/CdO interface. It was found that the CdO/Ag/CdO multilayer films could be employed as SPPs nano-waveguide for telecommunication applications at excitation wavelengths of 775 nm and 1550 nm.

Automated summary

The study investigated the optoelectronic characteristics and surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) of nanostructured CdO/Ag/CdO multilayer films. It was found that increasing the Ag metallic interlayer thickness resulted in decreased transmittance, increased reflection, and improved electrical properties. The multilayer films could be utilized as SPPs nano-waveguide and showed potential for telecommunications applications at specific excitation wavelengths.