Influence of morphology on adsorbate-induced changes in thin-film dynamic conductivity

For ultrathin copper films of various morphology we studied adsorbate-induced changes in broadband infrared transmission at normal incidence of light. Smooth Cu films on Si(111) and mesoscopically rough Cu films on KBr(001) were exposed to CO and to C2H4. We observed significant broadband changes for each of these gases and for both surfaces. Applying a Drude-type model we calculated the optical spectra in accord with the experiment. We find that the effects related to a change in the electronic relaxation rate are weakly influenced by the mesoscopic roughness of the film, while the effects related to charge transfer are strongly enhanced due to such roughness. This paper shows that the real adsorbate-induced changes can be determined for both the homogeneous films and the inhomogeneous films beyond percolation. The increased surface area owing to mesoscopic roughness is merely one contribution to larger adsorbate-induced effects of inhomogeneous films. The other more interesting contribution is due to depolarization in rough metal films that is responsible for strong enhancement of charge transfer effects.