Tunable surface plasmon resonance silver films

Precise control of thermal evaporation deposition parameters allows the production of silver island films on glass substrates with tunable surface plasmon resonance wavelengths. Specific combinations of substrate temperature, deposition rate, and film thickness produce films exhibiting surface plasmon resonance wavelengths that can be adjusted throughout the visible and into the near-IR regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. These films are shown to be useful as substrates for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.