Investigation on Low-loss Materials for Plasmonic Applications

The application of plasmonic resonances offer a wide variety of fascinating effects due to the accessibility of the optical near field. Unfortunately the commonly used materials, Gold and Silver, show rather high absorption in the desired spectral range. This limits their potential for possible use in devices and applications. We present our investigation on the deposition and characterization of alternative materials with lower losses, which still can meet the requirements for excitation of plasmonic states. Properties of different candidates, like ZrN or ITO, are discussed and the deposition processes are described. The optical properties are characterized by spectroscopic ellipsometry and reviewed in regard to plasmonic applications.