Optical and electrical properties of nanostructured metallic electrical contacts

We study the optical and electrical properties of silver films with a graded thickness obtained through metallic evaporation in vacuum on a tilted substrate to evaluate their use as semitransparent electrical contacts. We measure their ellipsometric coefficients, optical transmissions and electrical...

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Main Authors: Victor J Toranzos, Guillermo P Ortiz, W Luis Mochán, Jorge O Zerbino
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2017-01-01
Series:Materials Research Express
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/aa58bd
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author Victor J Toranzos
Guillermo P Ortiz
W Luis Mochán
Jorge O Zerbino
author_facet Victor J Toranzos
Guillermo P Ortiz
W Luis Mochán
Jorge O Zerbino
author_sort Victor J Toranzos
collection DOAJ
description We study the optical and electrical properties of silver films with a graded thickness obtained through metallic evaporation in vacuum on a tilted substrate to evaluate their use as semitransparent electrical contacts. We measure their ellipsometric coefficients, optical transmissions and electrical conductivity for different widths, and we employ an efficient recursive method to calculate their macroscopic dielectric function, their optical properties and their microscopic electric fields. The topology of very thin films corresponds to disconnected islands, while very wide films are simply connected. For intermediate widths the film becomes semicontinuous, multiply connected, and its microscopic electric field develops hotspots at optical resonances which appear near the percolation threshold of the conducting phase, yielding large ohmic losses that increase the absorptance above that of a corresponding homogeneous film. Optimizing the thickness of the film to maximize its transmittance above the percolation threshold of the conductive phase we obtained a film with transmittance T   =  0.41 and a sheet resistance $R_{s}^{\text{max}}\approx 2.7 \Omega $ . We also analyze the observed emission frequency shift of porous silicon electroluminescent devices when Ag films are used as solid electrical contacts in replacement of electrolytic ones.
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spelling doaj.art-1355eeefa7b942a9bef3434acf3b03892023-08-09T15:20:53ZengIOP PublishingMaterials Research Express2053-15912017-01-014101502610.1088/2053-1591/aa58bdOptical and electrical properties of nanostructured metallic electrical contactsVictor J Toranzos0Guillermo P Ortiz1W Luis Mochán2Jorge O Zerbino3Departamento de Física—Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura, Universidad Nacional del Nordeste , Corrientes, ArgentinaDepartamento de Física—Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Naturales y Agrimensura, Universidad Nacional del Nordeste , Corrientes, ArgentinaInstituto de Ciencias Físicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México , Cuernavaca, Morelos, MexicoInstituto de Investigaciones Fisicoquímicas Teóricas y Aplicadas , Centro Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, La Plata, ArgentinaWe study the optical and electrical properties of silver films with a graded thickness obtained through metallic evaporation in vacuum on a tilted substrate to evaluate their use as semitransparent electrical contacts. We measure their ellipsometric coefficients, optical transmissions and electrical conductivity for different widths, and we employ an efficient recursive method to calculate their macroscopic dielectric function, their optical properties and their microscopic electric fields. The topology of very thin films corresponds to disconnected islands, while very wide films are simply connected. For intermediate widths the film becomes semicontinuous, multiply connected, and its microscopic electric field develops hotspots at optical resonances which appear near the percolation threshold of the conducting phase, yielding large ohmic losses that increase the absorptance above that of a corresponding homogeneous film. Optimizing the thickness of the film to maximize its transmittance above the percolation threshold of the conductive phase we obtained a film with transmittance T   =  0.41 and a sheet resistance $R_{s}^{\text{max}}\approx 2.7 \Omega $ . We also analyze the observed emission frequency shift of porous silicon electroluminescent devices when Ag films are used as solid electrical contacts in replacement of electrolytic ones.https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/aa58bdhotspotseffective mediarecursive algorithms
spellingShingle Victor J Toranzos
Guillermo P Ortiz
W Luis Mochán
Jorge O Zerbino
Optical and electrical properties of nanostructured metallic electrical contacts
Materials Research Express
hotspots
effective media
recursive algorithms
title Optical and electrical properties of nanostructured metallic electrical contacts
title_full Optical and electrical properties of nanostructured metallic electrical contacts
title_fullStr Optical and electrical properties of nanostructured metallic electrical contacts
title_full_unstemmed Optical and electrical properties of nanostructured metallic electrical contacts
title_short Optical and electrical properties of nanostructured metallic electrical contacts
title_sort optical and electrical properties of nanostructured metallic electrical contacts
topic hotspots
effective media
recursive algorithms
url https://doi.org/10.1088/2053-1591/aa58bd
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AT jorgeozerbino opticalandelectricalpropertiesofnanostructuredmetallicelectricalcontacts