Substrate surface polariton splitting due to thin zinc oxide and aluminum nitride films presence

Surface polariton (SP) is the non-radiative interface electromagnetic mode, propagating along the interface between two media, if one of them is absorbing (metal, semiconductor or dielectric with the strong absorption bands) and exponentially decaying out of the interface. The introduction of a transition layer at this interface results in the shift and broadening of SP. This effect can be used to obtain film parameters (thickness and optical constants) in the region of SP existence. Zinc oxide (ZnO) films (100-300 nm thick) have been prepared on the LiF and CaF2 substrates and aluminum nitride films (40 and 400 nm thick) have been prepared on sapphire substrates. The SP spectra have been measured by attenuated total reflection (ATR) technique. IFS66v (BRUKER) infrared Fourier-transform spectrometer was used for ATR and near normal incidence external reflection spectral measurements. Angular dependencies of the absorption bands positions in the ATR spectra give the dispersion of SP. The measured SP dispersion is compared with one calculated using the film parameters obtained by dispersion analysis of the external reflectivity spectra. The splitting of the dispersion curves of substrate SP was found. It is due to the resonance interaction of substrate SP with the film optical phonons. This splitting is proportional to the square root of the film thickness. For ZnO films on CaF2 “long range” SPs were observed. These effects allow estimate film complex dielectric function in the region under consideration.

► Surface polariton splitting in thin ZnO films on LiF and CaF2 substrates. ► Surface polariton splitting in thin AlN films on sapphire substrate. ► Splitting is proportional to the square root of the film thickness. ► For ZnO films on CaF2 “long range” surface polaritons were observed. ► Film thickness and Lorentz oscillator parameters for ZnO films were obtained.