Investigation of optical and interfacial properties of Ag/Ta2O5 metal dielectric multilayer structure

One-dimensional periodic metal-dielectric multilayer thin film structures consisting of Ag and Ta₂O₅ alternating layers are deposited on glass substrate using RF magnetron sputtering technique. The spectral property of the multilayers has been investigated using spectrophotometry technique. The optical parameters such as refractive index, extinction coefficient, band gap etc., along with film thickness as well as the interfacial layer properties which influence these properties have been probed with spectroscopic ellipsometry technique. Atomic force microscopy has been employed to characterize morphological properties of this metal-dielectric multilayer.