Metal island films near the surface of optical coatings: deposition experiments and plasmon absorption line adjustment of metal nanoclusters in organic and anorganic optical thin films

We present experiments on the optical properties of ultrathin (a few nanometers thick) films (copperphthalocyanine, amorphous silicon) with an incorporated metal cluster film (silver, indium). Due to the spatially close interface, the plasmon absorption may be displaced from its resonance frequency in the bulk, and its average position may be controlled by the average thickness of the ultrathin optical film. For example, we observe a shift of the plasmon resonance of silver clusters in amorphous silicon films (on quartz glass) from 440 nm to 740 nm, when the silicon thickness increases from ''zero'' up to 15 nm. The deposition experiments are accompanied by investigations of the film structure, particularly in order to estimate the silver cluster diameter, which is around 3 nm or less. Additionally, numerical simulations are in progress to optimize the island film preparation conditions.