Light Absorption Enhancement By Nanoparticles

Multilayer optical resonance systems containing nanoparticles of aluminium (Al), silver (Ag), and nickel (Ni) placed on a layer of SiO2, which itself was coated on an Al mirror with submicrometer thickness, were analyzed regarding their absorption of light. Atomic force microscopy images of the distributions of the metallic nanoparticles in the manufactured layers are presented. Reflection measurements carried out under different conditions show that nanoparticle layers of only a few nanometers average thickness can significantly affect light absorption if spatial distribution and size of the particles are suitably chosen. Reasons for this effect of an enhanced absorption compared with classical absorbers and potential applications of such layers with nanoparticles are discussed. (c) 2005 American Institute of Physics.