A Comparison of Metal Adhesion Layers for Au Films in Thermo-Plasmonic Applications

Abstract

SUPPORTING DATAAtomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to characterize the surface topography of the annealed samples of Ta, Ti and W/Au (50nm), and the results are shown in Figure S1. The route mean square roughness values (Ra) for the surface of the samples with 0.5nm adhesion layer are quite similar. The samples with 5nm adhesion layers tend to be rougher, with Ti exhibiting the highest Ra value and W the lowest. This relates to the extent of the diffusion of adhesion metals through the Au films upon annealing, and correlates with other observations (TEM, XPS).