Electromagnetic Properties of Noble Metal Films at Nanoscale

In this work we report on electrical and optical measurements of silver and gold films at nanoscale. The films were deposited with a sputter coater on glass. The samples were annealed in a tube furnace at 400 0C for 8 hours. The electrical measurements revealed ohmic characteristics at thicknesses as low as 38 nm. Optical measurements showed different characteristics for the annealed vs. as-grown samples. The results for the annealed gold films indicate that they could potentially be used as optical biosensors.