The Effect of Au/Ag Bimetallic Thin-Films on Surface Plasmon Resonance Properties Comparing with Those of Au and Ag Single Thin-Films

The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) properties of Au/Ag bimetallic thin-film nanostructures were investigated to improve the chemical stability and the figure of merit (FOM) in the SPR sensors. The SPR characteristics such as resonance angle, extinction ratio, and full width half maximum (FWHM) were calculated by the simulation of the finite-difference time-domain method and were measured using the laser with a 632.8 nm wavelength in the Kretschmann-Raether configuration. The measured resonance angle, extinction ratio, FWHM of Au(20 nm)/Ag(20 nm) thin-film nanostructure were found to be 44°, 0.8, and 1.4°, respectively. The FOM values were determined to be 56.9 for Au/Ag bimetallic thin-film, 47.9 for Au(50 nm) single thin-film, and 89.1 for Ag(50 nm) single thin-film. Also the sensitivity values were about 53.5, 57.0, and 57.8°/RIU for Au(50 nm), Ag(50 nm), and Au(20 nm)/Ag(20 nm) thin-film nanostructures in the SPR sensors, respectively. The SPR properties of Au/Ag bimetallic thin-film nanostructures were compared with those of the Au and Ag single thin-film nanostructures.