INVESTIGATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF DEFECTS IN THIN METALLIC films.

Thin gold films of various crystalline structures have been prepared by ultra-high vacuum evaporation and their optical properties were measured in the 0.5 to 6.2 range together with their DC resistivity. The optical mass m sub o was only slightly influenced by the defects m sub om1, whereas the optical relaxation time was strongly perturbed by them. The positions of the first two interband transitions are unmodified, their intensities decreasing with increasing defect concentration. A new absorption band sets in, centered at 1.4 or 1.7 eV according to the type of defect present in the film. Some possible mechanisms which might be responsible for it have been examined, but no definite conclusion could be reached. Author