Optical constants

Refractive index of Ag (Silver)

Johnson and Christy 1972: n,k 0.188–1.94 µm

Data
tabulated nk
Range
0.1879–1.937 µm
Points
49
Licence
CC0-1.0
Lightsmith
bundled, default

Plot

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength.

At one wavelength

Range 0.1879–1.937 µm
Refractive index n
0.051585
Extinction coefficient k
3.9046
Permittivity ε1
-15.2432
Permittivity ε2
0.402838
Absorption coefficient α
835035 cm⁻¹
Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk)
23.9511 nm
Abbe number Vd
—
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ
0.288184 µm⁻¹
Group index ng
-0.117752
Group velocity dispersion
— fs²/mm
Dispersion parameter D
— ps/(nm·km)
Photon energy
2.11001 eV

ε = (n + ik)², α = 4πk/λ, ng = n − λ dn/dλ, GVD = λ³/(2πc²) d²n/dλ², D = −(λ/c) d²n/dλ². Group-velocity dispersion is given for formula data only.

Use it in Lightsmith

Load this data in Python, simulate in one more line

pip install lightsmith
import lightsmith as ls

# Ag (Silver): Johnson and Christy 1972: n,k 0.188–1.94 µm
ag = ls.LibraryMaterial(name="Ag", dataset="Johnson-Christy")
print(ag.range_nm)  # (187.9, 1937) nm
eps = ag.eps([633])  # complex permittivity

Ships with the library: works offline and is the library's own default dataset choice.

Lightsmith is open source (MIT): Mie, T-matrix, BEM, DDA, FDTD, RCWA, TMM, mode solvers and inverse design behind one spec, on CPU or GPU. GitHub.

Comments and conditions

Room temperature

References

P. B. Johnson and R. W. Christy. Optical constants of the noble metals. Phys. Rev. B 6, 4370-4379 (1972)

Cite

P. B. Johnson and R. W. Christy. Optical Constants of the Noble Metals. Physical Review B, 6, 4370-4379 (1972), doi:10.1103/physrevb.6.4370; Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)

Data

49 rows as published
Ag (Silver), Johnson and Christy 1972: n,k 0.188–1.94 µm: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)nk
0.18791.071.212
0.19161.11.232
0.19531.121.255
0.19931.141.277
0.20331.151.296
0.20731.181.312
0.21191.21.325
0.21641.221.336
0.22141.251.342
0.22621.261.344
0.23131.281.357
0.23711.281.367
0.24261.31.378
0.2491.311.389
0.25511.331.393
0.26161.351.387
0.26891.381.372
0.27611.411.331
0.28441.411.264
0.29241.391.161
0.30091.340.964
0.31071.130.616
0.32040.810.392
0.33150.170.829
0.34250.141.142
0.35420.11.419
0.36790.071.657
0.38150.051.864
0.39740.052.07
0.41330.052.275
0.43050.042.462
0.45090.042.657
0.47140.052.869
0.49590.053.093
0.52090.053.324
0.54860.063.586
0.58210.053.858
0.61680.064.152
0.65950.054.483
0.70450.044.838
0.7560.035.242
0.82110.045.727
0.8920.046.312
0.9840.046.992
1.0880.047.795
1.2160.098.828
1.3930.1310.1
1.610.1511.85
1.9370.2414.08

Optical transmission calculator

Free-standing sample in vacuum, normal incidence
Method
Transmittance T
—
Reflectance R
—

Fresnel reflection calculator

Direction
Rp
—
Rs
—
R = (Rp+Rs)/2
—
Phase φp
—
Phase φs
—
Brewster angle θB
—
Critical angle θC
—