Optical constants
Refractive index of Ag (Silver)
McPeak et al. 2015: n,k 0.3–1.7 µm
- Data
- tabulated nk
- Range
- 0.3–1.7 µm
- Points
- 141
- Licence
- CC0-1.0
- Lightsmith
- bundled
Plot
Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength.
At one wavelength
- Refractive index n
- 0.0468354
- Extinction coefficient k
- 3.93641
- Permittivity ε1
- -15.4932
- Permittivity ε2
- 0.368727
- Absorption coefficient α
- 841838 cm⁻¹
- Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk)
- 23.7575 nm
- Abbe number Vd
- —
- Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ
- 0.0020399 µm⁻¹
- Group index ng
- 0.0456368
- 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): McPeak et al. 2015: n,k 0.3–1.7 µm
ag = ls.LibraryMaterial(name="Ag", dataset="McPeak")
print(ag.range_nm) # (300, 1700) nm
eps = ag.eps([633]) # complex permittivity
Ships with the library: works offline.
import lightsmith as ls
# Ag (Silver): McPeak et al. 2015: n,k 0.3–1.7 µm
ag = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("main", "Ag", "McPeak", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(ag.range_nm) # (300, 1700) nm
eps = ag.eps([633]) # complex permittivity
Downloads the original record once (pinned to the imported snapshot) and caches it.
import json, urllib.request
import lightsmith as ls
url = "https://materials.lightsmith.dev/v1/datasets/ds_126424fbe38b/lightsmith"
ag = ls.Tabulated.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))
print(ag.source) # citation and provenance travel with the data
Any dataset here, as the library's Tabulated material (ag/mcpeak-2015).
# ... load ag as above, then:
sim = ls.Simulation(
particles=[ls.Particle(shape=ls.Sphere(radius_nm=50), material=ag)],
medium_index=1.0,
wavelengths=ls.WavelengthRange(start_nm=400, stop_nm=1000, num=81),
)
res = ls.solve(sim) # exact Mie for a sphere
print(res.q_ext) # extinction efficiency at each wavelength
Same spec runs with DDA, FDTD, BEM or T-matrix: ls.compare(sim, ["mie", "dda"]).
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
References
- doi:10.1021/ph5004237 Plasmonic Films Can Easily Be Better: Rules and Recipes, ACS Photonics (2015)
Cite
Kevin M. McPeak et al.. Plasmonic Films Can Easily Be Better: Rules and Recipes. ACS Photonics, 2, 326-333 (2015), doi:10.1021/ph5004237; Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)
Data
141 rows as published| λ (µm) | n | k |
|---|---|---|
| 0.3 | 1.646857286 | 0.972336834 |
| 0.31 | 1.455629699 | 0.572501372 |
| 0.32 | 0.920058628 | 0.331538655 |
| 0.33 | 0.233797996 | 0.585441289 |
| 0.34 | 0.103893124 | 1.052042671 |
| 0.35 | 0.07599858 | 1.326866905 |
| 0.36 | 0.063180003 | 1.533000885 |
| 0.37 | 0.056279242 | 1.708000982 |
| 0.38 | 0.050752406 | 1.858729622 |
| 0.39 | 0.048660415 | 1.99546181 |
| 0.4 | 0.04572895 | 2.122943979 |
| 0.41 | 0.04451952 | 2.241825593 |
| 0.42 | 0.043287376 | 2.357153749 |
| 0.43 | 0.041992656 | 2.465312026 |
| 0.44 | 0.041101491 | 2.573264334 |
| 0.45 | 0.040932342 | 2.675756988 |
| 0.46 | 0.040956736 | 2.776954709 |
| 0.47 | 0.040727224 | 2.873753418 |
| 0.48 | 0.040781493 | 2.972181544 |
| 0.49 | 0.041249589 | 3.066333564 |
| 0.5 | 0.041373355 | 3.159400537 |
| 0.51 | 0.041602686 | 3.251112238 |
| 0.52 | 0.04237275 | 3.342124392 |
| 0.53 | 0.042204211 | 3.433188197 |
| 0.54 | 0.043403286 | 3.522198723 |
| 0.55 | 0.043817181 | 3.610113564 |
| 0.56 | 0.044507429 | 3.69702325 |
| 0.57 | 0.045973387 | 3.783928323 |
| 0.58 | 0.046819894 | 3.870683674 |
| 0.59 | 0.046840293 | 3.95716995 |
| 0.6 | 0.047410447 | 4.041936139 |
| 0.61 | 0.048985705 | 4.126305805 |
| 0.62 | 0.049617793 | 4.208973975 |
| 0.63 | 0.051101901 | 4.293088795 |
| 0.64 | 0.051646932 | 4.376833034 |
| 0.65 | 0.05091337 | 4.460223332 |
| 0.66 | 0.053388535 | 4.543110205 |
| 0.67 | 0.052475104 | 4.623716431 |
| 0.68 | 0.054218627 | 4.705947265 |
| 0.69 | 0.054429231 | 4.788419629 |
| 0.7 | 0.054860386 | 4.869087149 |
| 0.71 | 0.056538596 | 4.950777375 |
| 0.72 | 0.057401233 | 5.034212441 |
| 0.73 | 0.057733458 | 5.113152956 |
| 0.74 | 0.059629401 | 5.195339803 |
| 0.75 | 0.060113603 | 5.274430173 |
| 0.76 | 0.059047193 | 5.356816832 |
| 0.77 | 0.063824207 | 5.436181889 |
| 0.78 | 0.063464686 | 5.512987191 |
| 0.79 | 0.062217489 | 5.598827647 |
| 0.8 | 0.063950702 | 5.678123783 |
| 0.81 | 0.067473356 | 5.753307975 |
| 0.82 | 0.067636134 | 5.836229489 |
| 0.83 | 0.068189561 | 5.911315405 |
| 0.84 | 0.067475107 | 5.99554442 |
| 0.85 | 0.070135706 | 6.076505494 |
| 0.86 | 0.070503234 | 6.15532052 |
| 0.87 | 0.072455233 | 6.235643492 |
| 0.88 | 0.073943622 | 6.313593878 |
| 0.89 | 0.074927946 | 6.38980549 |
| 0.9 | 0.074793597 | 6.469203512 |
| 0.91 | 0.077646805 | 6.547597195 |
| 0.92 | 0.07877958 | 6.627986589 |
| 0.93 | 0.080106493 | 6.706073147 |
| 0.94 | 0.080039752 | 6.784129005 |
| 0.95 | 0.081098618 | 6.865098469 |
| 0.96 | 0.083963945 | 6.942265476 |
| 0.97 | 0.082327665 | 7.024370281 |
| 0.98 | 0.08532286 | 7.10009014 |
| 0.99 | 0.087779237 | 7.177095875 |
| 1.0 | 0.088025428 | 7.254153877 |
| 1.01 | 0.090501937 | 7.335202151 |
| 1.02 | 0.091223005 | 7.410959562 |
| 1.03 | 0.093163641 | 7.488436383 |
| 1.04 | 0.090978009 | 7.571609934 |
| 1.05 | 0.093069308 | 7.647526521 |
| 1.06 | 0.087488108 | 7.738194503 |
| 1.07 | 0.090085692 | 7.812561387 |
| 1.08 | 0.091414911 | 7.896414166 |
| 1.09 | 0.08952186 | 7.969003336 |
| 1.1 | 0.087625115 | 8.055909518 |
| 1.11 | 0.090461037 | 8.13167776 |
| 1.12 | 0.094528298 | 8.207066199 |
| 1.13 | 0.092749501 | 8.287376091 |
| 1.14 | 0.095451077 | 8.352970185 |
| 1.15 | 0.084359933 | 8.445952676 |
| 1.16 | 0.095878288 | 8.521220138 |
| 1.17 | 0.097053265 | 8.593219381 |
| 1.18 | 0.09493293 | 8.675598669 |
| 1.19 | 0.098324452 | 8.74909525 |
| 1.2 | 0.094881447 | 8.829439534 |
| 1.21 | 0.098216298 | 8.901272181 |
| 1.22 | 0.098772673 | 8.982747689 |
| 1.23 | 0.095285601 | 9.065378059 |
| 1.24 | 0.10376706 | 9.1406656 |
| 1.25 | 0.100172489 | 9.224588583 |
| 1.26 | 0.105090726 | 9.306720371 |
| 1.27 | 0.103513926 | 9.373618039 |
| 1.28 | 0.106644981 | 9.450046198 |
| 1.29 | 0.107642765 | 9.532921219 |
| 1.3 | 0.112669175 | 9.60555539 |
| 1.31 | 0.115274563 | 9.681233817 |
| 1.32 | 0.110070769 | 9.760538693 |
| 1.33 | 0.113725572 | 9.83991532 |
| 1.34 | 0.110796441 | 9.919993743 |
| 1.35 | 0.115127087 | 9.983749508 |
| 1.36 | 0.121692797 | 10.07495951 |
| 1.37 | 0.120000737 | 10.1436877 |
| 1.38 | 0.127761842 | 10.21157789 |
| 1.39 | 0.127391401 | 10.30564062 |
| 1.4 | 0.129567338 | 10.37144097 |
| 1.41 | 0.129532614 | 10.45450997 |
| 1.42 | 0.139425972 | 10.54179489 |
| 1.43 | 0.136689082 | 10.61313733 |
| 1.44 | 0.1337676 | 10.69616257 |
| 1.45 | 0.13753433 | 10.76749347 |
| 1.46 | 0.136002449 | 10.84612819 |
| 1.47 | 0.140018996 | 10.9453006 |
| 1.48 | 0.145683795 | 10.99641868 |
| 1.49 | 0.143029825 | 11.08649889 |
| 1.5 | 0.140671824 | 11.16108366 |
| 1.51 | 0.146851335 | 11.21746697 |
| 1.52 | 0.145574468 | 11.30314965 |
| 1.53 | 0.151117653 | 11.41064575 |
| 1.54 | 0.159989508 | 11.45450115 |
| 1.55 | 0.156488871 | 11.56695676 |
| 1.56 | 0.163061728 | 11.59683531 |
| 1.57 | 0.146280234 | 11.70390524 |
| 1.58 | 0.160846655 | 11.76120196 |
| 1.59 | 0.160289135 | 11.85857043 |
| 1.6 | 0.179696729 | 11.89337172 |
| 1.61 | 0.177528577 | 12.00172973 |
| 1.62 | 0.17444857 | 12.10786655 |
| 1.63 | 0.180256871 | 12.14794191 |
| 1.64 | 0.185834026 | 12.23538043 |
| 1.65 | 0.18452807 | 12.29243876 |
| 1.66 | 0.196882981 | 12.38502172 |
| 1.67 | 0.175222972 | 12.45755606 |
| 1.68 | 0.194315172 | 12.56772686 |
| 1.69 | 0.20553684 | 12.63496123 |
| 1.7 | 0.198531592 | 12.70351978 |
Optical transmission calculator
Free-standing sample in vacuum, normal incidence- Transmittance T
- —
- Reflectance R
- —
Fresnel reflection calculator
- Rp
- —
- Rs
- —
- R = (Rp+Rs)/2
- —
- Phase φp
- —
- Phase φs
- —
- Brewster angle θB
- —
- Critical angle θC
- —
Thermally evaporated Ag at 50 Å/s with base pressure of 3e-8 Torr, template stripped from Si wafer