Optical constants
Refractive index of Au (Gold)
Johnson and Christy 1972: n,k 0.188–1.937 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
- Refractive index n
- 0.27732
- Extinction coefficient k
- 2.92783
- Permittivity ε1
- -8.49527
- Permittivity ε2
- 1.62389
- Absorption coefficient α
- 626143 cm⁻¹
- Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk)
- 31.9416 nm
- Abbe number Vd
- —
- Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ
- -2.30548 µm⁻¹
- Group index ng
- 1.63202
- 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
# Au (Gold): Johnson and Christy 1972: n,k 0.188–1.937 µm
au = ls.LibraryMaterial(name="Au", dataset="Johnson-Christy")
print(au.range_nm) # (187.9, 1937) nm
eps = au.eps([633]) # complex permittivity
Ships with the library: works offline and is the library's own default dataset choice.
import lightsmith as ls
# Au (Gold): Johnson and Christy 1972: n,k 0.188–1.937 µm
au = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("main", "Au", "Johnson", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(au.range_nm) # (187.9, 1937) nm
eps = au.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_60a9678e0695/lightsmith"
au = ls.Tabulated.model_validate(json.load(urllib.request.urlopen(url)))
print(au.source) # citation and provenance travel with the data
Any dataset here, as the library's Tabulated material (au/johnson-christy-1972).
# ... load au as above, then:
sim = ls.Simulation(
particles=[ls.Particle(shape=ls.Sphere(radius_nm=50), material=au)],
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:10.1103/physrevb.6.4370 Optical Constants of the Noble Metals, Physical Review B (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| λ (µm) | n | k |
|---|---|---|
| 0.1879 | 1.28 | 1.188 |
| 0.1916 | 1.32 | 1.203 |
| 0.1953 | 1.34 | 1.226 |
| 0.1993 | 1.33 | 1.251 |
| 0.2033 | 1.33 | 1.277 |
| 0.2073 | 1.3 | 1.304 |
| 0.2119 | 1.3 | 1.35 |
| 0.2164 | 1.3 | 1.387 |
| 0.2214 | 1.3 | 1.427 |
| 0.2262 | 1.31 | 1.46 |
| 0.2313 | 1.3 | 1.497 |
| 0.2371 | 1.32 | 1.536 |
| 0.2426 | 1.32 | 1.577 |
| 0.249 | 1.33 | 1.631 |
| 0.2551 | 1.33 | 1.688 |
| 0.2616 | 1.35 | 1.749 |
| 0.2689 | 1.38 | 1.803 |
| 0.2761 | 1.43 | 1.847 |
| 0.2844 | 1.47 | 1.869 |
| 0.2924 | 1.49 | 1.878 |
| 0.3009 | 1.53 | 1.889 |
| 0.3107 | 1.53 | 1.893 |
| 0.3204 | 1.54 | 1.898 |
| 0.3315 | 1.48 | 1.883 |
| 0.3425 | 1.48 | 1.871 |
| 0.3542 | 1.5 | 1.866 |
| 0.3679 | 1.48 | 1.895 |
| 0.3815 | 1.46 | 1.933 |
| 0.3974 | 1.47 | 1.952 |
| 0.4133 | 1.46 | 1.958 |
| 0.4305 | 1.45 | 1.948 |
| 0.4509 | 1.38 | 1.914 |
| 0.4714 | 1.31 | 1.849 |
| 0.4959 | 1.04 | 1.833 |
| 0.5209 | 0.62 | 2.081 |
| 0.5486 | 0.43 | 2.455 |
| 0.5821 | 0.29 | 2.863 |
| 0.6168 | 0.21 | 3.272 |
| 0.6595 | 0.14 | 3.697 |
| 0.7045 | 0.13 | 4.103 |
| 0.756 | 0.14 | 4.542 |
| 0.8211 | 0.16 | 5.083 |
| 0.892 | 0.17 | 5.663 |
| 0.984 | 0.22 | 6.35 |
| 1.088 | 0.27 | 7.15 |
| 1.216 | 0.35 | 8.145 |
| 1.393 | 0.43 | 9.519 |
| 1.61 | 0.56 | 11.21 |
| 1.937 | 0.92 | 13.78 |
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
- —
Room temperature