Optical constants

Refractive index of Au (Gold)

Ordal et al. 1987: n,k 0.667–286 µm

Data
tabulated nk
Range
0.667–286 µm
Points
52
Licence
CC0-1.0

Plot

Click the plot to set the calculator wavelength.

At one wavelength

Range 0.667–286 µm
Refractive index n
21.6667
Extinction coefficient k
92.0667
Permittivity ε1
-8006.83
Permittivity ε2
3989.56
Absorption coefficient α
838365 cm⁻¹
Penetration depth δ = λ/(2πk)
23.856 nm
Abbe number Vd
—
Chromatic dispersion dn/dλ
2.66667 µm⁻¹
Group index ng
-15.1333
Group velocity dispersion
— fs²/mm
Dispersion parameter D
— ps/(nm·km)
Photon energy
0.0898436 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): Ordal et al. 1987: n,k 0.667–286 µm
au = ls.fetch_refractiveindex("main", "Au", "Ordal", ref="c5c2f188e848453def5970e347399d653df2ffc2")
print(au.range_nm)  # (667, 286000) nm
eps = au.eps([13800])  # complex permittivity

Downloads the original record once (pinned to the imported snapshot) and caches it.

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.

References

M. A. Ordal, R. J. Bell, R. W. Alexander, L. L. Long, M. R. Querry. Optical properties of Au, Ni, and Pb at submillimeter wavelengths. Appl. Opt. 26, 744-752 (1987)

Cite

Mark A. Ordal, Robert J. Bell, Ralph W. Alexander, Larry L. Long and Marvin R. Querry. Optical properties of Au, Ni, and Pb at submillimeter wavelengths. Applied Optics, 26, 744 (1987), doi:10.1364/ao.26.000744; Data from the refractiveindex.info database (M. N. Polyanskiy, Sci. Data 11, 94 (2024), doi:10.1038/s41597-023-02898-2)

Data

52 rows as published
Au (Gold), Ordal et al. 1987: n,k 0.667–286 µm: n and k versus wavelength
λ (µm)nk
0.6670.2193.91
0.7140.1774.38
0.7690.1794.88
0.8330.1885.44
0.9090.2056.06
1.00.2296.79
1.050.2437.2
1.110.2587.65
1.180.2768.15
1.250.2968.71
1.330.3199.35
1.430.34810.1
1.540.38410.9
1.670.4311.9
1.820.49213.0
2.00.58114.3
2.110.6415.1
2.220.7116.0
2.350.79317.0
2.50.8918.0
2.671.019.2
2.861.1420.6
3.081.3122.2
3.331.5224.1
3.641.8126.3
4.02.228.9
4.442.7432.1
5.03.536.0
5.714.5441.0
6.676.0347.4
8.08.2956.2
10.012.169.2
11.114.776.3
12.518.284.7
14.323.094.9
16.729.8108.0
20.039.9124.0
22.246.8133.0
25.054.8144.0
28.664.3158.0
33.376.4175.0
40.093.5197.0
44.4105.0210.0
50.0119.0225.0
57.1137.0243.0
66.7160.0263.0
80.0188.0288.0
100.0225.0319.0
125.0263.0353.0
154.0302.0390.0
200.0356.0444.0
286.0447.0534.0

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
—