Optical properties of Mg, from UV to IR, using reflectometry

Magnesium films have been traditionally used for UV filters. However, very little information has been reported on its optical properties (1) and the problems it presents in the production of the films. Being a Drude material. Magnesium is a suitable material for studying the photon-surface plasmon interaction by ATR, but the dielectric function is poorly known for the IR-visible re- gion. In this paper we present our values for the optical properties of a dielectric protected Mg thin film obtained from absolute reflectance and transmittance measurements. The dielectric function is estimated by using Drude modeling, extending the previously reported data into the infrared. The chemical composition and purity of metal and dielectric layers as well as the qual- ity of their interfaces is studied by Auger electron spectroscopy.