Geometric optics of gold nanoparticle-polydimethylsiloxane thin films

Interest in the optical properties of plasmonic nanoparticles embedded in transparent polymers is expanding due to potential uses in sustainability, biomedicine, and manufacturing. Geometric optics of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) thin films containing uniformly or asymmetrically distributed polydisperse reduced gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) or uniformly distributed monodisperse solution synthesized AuNPs were recently evaluated using a compact linear algebraic sum. Algebraic calculation of geometric transmission, reflection, and attenuation for AuNP-PDMS films provides a simple, workable alternative to effective medium approximations, computationally expensive methods, and fitting of experimental data. Generally, transmission and reflection increased with AuNP isotropy and particle density, as displayed on a novel ternary diagram. Irregular AuNP morphology and size distribution caused optical attenuation from polydisperse films to increase in proportion to log10 increases in gold content, resulting in lower attenuation per gold mass when compared to monodisperse AuNPs. Uniform monodisperse AuNP-PDMS films attenuated light in proportion to gold content, with films attenuating 0.15 fractional units per 0.1 mass-percent AuNPs. Thin layers of concentrated AuNPs attenuated light more efficiently. A 25 micron thick layer of 1.2 mass-percent AuNPs attenuated 0.5 fractional units, the same number as a 130 micron thick 0.6 mass-percent film. Measured optical responses from asymmetric AuNP-PDMS films with an adjacent back-reflector and pairs of uniformly distributed films were predictable within 0.04 units of linear algebraic estimates based on geometric optics. This approach allows for the summative optical responses of a sequence of 2D elements comprising a 3D assembly to be analyzed.