Characterizing ultrathin and thick organic layers by surface plasmon resonance three-wavelength and waveguide mode analysis.

A three-wavelength angular-scanning surface plasmon resonance based analysis has been utilized for characterizing optical properties of organic nanometer-thick layers with a wide range of thicknesses. The thickness and refractive index were determined for sample layers with thicknesses ranging from subnanometer to hundreds of nanometers. The analysis approach allows for simultaneous determination of both the refractive index and thickness without prior knowledge of either the refractive index or the thickness of the sample layers and without the help of other instruments, as opposed to current methods and approaches for characterizing optical properties of organic nanometer-thick layers. The applicability of the three-wavelength angular-scanning surface plasmon resonance approach for characterizing thin and thick organic layers was demonstrated by ex situ deposited mono- and multilayers of stearic acid and hydrogenated soy phosphatidylcholine and in situ layer-by-layer deposition of two different polyelectrolyte multilayer systems. In addition to the three-wavelength angular-scanning surface plasmon resonance approach, another surface plasmon resonance optical phenomenon, i.e., the surface plasmon resonance waveguide mode, was utilized to characterize organic sample layers whose thicknesses border the micrometer scale. This was demonstrated by characterizing both in situ layer-by-layer deposited polyelectrolyte multilayer systems and an ex situ deposited spin-coated polymer layer.