Optical reflectivity as an inspection tool for metallic nanoparticles deposited randomly on a flat substrate

摘要

In this work we study the sensitivity and detection limits of optical reflectivity measurements to inspect the deposition of metallic nanoparticles on a flat surface. We use a theoretical model for the coherent reflectance of a disordered monolayer of particles to calculate the reflectivity of an air-glass interface with silver and gold nanoparticles deposited randomly on it as a function of the angle of incidence and wavelength of light. Assuming reasonable noise scenarios, we estimate the minimum detectable surface coverage fractions by the nanoparticles.