Abstract
The measurement of the optical properties of solids is simple in principle, but can be involved in practice. This is so because many bulk solids (particularly metals) are opaque, so that the measurements have to be taken in reflection. Light penetrates about 10 nm into a metal (see Table 10.1). As a consequence, the optical properties are basically measured near the surface, which is susceptible to oxidation, deformation (polishing), or contamination by adsorbed layers. One tries to alleviate the associated problems by utilizing ultrahigh vacuum, vapor deposition, sputtering, etc. Needless to say, the method by which a given sample was prepared may have an effect on the numerical value of its optical properties.
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© 2001 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
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Hummel, R.E. (2001). Applications. In: Electronic Properties of Materials. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-86538-1_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-86538-1_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-86540-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-86538-1
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