Optical and Photoelectric Properties of Thin Metallic Films in the Vacuum Ultraviolet*

Abstract

Measurements have been made on evaporated thin films of Al, Sn, In, Bi, Au, Ag, and Cd in order to correlate optical transmission, reflection, and photoemission in the far ultraviolet. Thin unbacked films prepared outside the spectrograph and glass-backed films prepared inside the spectrograph were used. The frequency at which the films change from a reflecting medium to a transmitting medium has been compared with the plasma frequency predicted by Bohm and Pines and also with electron energy eigenlosses in metals observed by Marton et al. Some new absorption transitions have been observed and related to x-ray absorption edges. A qualitative correlation between the photoelectric yields and corresponding optical properties has been attempted.