Abstract

Impurities and subwavelength microstructure can significantly change the optical properties of thin films. Effective medium theories provide a simple and useful description for such inhomogeneous media. However, there has been controversy over which theories are best applicable. This paper compares the predictions of several models to the observed spectrophotometric data for thin films containing SmS crystals and amorphous impurities. When pressure is applied, a fraction of the SmS crystals becomes metallic.^1,2 These films then go from being essentially two-component systems to three-component systems. They thus provide an interesting test for differing effective medium theories. The coated Bruggeman, simple Bruggeman, and Maxwell Garnett models are considered.

© 1988 Optical Society of America