Nanostructured gold films as broadband terahertz antireflection coatings

The potential of nanometer-thick, randomly nanostructured gold films as broadband wave impedance-matching coatings for nondispersive substrates in the terahertz frequency range is demonstrated. Based on a wave impedance approach and the specific non-Drude conductivity of our films, we model the reflectivity at the coated interface between silicon and air and show that nanostructured films offer a considerably better broadband performance than conventional bulk metallic layers. The predictions from the theoretical model are verified in experimental studies of different gold nanostructures investigated by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy in the frequency range of 0.2–2.2 THz. An extension of a previously developed subgridding scheme for the finite-difference time-domain method allows us to simulate terahertz-pulse propagation through uncoated and coated samples and to follow attenuation and reshaping of the internally reflected pulse when the film thickness is varied with subnanometer precision.