Study on the microstructure, optical performance, and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of Al-Ag thin films for variable annealing time

Herein, the magnetron co-sputtering method is employed to fabricate 9 nm 5 mol% Al-Ag thin films, and subsequently annealing treatment is performed. The effect of the annealing time on the structure, optical, and electromagnetic (EM) shielding performance of them is thoroughly studied. It is observed that by subjecting the films to the appropriate annealing time, the Ag granules undergo a transformation into a planar growth structure and make the integrated performance of Al-Ag thin film more exceptional. Compared with other annealing time, when it is 5 min, the obtained Al-Ag thin films display the homogenous and smooth surface morphology. Moreover, it exhibits excellent optical properties with the highest transmittance value of 89.6% at 550 nm, and meanwhile the shielding effectiveness reaches a peak value of 28.7 dB. These characteristics render the Al-Ag thin films highly practical and valuable for EM shielding windows with high transmittance.