Anisotropy of optical constants of YBCO

Otto configuration attenuated total reflection (ATR) measurements of the excitation of surface plasmons in the infrared have been carried out on YBCO films deposited on MgO (100) substrates. The dielectric constants for YBCO at 3.392μm are determined to be −10+15i forc-axis material. The anisotropic nature of the cuprate is seen from films with other orientations: nearlya-axis material has constants of 4.0+7.0i. It is thus not metallic in its optical response along thec-axis which lies parallel to the substrate plane. Ellipsometric measurements in the visible onc-axis material point to a maximum surface plasmon energy of 1 eV.