Ag Thin Films Research Articles

The enhancement in microstructure, optical and electromagnetic shielding properties of Al-doped Ag thin films by annealing treatment

Ag thin films having attractive optical transmittance and effective shielding capability are usually used as a preferred choice for the transparent electromagnetic shielding windows. Whereas, the Ag films are grown primarily via an island growth (Volmer-Weber) mechanism, which greatly restricts its application. In this study, by introducing Al atoms and suitable annealing treatment, the continuous and smooth Ag thin films are successfully fabricated by magnetron co-sputtering method. The effect of annealing temperature on the microstructure, optical and electromagnetic shielding properties of the films are conducted the comprehensive and profound study. Our results indicate that the 5 mol% Al-Ag thin film annealed at 200 °C could transform into planar growth structure, and display excellent the highest optical transmittance 89.15% at 550 nm. Meanwhile, the shielding effectiveness (SE) reaches a peak value of 28.1 dB. 500°C is estimated as the threshold annealing temperature of Al-Ag thin film with comprehensive performances gradually declining. Moreover, the Al dopants significantly improve the thermal stability of Ag thin films than that of the pure Ag films. These findings are of important guidance for the preparation of high-quality Al-Ag thin films to meet the practical applications.

Crystallization and Optical Behaviour of Nanocomposite Sol-Gel TiO2:Ag Films.

Sol-gel spin coating method was employed for depositing TiO2 and Ag-doped TiO2 films. The effects of Ag doping and the annealing temperatures (300-600 °C) were studied with respect to their structural, morphological, vibrational, and optical properties. Field Emission Scanning Electron microscopy (FESEM) investigation exhibited the grained, compact structures of TiO2-based films. Ag incorporation resulted in a rougher film surface. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results confirmed the formation of Ag nanoparticles and AgO phase, along with anatase and rutile TiO2, strongly depending on Ag concentration and technological conditions. AgO fraction diminished after high temperature annealing above 500 °C. The vibrational properties were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. It was found that silver presence induced changes in IR bands of TiO2 films. UV-VIS spectroscopy revealed that the embedment of Ag NPs in titania matrix resulted in higher absorbance across the visible spectral range due to local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). Ag doping reduced the optical band gap of sol-gel TiO2 films. The optical and plasmonic modifications of TiO2:Ag thin films by the number of layers and different technological conditions (thermal and UV treatment) are discussed.

SERS detection of dopamine in artificial cerebrospinal fluid and in Parkinson’s disease-induced mouse cortex using a hybrid ZnO@Ag nanostructured platform

Rapid, direct, and sensitive detection of metabolites or clinically relevant biomarkers in complex biological samples is still challenging. We report a label-free surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based approach for highly sensitive detection of dopamine (DA) in artificial cerebrospinal fluid (aCSF) and mouse brain tissue samples. The hybrid SERS-active sensing platform was designed to maximize the hot spot distribution. It encompasses a network of flexible and polymeric nanotrenches and nanogaps fabricated by nanoimprint lithography (NIL) covered by thin films of zinc oxide (ZnO) and silver (Ag) deposited using pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and direct current magnetron sputtering (DC-MS), respectively. The growth of the ZnO and Ag thin films was assessed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technique. The proposed SERS substrate benefits from the interlayered semiconductor–metal contribution in SERS enhancement, leading to a versatile sensing platform with improved detection sensitivity through the increased hot spots distribution. Using this strategy, the proposed assay can achieve an ultralow DA determination at the nM level, a short testing time (<30 min), and high signal reproducibility (RSD 11 %). We also assessed the sensing attributes of our in house developed SERS platform to detect DA in spiked aCSF samples, and a limit of detection (LOD) of 10 μM was achieved. Additionally, after in vivo inducing Parkinson’s disease (PD) in mice, relevant biological samples (striatum and cortical brain tissue) were investigated by SERS and ELISA. Given its good stability and accuracy in complex samples, the SERS-ELISA analysis has great potential to be a powerful tool for the reliable detection of DA in remote conditions.

Flexible transparent conductors with a percolated Ag nanostructure and its application as efficient self-bias plasmonic photodetector

A percolated silver (Ag) nanostructured-based transparent conductor has been deposited by physical vapor deposition (PVD) technique where lateral growth of Ag has been enhanced by a pre-deposited Ag-TiO2 thin film. This Ag-TiO2 film has embedded Ag nanoparticles (NPs) within TiO2 thin film which is grown in a low temperature (100 °C) solution processed technique. This process includes Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) thin film deposition by a sol–gel method followed by ion-exchange (Li+ → Ag+) process to yield an Ag-TiO2 thin film. The percolated Ag network has appeared as soon film mass-thickness reaches close to 10 nm, resulting in an abrupt drop of electrical resistivity of the film. This percolated Ag nanostructured thin film (10 nm Ag/Ag-TiO2/plastic) has resistivity of ∼50 Ω/□ and an average visual transmittance of >70 % up to 450 nm. In higher wavelength range, transparency gradually reduces, and it reaches to ∼50 % at 600 nm which is mostly due to the plasmon absorption of this film. By utilizing its combined optical transparency and surface plasmon absorption, this film has been used to develop plasmonic hot electron photodetectors where Ag-thin film works as transparent electrode as well as plasmon induced photo-excited hot electron generation. Device has been fabricated on a heavily doped n type Si (n++-Si) with a metal–semiconductor-metal (M−S−M) device geometry. External quantum efficiency (EQE) data reveal that photocurrent of this device is mostly generated in the plasmonic absorption region with a peak detectivity of 2.84 × 1012 Jones at 510 nm under −3V external bias. Besides, the device shows fast response with a response time of ∼25 ms.

Regulating thermal management by a CsPbClBr2/Ag hybrid microcavity for stable room temperature blue lasing with low threshold

Realization of long-term stable lasing from all-inorganic perovskite supercrystals is highly desirable for practical applications in optoelectronic devices. However, lasing from perovskite supercrystals excited by continuous wave laser light remains a challenge due to the photoluminescence degradation induced by thermal accumulation. Here, we report highly stable lasing with low threshold fom a CsPbClBr2 supercrystal placed on a thin Ag film, which form a CsPbClBr2/Ag microcavity, by managing the thermal distribution inside the CsPbClBr2 supercrystal. Combined numerical simulations and lifetime measurements, the localized electric field in such a hybrid microcavity leads to a spatially localized temperature distribution, which plays a crucial role in suppressing the thermal accumulation on the surface and in eliminating non-radiative recombination defects. The effective thermal management in the hybrid microcavity renders highly stable lasing with low threshold under the irradiation of continuouw wave laser light. Our findings provide a feasible and universal approach to the development of long-term stable perovskite laser.

Enhanced SERS performance of Ag nanoparticles using hybrid dewetting process for melamine detection

A thermal evaporation system was used to deposit Ag thin films on glass substrates. The films were dewetted using both a regular laser irradiation approach and a hybrid dewetting process that involved laser irradiation followed by Ag thermal deposition. The study would evaluate and compare the optical characteristics and efficiency in melamine detection within these dewetted films. In the traditional dewetting process, as the laser power increased from 15 to 25 W, the nanoparticles (NPs) size decreased from 162 to 125 nm. Furthermore, an evident optical absorption peak range of 540–600 nm was also observed. Through the hybrid dewetting process, a mixture of small NPs (20 nm) and larger NPs (142–167 nm) were formed. It resulted in two distinct Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) peaks at 460 nm and 660 nm, respectively. Notably, a strong Raman peak at 701 cm−1 emerged when a melamine aqueous solution was placed on the hybrid dewetted surface. Comparing the two methods, the hybrid dewetted sample exhibited enhanced fingerprint peak intensity and a higher analytical enhancement factor (AEF). When operating at laser power of 25 W and a scanning speed of 100 mm/s, the maximum AEF value reached 1.9 × 105. The limit of detection for melamine solution in the hybrid dewetted sample was established at 10−7 M. Hence, the hybrid dewetting process is a potential method to produce the mixed-sized nanoparticles for diverse applications.

Plasmonic Ag Nanoparticles on SiC for Use as SERS Substrate and in Integrated Optical Sensors for Bio-Chemical Applications

Development of optical chemical sensors for the detection of specific toxic chemicals at ultratrace levels and analysis of complex mixtures is crucial for new green and safe technologies [1, 2]. Metallic structures confined at the nanoscale acquire interesting properties such as strongly localizing E fields on their surfaces through Plasmonic Resonance under stimuli of light at certain wavelengths. This nanostructures are called plasmonic structures [3–5]. This effect is exploited to amplify the optical signal obtained by the molecules of interest, located near plasmonic structures [3, 6]. Purpose of the work is the development of innovative, easy to manufacture and cheap optical active layer consisting of Plasmonic Ag Nanoparticles on a Wide Band Gap semiconductor material such as Silicon Carbide to be used as substrate for Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering or for the fabrication of integrated optical sensor for remote chemical and biological applications. In this contest, the phenomenon of Ag thin film thermal dewetting on SiC substrate was implemented to develop a simple nanoparticles synthetic approach. Scanning Electron Microscopy confirmed the formation of Ag nanoparticles by thermal annealing of thin silver film. 4-MBA was used as probe molecule for SERS phenomenon investigation. The formation of a covalent bond between the silver nanostructures, acting as plasmonic "hot spots", and the species of interest enable its detection at very low concentrations, in the range of 10-5 M or less, in both Raman and UV-Vis configurations.

Impact of fractal dimension and lateral correlation length on surface plasmon resonance activity in sputtered silver layers

Fractal and optical characteristics of self-affine surfaces of silver(Ag) thin films deposited through direct current (dc) magnetron sputtering as a function of thickness are investigated and explored here. The surface morphology of Ag thin films is characterized by field emission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy technique. The cube counting algorithm is used to extract the fractal dimension of Ag thin film. The surface roughness (interface width) shows monotonic increases with film thickness, while the other parameters, such as lateral correlation length, roughness exponent, and fractal dimension exhibit linear variation with thickness. Our findings reveal distinctive scaling behaviors, with scaling exponents α, β, and 1/z indicating unique growth characteristics. The interface width w increases as a power law of thickness t, w(t)∝tβ, with β=0.39± 0.007, and the lateral correlation length ξ grows as ξt∝t1/z with 1/z=0.14± 0.002. The roughness exponent extracted from height-height correlation analysis is α=0.61–0.41. The self-affine nature of the Ag thin films is further confirmed by the autocorrelation function. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to the confirm the growth of Ag thin film. Additionally, we have studied the role of fractal dimensions and lateral correlation length (ξ) on the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of Ag thin film. Our results indicate a red-shifting behavior of SPR with increasing interface width (w), lateral correlation length (ξ), and fractal dimensions. This study suggests the significance of not only the roughness exponent and fractal dimension but also the local surface slope in SPR activity in Ag thin films.

Material Changes of Bimetallic Ag–Cr, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Sn Electrocatalysts during Alkaline Oxygen Reduction in Fundamental Versus Alkaline Membrane Exchange Fuel Cell Conditions

The more apparent challenges of climate change drastically increase the global demand for sustainable fuel production and usage.1 In this context, hydrogen fuel cells (FCs) powered by renewable electricity are among the promising technologies.2 Addressing the sluggish cathode reaction in FCs, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), these devices hold immense potential for sustainable energy conversion and storage. An alkaline environment allows for the utilization of more abundant and cost-effective metals in contrast to current platinum-based catalysts. Silver (Ag), for instance, exhibits high selectivity for the ORR, i.e., forming hydroxide instead of peroxide.3 When combined with secondary metals, bimetallic Ag catalysts show enhanced activity, making them viable alternatives to platinum-group materials for ORR.In our highly collaborative research, we investigated the material transformations of bimetallic Ag thin films with chromium (Cr), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), and tin (Sn) as secondary metals for ORR electrocatalysis in fundamental rotating disk electrode (RDE) setups and the application device, anion-exchange membrane FC (AEMFC). Grazing-incidence X-ray diffraction (GI-XRD) conducted prior to electrochemical testing reveals no evidence of alloying except for the Ag-Sn bimetallic thin film. However, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicates a shift of the Ag 3d peaks to higher binding energies for all catalysts, suggesting a hybridization of Ag and the secondary metals. The composition of the metal surface, native oxide formation, ORR performance, and material changes post-RDE testing vary distinctly among the Ag bimetallic catalysts depending on the secondary metal. Intriguingly, performance is either enhanced (Ag-Co, Ag-Sn), maintained with reduced Ag content (Ag-Fe, Ag-Cr), or falls in between the two monometallic materials (Ag-Ni) compared to monometallic Ag thin films. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations offer insights into the catalyst performances and changes in metal oxidation states and surface composition prior and post electrocatalysis. AEMFC tests reveal promising performances under device conditions contradicting our fundamental RDE measurements. The integration of fundamental and application device tests, along with material characterization and DFT calculations, enables a comprehensive exploration of material changes under varying electrochemical conditions. This underscores the complexity of bimetallic catalysts and the importance of testing under device conditions, positioning Ag-bimetallic catalysts as highly promising alternatives to platinum-group metal catalysts for alkaline ORR.

Detectable and facile electrodeposited nanoscale homogenous distribution of AgCl deposits in Ag thin films

Detectable and facile electrodeposited nanoscale homogenous distribution of AgCl deposits in Ag thin films

Multifunctional daytime radiative cooler resistant to UV aging

Passive radiative cooling presents a promising approach to mitigate global warming and reduce energy consumption. Existing coolers, however, face challenges in practical prolonged adoption due to their unappealing design, susceptibility to environmental pollutants, as well as degradation of polymers by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation from sunlight. This study introduces a multifunctional daytime radiative cooler (MDRC) with a dual-layered structure, combining practical functionality with aesthetic value. Its base layer consists of an Ag–TiO2–Ag thin film stack, imparting vibrant cyan, magenta, and yellow colors, even maintaining visually appealing from various incident angles, up to 75°, to ensure consistent color display. The top layer, comprising S–SiO2 nanospheres with UV resistance rather than polymers, not only forms a superhydrophobic surface with a contact angle of 155.502°, enhancing the self-cleaning capability of the MDRC against contamination and dust, but also renders the MDRC with extraordinary anti-aging capacity. Outdoor experiments has shown that the MDRC maintains operation at temperatures above ambient under direct solar irradiation, achieving a substantial temperature reduction of 6.82 °C compared to the same colored commercial coating. After three months of outdoor exposure, the MDRC demonstrated minimal degradation in performance, with decreases of only 0.29 °C during the day and 0.12 °C at night, underscoring its superior UV-resistant aging properties. This MDRC represents a robust solution for diverse durable outdoor raidative cooling applications, advancing toward real-world utilization.

Efficient Fabrication of Plasmonic Nanostructures Using Chloroform‐Mediated Heterogeneous Bonding

AbstractPlasmonic nanostructures (PNs) have transformed nanophotonics by offering control over electromagnetic waves. Although innovative structural designs have demonstrated PNs' potential, significant fabrication challenges, including the precise alignment of heterogeneous materials, remain. Using chloroform and pre‐UV exposure (PUVE) to enhance adhesion at the metal‐dielectric interface (MDI) addresses these challenges. PUVE preserves plasmon resonance in the MDI, ensuring high performance without compromising structural integrity. Through an annealing process, PUVE strengthens van der Waals bonds, ensuring chloroform molecules remain on the Ag surface during chloroform residue removal, allowing: i) stable preservation of the Ag thin film on the PNs during stripping; and ii) the formation of chloroform‐mediated heterogeneous bonding (CMHB) using energy supplied by UV‐nanoimprint lithography (UV‐NIL). This approach enables PNs' scalable fabrication with enhanced adhesion properties, while CMHB increases adhesion between the UV‐curable resin and Ag, offering scalability to large‐area applications with UV‐NIL. The structural morphology and chemical properties of the fabricated PNs are analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, energy‐dispersive spectroscopy, and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. These PNs demonstrate potential in CCD filters, enhancing optical signal amplification for real‐time imaging at the 785 nm band. This robust fabrication method advances PNs' performance and scalability, advancing nanophotonics and related applications.

The investigation of thickness-dependent mono-fractal, optical and optoelectronics properties of sputtered silver thin film for silicon solar cell

Here we report, the room temperature deposition of silver (Ag) thin films on silicon, glass and silicon solar cell substrates by magnetron sputtering. The effect of thickness on the deposited thin films and their morphological, fractal, optical and solar cell parameters have been extensively investigated. AFM results show that the Ag thin films are composed of different-size of nano-grains and the grain size increases with increasing thickness. Mono-fractal parameters, namely fractal dimension (Df) and Hurst exponent (H), were determined from the power spectral density function. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies indicate that the deposited samples exhibit the presence of oxidation state of Ag (0) in thin films, confirming the stable structure. The optical analysis shows that the transmittance of the deposited thin films decreases with increasing thickness, on the other hand, the silver thin film with thickness of 20 nm shows surface Plasmon resonance (SPR) at 436 nm. Current-voltage (I–V) curves were measured in dark and under illumination mode at standard testing conditions, i.e., 300K, 1000 W/m2 and 1.5 AM global using a solar simulator. These measurement studies indicate that thicknesses are effectively impacts on photovoltaic performance. The calculated values of change in solar efficiency (Δη) are 0.26, −0.20, −0.76 and −6.88 % for thin films with nominal thickness 0.5, 1, 2 and 20 nm respectively.

Fractal analysis on Ag2O thin film using a data-driven approach

The synthesis of fractal Ag oxide (Ag2O) on the surface of Ag thin film has been achieved at room temperature by using Synchrotron X-ray irradiation. We have performed an automated quantitative analysis of a batch of 1879 fractal Ag2O patterns in a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image within a radius of 2000 mm outward from the center of the X-ray beam. The morphology is similar to that of the diffusion-limited cluster aggregation (DLCA) model. The fractal dimension (D) of Ag2O is between 1.7 and 1.5 from the center to the edge. The area distribution density of fractal Ag2O follows a quadratic function with radius R. It is found that the branches’ number of fractal Ag2O is a key factor affecting the fractal dimension. The more branches the fractal has, the greater the D is. This is the first time that Ag fractal has been investigated by combining automated data analysis methods with batch experimental data. This data-driven approach provides a new research perspective for rationally regulating materials’ fractal morphology and performance.

Investigation of optical and electrical properties of TiO2, SiO2, and Ag single and multilayer thin films using spectroscopic ellipsometry and spectrophotometry methods: prepared by spin coating and DC magnetron sputtering

In this work, spectroscopic ellipsometry was used to study the optical and electrical properties of TiO2 and SiO2 thin films deposited by spin-coating at different coating rotation speeds and annealed at various temperatures. In addition, Ag thin films of different thicknesses were deposited by DC magnetron sputtering at ambient temperature. In this method, the optical band gap for TiO2 thin films is between 3.15–3.85 eV, and for SiO2 thin films, it is between 3.2–3.8 eV. The optical properties, including reflectance, transmittance, and absorbance, of TiO2, SiO2, and Ag thin films in the form of single and multilayer thin films in the wavelength range of 200–2500 nm, were investigated using an ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV–vis-NIR) dual-beam spectrophotometer. In the TiO2/Ag/SiO2 multilayer thin film, the rejection was 58.6% −73.6% in the NIR wavelength range (800–2500 nm), and a transmittance of 40%–45% was achieved in the visible light range (400–700 nm).

Manipulating the thermal stability of the {111}-oriented nanotwinned Ag films by ion bombardment

Materials with nanotwinned structures have been known to possess high strength, high ductility, and low resistivity. Tailoring their mechanical and thermal stabilities has become a critical technique based on their practical applications in the electronic industry. In this study, we propose to manipulate the thermal stability of the nanotwinned Ag thin films with the assistance of ion bombardment. The {111}-oriented nanotwinned Ag films were fabricated on Si (100) substrate with 100 nm-thick Ti adhesion layer using different applied ion bombardment energies. We found that the thermal stability of highly {111}-oriented nanotwinned Ag films can be tailored by using different levels of ion bombardment during deposition. The sample with the highest ion bombardment energy exhibits exceptional thermal stability, which can sustain {111}-oriented nanotwinned structure and high mechanical strength after 450 °C annealing. On the other hand, the {111} to {100} texture transformation with large grain coarsening can be triggered at low temperature of 150 °C without introducing ion bombardment during the deposition. This study not only advances the fundamental understanding of the thermal stability of the nanotwinned Ag films after high-temperature annealing but also provides valuable insights into manipulating the thermal stability of sputtered nanostructured Ag films through ion bombardment based on the demands of their applications.

CsPbX3 photoluminescence enhancement by localized surface plasmon of Ag nanoparticles

This paper investigates the enhanced photoluminescence of CsPbX3 by the localized surface plasmon (LSP) of Ag nanoparticles. The Ag nanoparticles with different sizes were obtained by annealing Ag thin films at different temperatures. Then the Ag/PMMA/perovskite structure was fabricated to realize the exciton-LSP coupling effect, and enhancement was found for wavelength-tunable CsPbX3 films. When the Ag film is heated to 200∘C, the maximum enhancement factor of LSP is 6.03. The LSP coupling effect induces the slight blue shift of the fluorescence emission center which is caused by the limitation of electron free trajectories under the LSP resonance frequency of Ag nanoparticles. As the gap between nanoparticles decreases, the absorption cross-section increases, and the scattering rate of electrons on the surface of metal nanoparticles greatly exceeds the internal scattering rate, causing the LSP resonance frequency to shift to the blue region, resulting in a blue shift of the PL spectrum.

Oxygen-induced Ag-based binary structure for efficient heat-regulating windows

Heat-regulating (HR) windows are essential for net-zero-energy building approaches. Silver (Ag) thin films are preferred for developing high-functioning HR windows because of their unique optoelectrical properties. The quality of the HR windows depends on the tradeoff between the transparency and conductivity of the Ag film. Ultrathin Ag (thickness < 10 nm) obtained using the wetting technique has been universally adopted to overcome this trade-off. However, the use of a wetting layer can hinder the optimum transparency of HR windows because of the possible optical loss associated with the wetting layer. Herein, the partial oxidation technique was thoroughly investigated for fabricating one-step grown Ag used for high-functioning HR windows. The incorporation of oxygen (5.7 % volume) during Ag sputtering allowed the direct growth of continuous Ag film on substrates with a percolation threshold below 4 nm. Partial oxidization of Ag resulted in modulated optical coefficients of Ag, thereby facilitating the ease of developing AZO/Ag (6.5 nm)/glass with optimum transparency of 98 % and sheet resistance of 12 Ω sq−1. AZO/Ag/glass possessing a high Haacke figure of merit 68.1 (10−3 Ω−1) was developed for HR windows, with the capability of providing a temperature discrepancy of 2 °C for different simulated weather conditions.

Simultaneous laser sintering and embedding of silver nanoparticles for highly flexible embedded electrodes

In manufacturing electronic devices embedded in flexible substrates, persistent technical challenges include process complexity, substrate damage, high surface roughness, and low mechanical flexibility. To address these challenges, this study proposes a method that involves simultaneously sintering silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and embedding them in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates to fabricate flexible embedded electrodes. The proposed technique uses laser-generated high-intensity shock waves to compress Ag NPs coated on a PET substrate heated to its glass-transition temperature. The mechanical impact of the shock wave embeds the Ag NPs into the substrate while simultaneously sintering the particles. The thin-film Ag electrode fabricated using the proposed method exhibited outstanding electrical and mechanical properties. The electrical resistivity measured as low as 7.8 μΩ·cm, with a minimal increase of approximately 5 % after 2000 bending cycles at a bending radius of 1 mm. Furthermore, the fracture strength of the fully embedded electrode, as assessed through adhesive tape-peel tests, significantly surpassed that produced through conventional sintering methods. The proposed method has the potential to revolutionize conventional sintering methods in flexible substrate applications, offering a more efficient and reliable method for fabricating flexible embedded electrodes.

Extreme Dewetting Resistance and Improved Visible Transmission of Ag Layers Using Sub-Nanometer Ti Capping Layers.

As technology development drives the thickness of thin film depositions down into the nano regime, understanding and controlling the dewetting of thin films has become essential for many applications. The dewetting of ultra-thin Ag (9 nm) films with Ti (0.5 nm) adhesion and capping layers on glass substrates was investigated in this work. Various thin film stacks were created using magnetron sputtering and were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-rays, Vis/IR spectrometry, and four four-point probe resistivity measurements. Upon annealing for 5 h in air at 250 °C, the addition of a 0.5 nm thick Ti capping layer reduced the dewet area by an order of magnitude. This is reflected in film resistivity, which remained 2 orders of magnitude lower than uncapped variants. This Ti/Ag/Ti structure was then deployed in a typical low-emissivity window coating structure with additional antireflective layers of AZO, resulting in a superior performance upon annealing. These results demonstrate an easy, manufacturable process that improves the longevity of devices and products containing thin Ag films.