Query: Plasmonic coupling at a metal/ semiconductor  interface

Candidate papers:

abstract: Integrating plasmonic nanoparticles with semiconductor substrates introduces strong optical resonances that extend and enhance the spectrum of photocatalytic and photovoltaic activity. The effect of plasmonic resonances has been variously attributed to the field nanoconfinement, plasmon exciton coupling, hot electron transfer, and so on, based on action spectra of enhanced photoactivity. It remains unclear, however, whether energized carriers in the substrate are generated by the transfer of plasmonically generated hot electrons from the metal, as broadly believed, or directly by dephasing of the plasmonic field at the interface. Here, we demonstrate the importance of the direct plasmonic coupling across the chemical interface for hot electron generation at a prototypical Ag nanocluster/TiO2 heterojunction by direct probing of the coherence and hot electron dynamics with two photon photoemission spectroscopy. Energy, time and material distributions of excitations in the Ag nanocluster/TiO2 heterojunction indicate that dielectric coupling with the substrate renormalizes the plasmon resonance of the Ag nanoparticle, and its dephasing directly generates hot electrons in TiO2 on a <10 fs timescale.The role of direct plasmonic coupling in hot electron generation at Ag/TiO2 interfaces is clarified by two photon photoemission spectroscopy.
author_names: Shijing Tan

Adam Argondizzo

Jindong Ren

Liming Liu

Jin Zhao

Hrvoje Petek
title: Plasmonic coupling at a metal/semiconductor interface
year: 2017

abstract: In this work, we prepared ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets with exposed active edge sites and high electric conductivity that can sufficiently absorb light in the visible region to enable solar energy conversion. The gold nanocrystal decorated MoS2 nanosheets facilitate sufficiently enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting in the UV visible region. Different Au nanostructures, such as Au nanoparticles and nanorods, were modified on the surface of MoS2 nanosheets to promote photoelectrochemical water decomposition. By spin coating a synthetic gold modified MoS2 hybrid photoanode on a FTO substrate, the efficiency of photoelectrochemical water oxidation was significantly enhanced, by 2 times (nanorods) and 3.5 times (nanoparticles) in the visible infrared region; furthermore, the average optical resistance was reduced by a factor of two compared to the MoS2 photoanode without Au, and the photocurrent increases exponentially when the system bias was greater than 0.7 volts. The Au MoS2 metal semiconductor interface plays an important role in studying the surface plasmon interactions, charge transfer mechanism, and electric field amplification. This rational design for such a unique hybrid nanostructure explains the plasmon enhanced photoelectrochemical water splitting. This current contribution provides a new path for using the plasmonic metal/semiconductor heterostructure to effectively harvest UV visible light for solar fuel generation.
author_names: Asad Ali

Farhana Akbar Mangrio

Xiaoling Chen

Yiwen Dai

Kui Chen

Xiaoliang Xu

Ruixiang Xia

Lixin Zhu
title: Ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets for high performance photoelectrochemical applications via plasmonic coupling with Au nanocrystals.
venue: Nanoscale
year: 2019

abstract: Understanding and controlling the charge transfer behavior across the interface/junction in hybrid nanostructures is essential for various plasmon enhanced catalytic reactions. The rational design of plasmonic nanostructures offers a unique capability for eliminating the daunting complexity of the electronic effect induced by interfacial interactions and maximizing the conversion efficiency of solar energy into chemical energy by surface coupling. Herein, we tactfully construct a new type of plasmon driven photoanode based on plasmonic metal insulator semiconductor (PMIS) hetero nanostructures (Au@SiO2NP decorated a Fe2O3 nanorod array) by using Fe2O3 nanoarrays as model semiconductor structures and Au@SiO2 NPs as photosensitizers, for optimizing the photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting performance. The thin insulating layer (SiO2) of the hetero nanostructure has been found to play a crucial role in significantly enhancing the plasmon driven water splitting performance via eliminating the negative effect of surface states (resulting in Fermi level pinning and recombination) at the metal semiconductor interface, suppressing the recombination of current carriers, as well as maximizing the metal semiconductor barrier height. This study provides new insight into a novel plasmonic nanocatalyst design by rational interface engineering and will be of benefit for a better understanding of manipulating the interfacial electronic properties between plasmonic nanocrystals and semiconductors for catalytic applications.
author_names: Chuanping Li

Ping Wang

Haijuan Li

Minmin Wang

Jie Zhang

Guohua Qi

Yongdong Jin
title: Plasmon driven water splitting enhancement on plasmonic metal insulator semiconductor hetero nanostructures: unraveling the crucial role of interfacial engineering.
venue: Nanoscale
year: 2018

abstract: It is desirable for optoelectronic devices to have the capability to simultaneously achieve excellent optical and electric features. Nevertheless, most investigations were performed separately for photon and electron management. In this work, we numerically propose and demonstrate a hybrid metal semiconductor interface, which offers multi band perfect light absorption and simultaneously retains the naturally perfect electrical conductivity of a flat metal film. Multi band anti reflection and near unity light absorption is observed in this hybrid metal semiconductor cavity based absorber (HMSA) Our results show that, the maximal absorption above 97% and the naturally perfect electric conductivity are realizable, suggesting the capability of providing both excellent optical and electric properties. Optical Mie like resonances in the semiconductor cavities and the hybrid coupling with plasmonic resonances by the metal resonators cooperatively support strong optical field confinement effects, which eventually create the light trapped in the HMSA. These features indicate a platform wherein excellent electrical conducting and multispectral light absorption are designed for potential optoelectronic applications.
author_names: Zhenping Huang

Jian Chen

Yi Liu

Li Tang

Guiqiang Liu

Xiaoshan Liu

Zheng-qi Liu
title: Hybrid metal semiconductor cavities for multi band perfect light absorbers and excellent electric conducting interfaces
year: 2017

abstract: Current injection in organic semiconductors remains difficult to predict due in large part to the challenge of characterizing the contact energy barrier and interface density of states directly in organic electronic devices. Here, resonant coupling to surface plasmon polariton modes of a metal contact is demonstrated as a means to carry out internal photoemission (IPE) accurately in disordered organic semiconductor devices and enable direct measurement of the contact injection barrier by isolating true IPE from spurious sub gap organic photoconductivity. The substantial increase in sensitivity afforded by resonant coupling enables measurement in the low field injection regime where deviation from the standard Fowler prediction is explained quantitatively by the existence of a broad distribution of interface states. This technique is broadly applicable to metals and surface treatments commonly used in organic light emitting diodes, thin film transistors, and photovoltaics, and should therefore provide a quantitative basis to understand and model current injection in these devices over their entire operational lifetime.
author_names: Rijul Dhanker

Neetu Chopra

Noel C Giebink
title: Plasmonic Internal Photoemission for Accurate Device In Situ Measurement of Metal Organic Semiconductor Injection Barriers
year: 2014

abstract: We systematically explore the performance of ultrathin amorphous silicon solar cells integrated on plasmonic substrates of several different morphologies. Angle resolved reflectance, external quantum efficiency measurements, and finite difference time domain simulations highlight the importance of the spacer layer in determining the mode profiles to which light can couple. Coupling mechanisms are found to strongly differ between periodic silver nanovoid arrays and randomly textured silver substrates. Tailoring the spacer thickness leads to 50% higher quantum efficiencies and short circuit current densities by tuning the coupling between the near field and trapped modes with enhanced optical path lengths. The balance of absorption for the plasmonic near field at the metal/semiconductor interface is analytically derived for a broad range of leading photovoltaic materials. This yields key design principles for plasmonic thin film solar cells, predicting strong near field enhancement only for CdTe, CuInGaSe2, and organic polymer devices.
author_names: Niraj Lal

Hang Zhou

Matthew M Hawkeye

Jatin K Sinha

Philip N Bartlett

Gehan Amaratunga

Jeremy J Baumberg
title: Using spacer layers to control metal and semiconductor absorption in ultrathin solar cells with plasmonic substrates
year: 2012

abstract: Abstract The use of various plasmonic metals and insulators in silicon based metal insulator semiconductor insulator metal (MISIM) nanoplasmonic waveguides are investigated for use in waveguiding applications at 1.55 mm. Sputtered Au, Ag, and Cu as the metal cladding with thermally grown SiO 2 and ALD grown HfO 2 insulating dielectric spacer layers are examined to determine how their fabrication affects the crucial metal dielectric interface. The experimental propagation lengths and coupling efficiencies to silicon on insulator waveguides are compared to theoretical values, with the Au/SiO 2 MISIM nanoplasmonic waveguide showing a propagation length of 7.25 mm. The effect of including an adhesion layer for Au is shown to significantly increase losses.
author_names: Michael P Nielsen

A Ashfar

Kenneth C Cadien

Abdulhakem Y Elezzabi
title: Plasmonic materials for metal insulator semiconductor insulator metal nanoplasmonic waveguides on silicon on insulator platform
year: 2013

abstract: We firstly, in this review, introduce the optical properties of plasmonic metals, and then focus on introducing the unique optical properties of the noble metal metal oxide hybrid system by revealing the physical mechanism of plasmon exciton interaction, which was confirmed by theoretical calculations and experimental investigations. With this noble metal metal oxide hybrid system, plasmonic nanostructure semiconductor exciton coupling interactions for interface catalysis has been analyzed in detail. This review can provide a deeper understanding of the physical mechanism of exciton plasmon interactions in surface catalysis reactions.
author_names: Jingang Wang

Naixing Feng

Yingjun Sun

Xijiao Mu
title: Nanoplasmon Semiconductor Hybrid for Interface Catalysis
year: 2018

abstract: A silicon based plasmonic waveguide was designed and fabricated for use at telecommunications wavelengths. This waveguide is interfaced to the silicon photonics platform by use of a tapered silicon on insulator waveguide. Simulations indicate that this scheme excites the transverse magnetic plasmonic mode and that the electric fields are confined to the silicon gold interface. Transmitted power is measured for several device lengths and the propagation distance and coupling efficiency are found to be 2.00 mm and 38.0% respectively. These results demonstrate the potential for integration between silicon photonics and silicon plasmonic devices and demonstrate the ability to incorporate silicon based plasmonic devices into complimentary metal oxide semiconductor electronic and photonic circuitry.
author_names: S Sederberg

Vien Van

Abdulhakem Y Elezzabi
title: Monolithic integration of plasmonic waveguides into a complimentary metal oxide semiconductor and photonic compatible platform
year: 2010

abstract: Plasmonic Tamm states are interface modes formed at the boundary between a distributed Bragg mirror and a metallic layer [1] Their optical properties lie in between surface plasmons and microcavity photonic modes. In particular, the losses are reduced compared to a conventional plasmon. We will first describe some features of semiconductor quantum wells coupled to extended Tamm modes, like strong coupling with the excitons and lasing under optical pumping [2,3] The main advantage of the Tamm modes lies in the easy confinement of the mode which can be obtained only by structuring the metallic part of the structure [5] We will show that confined Tamm plasmon modes can be advantageously exploited for the realization of new kind of metal/semiconductor lasers [6] Laser emission is studied for Tamm structures with various diameters of the metallic disks which provide the confinement. A reduction of the threshold with the size is observed. The competition between the acceleration of the spontaneous emission and the increase of the losses leads to an optimal size, which is in good agreement with calculations (Fig. 1) The easy control of the mode properties offered by the patterning of the metallic layer can be applied to the control of the polarization of the emission. This effect will be discussed in the case of asymmetrical confined Tamm lasers.
author_names: Clementine Symonds

G Lheureux

S Azzini

Aristide Lemaitre

Pascale Senellart

Joel Bellessa
title: Polarized metal/semiconductor sources based on confined Tamm plasmons
year: 2014