Distinguishing between plasmon-induced and photoexcited carriers in a device geometry

Simple item page
dc.citation.journalTitleNature Communicationsen_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber6en_US
dc.contributor.authorZheng, Bob Y.en_US
dc.contributor.authorZhao, Hangqien_US
dc.contributor.authorManjavacas, Alejandroen_US
dc.contributor.authorMcClain, Michaelen_US
dc.contributor.authorNordlander, Peteren_US
dc.contributor.orgLaboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2015-09-23T19:33:31Z
dc.date.available2015-09-23T19:33:31Z
dc.date.issued2015en_US
dc.descriptionNEWS COVERAGE: A news release based on this journal publication is available online: Rice finding could lead to cheap, efficient metal-based solar cells [http://news.rice.edu/2015/07/22/rice-finding-could-lead-to-cheap-efficient-metal-based-solar-cells/]en_US
dc.description.abstractThe use of surface plasmons, charge density oscillations of conduction electrons of metallic nanostructures, to boost the efficiency of light-harvesting devices through increased light-matter interactions could drastically alter how sunlight is converted into electricity or fuels. These excitations can decay directly into energetic electron-hole pairs, useful for photocurrent generation or photocatalysis. However, the mechanisms behind plasmonic carrier generation remain poorly understood. Here we use nanowire-based hot-carrier devices on a wide-bandgap semiconductor to show that plasmonic carrier generation is proportional to internal field-intensity enhancement and occurs independently of bulk absorption. We also show that plasmon-induced hot electrons have higher energies than carriers generated by direct excitation and that reducing the barrier height allows for the collection of carriers from plasmons and direct photoexcitation. Our results provide a route to increasing the efficiency of plasmonic hot-carrier devices, which could lead to more efficient devices for converting sunlight into usable energy.en_US
dc.identifier.citationZheng, Bob Y., Zhao, Hangqi, Manjavacas, Alejandro, et al.. "Distinguishing between plasmon-induced and photoexcited carriers in a device geometry." <i>Nature Communications,</i> 6, (2015) Macmillan Publishers Limited: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8797.
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms8797en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/81705
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherMacmillan Publishers Limited
dc.rightsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material.en_US
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_US
dc.subject.keywordphysical sciencesen_US
dc.subject.keywordnanotechnologyen_US
dc.subject.keywordoptical physicsen_US
dc.titleDistinguishing between plasmon-induced and photoexcited carriers in a device geometryen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpublisher versionen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Thumbnail Image
Name:
ncomms8797.pdf
Size:
1.02 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Article
Download
Thumbnail Image
Name:
ncomms8797-s1.pdf
Size:
1.16 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Supplementary Information
Download
Collections
Faculty Publications
ECE Publications
Physics and Astronomy Publications