The influence of localized plasmons on the optical properties of Au/ZnO nanostructures. Issue 26 (9th June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Viter, R.; Balevicius, Z.; Abou Chaaya, A.; Baleviciute, I.; Tumenas, S.; Mikoliunaite, L.; Ramanavicius, A.; Gertnere, Z.; Zalesska, A.; Vataman, V.; Smyntyna, V.; Erts, D.; Miele, P.; Bechelany, M.
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 3:Issue 26(2015)
• Page Start: 6815
• Page End: 6821
• Publication Date: 2015-06-09
• Subjects: Materials -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Optical materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Electronics -- Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c5tc00964b
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7526

Abstract

Abstract : We report on the influence of localized plasmons resonance on the dispersion function of Au layer and on the strong enhancement of the UV PL peak in the ZnO layer for Au/ZnO nanostructures synthesized by PVD/ALD. Abstract : Optical and structural experiments have been carried out on Si/ZnO thin films modified with ultra-thin gold layers of different thicknesses. ZnO was produced via Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and Au via Physical Vapor Deposition (sputtering). The structural properties of nanostructures were studied by XRD and AFM. Optical characterization was performed by absorbance, photoluminescence (PL) and spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). A transition from cluster-to-thin films with the increase of Au thickness has been revealed from an analysis of optical and structural parameters. The analysis of optical features of the system has shown that slight changes of the localized plasmon absorption peaks in spectra make a significant contribution to complex refractive index of gold film and, as a result, leads to a strong enhancement of UV PL peak in the ZnO layer. The mechanism of the tailoring of ZnO optical features changes by varying the Au layer thickness was discussed. Our studies have shown that through the changes of structural properties of thin gold layer between the Si substrate and the ZnO film, we can tune the optical dispersion of each layer and hence the control of ZnO PL spectra enhancement and quenching in UV-Vis wavelengths region is possible. In order to apply the hybrid structure under consideration in various optical applications, such as LED, the dispersion of the complex refractive index of the components should be optimized taking into account a particular target.