posted on 2024-02-29, 06:30authored byEn Cao, Xu Shi, Tomoya Oshikiri, Yen-En Liu, Quan Sun, Keiji Sasaki, Hiroaki Misawa
Plasmon-induced carrier transfer at metal/semiconductor
Schottky
junctions is a novel approach for photo energy conversion. Here, we
propose a strategy for improving electron transfer at the Au/TiO2 heterojunction by modifying the Au/TiO2 structures
under modal strong coupling conditions to demonstrate the efficacy
of our proposal. Via transient absorption measurements, we found that
the apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) of electron injection into TiO2 increased by ∼1.8-fold as the thickness of the Ti
layer increased from 0.5 to 5.0 nm under the modal strong coupling
conditions. This AQE enhancement was attributed to the energy transfer
from AuNDs to the Ti layer through the near-field, resulting in a
production of high-energy electrons in the Ti layer to inject into
the conduction band of TiO2, thereby improving the electron
transfer efficiency. Our observations offer valuable insight into
the future design of plasmonic devices aimed at efficiently utilizing
plasmon-induced hot carriers.