Plasmons Enhancing Sub-Bandgap Photoconductivity in TiO<inf>2</inf> Nanoparticles Film

Ibrahem, Mohammed A.; Verrelli, Emanuele; Adawi, Ali M.; Bouillard, Jean Sebastien G.; O’Neill, Mary

Abstract

The coupling between sub-bandgap defect states and surface plasmon resonances in Au nanoparticles and its effects on the photoconductivity performance of TiO2 are investigated in both the ultraviolet (UV) and visible spectrum. Incorporating a 2 nm gold nanoparticle layer in the photodetector device architecture creates additional trapping pathways, resulting in a faster current decay under UV illumination and a significant enhancement in the visible photocurrent of TiO2, with an 8-fold enhancement of the defects-related photocurrent. We show that hot electron injection (HEI) and plasmonic resonance energy transfer (PRET) jointly contribute to the observed photoconductivity enhancement. In addition to shedding light on the below-band-edge photoconductivity of TiO2, our work provides insight into new methods to probe and examine the surface defects of metal oxide semiconductors using plasmonic resonances.

Citation

Ibrahem, M. A., Verrelli, E., Adawi, A. M., Bouillard, J. S. G., & O’Neill, M. (2024). Plasmons Enhancing Sub-Bandgap Photoconductivity in TiO2 Nanoparticles Film. ACS Omega, 9(9), 10169–10176. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c06932

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 24, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Feb 20, 2024
• Publication Date: Mar 5, 2024
• Deposit Date: Mar 26, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 27, 2024
• Journal: ACS Omega
• Print ISSN: 2470-1343
• Electronic ISSN: 2470-1343
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 9
• Pages: 10169–10176
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.3c06932
• Keywords: Analytical apparatus; Metal nanoparticles; Oxides; Photonics; Plasmonics
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4577600