Field enhancement at silicon surfaces by gold ellipsoids probed by optical second-harmonic generation spectroscopy

Abstract

Optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) spectroscopy has been used to determine the field enhancements from Au nanoparticles on a silicon substrate. Au particles with diameters from 30 to 250 nm have been deposited on a Si substrate passivated by a 1 nm thick surface oxide. The linear optical spectra are dominated by a horizontal plasmon resonance near 1.0 eV, and the experimental spectra are modelled by the island film model in order to extract the linear properties of the metal particles. SHG spectroscopy from this system shows resonances from the metal particles and from the silicon/oxide substrate. By following the evolution of these Si resonances with the size of the Au particles, the field enhancement in the Si surface has been modelled. The effect of the Au particles on SHG at the Si E1 resonance is a combination of charge transfer through the thin oxide that changes the space charge region and an enhancement of the optical field in a thin surface layer of the Si substrate.