Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Absorption Generated by Free Carriers in Zn‐Doped CuGa1−xZnxO2 Nanoplates

Abstract

This study reports the synthesis of Zn‐doped hexagonal CuGaO2 (CGO) nanoplates (NPs) and CuGa1−xZnxO2 NPs/ZnO nanowires (NWs) array heterostructures through a hydrothermal method. Remarkably, the absorption properties of CuGa1−xZnxO2 NPs show three absorption regions which can be ascribed to the direct bandgap absorption, defect level absorption, and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) absorption. A dramatically increased LSPR absorption peak is induced by Zn‐doped CGO NPs fabricated in high precursor concentration conditions, and the absorption intensity of infrared region is increased by almost 13 times compared with pure CGO NPs. The hole carrier concentration of CuGa1−xZnxO2 NPs is estimated to be about 1021 cm−3 by the Drude model. Furthermore, the photoluminescence (PL) properties of CuGa1−xZnxO2 NPs/ZnO NWs heterojunctions under different Zn doping ratios have been studied, a further red‐shift appears in PL spectra with increasing Zn doping ratio. Combined with optical properties and facile processing method, these solution‐processed CuGa1−xZnxO2 NPs may offer a scalable and printable material solution for optoelectronic devices and nonlinear optics.