Near-band-edge emission enhancement and suppression of the deep levels in Ga-doped ZnO via surface plasmon-exciton coupling without a dielectric spacer

Abstract

We presented the experimental and theoretical investigations of the surface plasmon-exciton coupled photoluminescence characteristics of Ga-doped Zinc Oxide (GZO) in Ag/GZO and Au/GZO nanostructures. An eightfold enhancement of the near-band-edge (NBE) emission with suppression of deep levels has been achieved without insertion of a dielectric spacer. The suppression of deep level emission makes these nanostructures useful for visible blind photodetectors. The experimental room temperature photoluminescence consequences pointed that the plasmon-exciton coupling contributed to the enhancement of the radiative recombination rate at the NBE in the metal–semiconductor architecture.