Abstract
We report on the experimental observation of photoconductivity (PC) in ultrathin (≈ 40 nm thick) ZrO2(Y) films with single layered arrays of Au nanoparticles (NPs) of 1 to 3 nm in diameter. The samples were prepared by the deposition of islanded Au films of ∼1 nm in thickness sandwiched between two ZrO2(Y) layers by Magnetron Sputtering followed by annealing. The effect of PC was attributed to the photoexcitation of the collective plasmon oscillations in dense Au NP arrays. The temperature dependencies and kinetics of PC have been studied. At 300 K, the PC has been found to originate mainly from heating of ZrO2(Y) due to plasmon optical absorption in Au NPs (the bolometric effect). At 77 K, the photoresponse has been attributed to plasmon-assisted electron transport between NPs via the vacancy α-band in ZrO2(Y) barriers.
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