Plasmonic enhancement of UV emission from ZnO thin films induced by Al nano-concave arrays

Abstract

Surface plasmons (SPs) supported by Al nano-concave arrays with increasing interpore distance (Dc) were used to enhance the ultraviolet light emission from ZnO thin films. Two sets of samples were prepared: in the first set the thin ZnO films were deposited directly on Al nanoconcaves (the Al/ZnO samples) and in the second set a 10nm − Al2O3 spacer was placed between the textured Al and the ZnO films (the Al/Al2O3-ALD/ZnO samples). In the Al/ZnO samples the enhancement was limited by a nonradiative energy dissipation due to the Ohmic loss in the Al metal. However, for the ZnO layer deposited directly on Al nanopits synthesized at 150V (Dc=333±18nm), the largest 9-fold enhancement was obtained by achieving the best energy fit between the near band-edge (NBE) emission from ZnO and the λ(0,1) SPP resonance mode. In the Al/Al2O3-ALD/ZnO samples the amplification of the UV emission was smaller than in the Al/ZnO samples due to a big energy mismatch between the NBE emission and the λ(0,1) plasmonic mode. The results obtained in this work indicate that better tuning of the NBE − λ(0,1) SPP resonance mode coupling is possible through a proper modification of geometrical parameters in the Al/Al2O3-ALD/ZnO system such as Al nano-concave spacing and the thickness of the corresponding layer. This approach will reduce the negative influence of the non-radiative plasmonic modes and most likely will lead to further enhancement of the SP-modulated UV emission from ZnO thin films.