Photoluminescence enhancement of carbon dots by Ag nanoparticles in thin-film hybrid structures

Abstract

The plasmon enhancement of carbon dots (CDs) photoluminescence (PL) in thin-film structures with metal nanoparticles is of interest in their practical applications in sensors and light-emitters. This paper investigates CDs in the thin-film structures with nanogranulated silver films with different thickness. CDs in an aqueous solution were precipitated by spin-coating over the surface of annealed Ag films coated previously by a polymer layer. The IR, optical density and PL spectra of free-CDs and in thin-film structures with Ag films were studied. The PL intensity enhancement of CDs was demonstrated in the thin-film structures with Ag films due to absorption cross-section enhancement and the action of the Purcell effect. The improvement of thin-film structures producing technology will contribute to PL enhancement of CDs and the development of new thin-film sensors, light-emitters and other devices on their base.

Stereometric and fractal analysis of granulated silver films used in thin‐film hybrid structures

“…The usage of plasmonic nanostructures allows to control emission linewidth, peak and intensity of CdSe/ZnS semiconductor quantum dots (Soganci et al ., 2007; Chan et al ., 2009; Ahmed et al ., 2012; Wang et al ., 2015). The electronic structure of amorphous hydrogenated carbon in the thin‐film structures with Au nanoparticles (NPs) (Konshina et al ., 2018; Konshina et al ., 2019) and Ag NPs (Khmelevskaya et al ., 2018; Konshina et al ., 2019; Shcherbinin et al ., 2019; Konshina et al ., 2020; Shmagina et al ., 2020) affects the blue shift and intensity of the plasmon band in the optical density spectra. The intensity of dipole and quadrupole mode peaks increased in the optical density spectra after annealing of the hybrid structures at 200°C.…”

“…The effect of excitons–plasmon interaction of semiconductor nanoparticles and amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a‐C:H) with plasmonic nanostructures on the enhancement of their photoluminescence was shown in (Khmelevskaya et al ., 2018; Konshina et al ., 2019; Konshina et al ., 2020). Plasmon‐enhanced luminescence of carbon dots was also observed in hybrid structure with Ag NPs (Shmagina et al ., 2020).…”

“…Varying morphology of metal island films enables to control the characteristics of localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). The variation of LSPR is very important for thin‐film hybrid structures with semiconductor and dielectric materials (Khmelevskaya et al ., 2018; Konshina et al ., 2019; Konshina et al ., 2019; Shcherbinin et al ., 2019; Konshina et al ., 2020; Shmagina et al ., 2020). As known, the optical properties of plasmonic nanoparticles strongly depend on nanostructures morphology.…”