Plasmonics (2014) 9:859–866
DOI 10.1007/s11468-014-9682-7
Plasmonic Enhanced Optoelectronic Devices
Zhiqiang Liang & Jun Sun & Yueyue Jiang & Lin Jiang &
Xiaodong Chen
Received: 8 January 2014 / Accepted: 23 January 2014 / Published online: 14 February 2014
# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014
Abstract Plasmonic metal nanostructures have recently
attracted extensive research and developed into a promise
approach for enhancing the performance of various optoelec-
tronic devices. This brief article reviews recent research ad-
vances on the plasmonic enhanced optoelectronic devices and
highlights a variety of strategies of incorporating plasmonic
nanostructures into different optoelectronics such as solar
cells, light-emitting diode, and multicolor photodetector, etc.
In addition, the benefits of using various plasmonic metal
nanostructures are discussed and the resulting enhancement
mechanisms are displayed and summarized.
Keywords Plasmonics . Metal nanostructure . Nanoantenna .
Optoelectronic device . Light harvesting
Introduction
Plasmonics encompass the science and application of noble-
metal structures that guide and manipulate visible light at
nanoscale lengths—structures which are much smaller than
the wavelength of light. Thus, plasmonics are expected to be
the key nanotechnology that will combine electronic and
photonic components on the same chip [1–6]. The plasmonic
Z. Liang : J. Sun : L. Jiang (*)
Institute of Functional Nano and Soft Materials (FUNSOM),
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon Based Functional Materials
and Devices and Collaborative Innovation Center of Suzhou Nano
Science and Technology, Soochow University, Suzhou,
Jiangsu 215123, China
e-mail: ljiang@suda.edu.cn
Y. Jiang : X. Chen (*)
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang
Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798, Singapore
e-mail: chenxd@ntu.edu.sg
properties are sensitive to changes in the local dielectric envi-
ronment, which are directly related to the size, shape, and
spacing of the used metal nanostructures [7–9]. The excitation
of surface plasmons can generate intense local electromagnet-
ic fields which show various promising applications in chem-
ical and biological sensing and imaging techniques [10–16],
waveguides [17, 18], superlenses [19, 20], light harvesting
[21–23], metamaterials [24–26], optoelectronics [27], as well
as in catalysis [28]. The incorporation of metal nanostructures
into optoelectronic devices is believed to be the most promis-
ing approach to enhance the device performance without
increasing the size of the devices [2, 29–32]. Up to now, a
surge of progresses have been made towards plasmonic en-
hanced optoelectronic devices, for instance in solar cells [30,
33, 34], photodetectors [35, 36], and light-emitting diodes
[32]. The metal structures act as nanoantennas in order to
control or tune the device performance. In this review, we
focus on recent advances in plasmonic enhanced optoelec-
tronic devices based on light harvesting effects of the plas-
monic metal nanostructures.
Surface Plasmon Resonance
Generally, plasmonic systems use two different types of sur-
face plasmon resonances (SPR) inducing by the coupled
electromagnetic radiation as illustrated in Fig. 1, named as
propagating plasmons and localized surface plasmons
[37–40]. For the first type of surface plasmon polaritons
(SPP), the plasmons propagate along the metal–dielectric
interface (in x- and y-directions), whereas the plasmons decay
in the z-direction evanescently [41, 42]. Compared to SPPs,
localized surface plasmons resonances (LSPR) has higher
intensities and spatial resolution. Additionally, LSPR offers a
better tunability of the optical properties by altering the type of
metal, size, shape, and the dielectric environment [43].
860
Fig. 1 Schematics for the two main ingredients of plasmon resonance:
top propagating surface plasmon polaritons along the dielectric–metal
interface; and bottom localized surface plasmons on the surface of a metal
nanoparticles. In both cases electric fields are generated. Reproduced with
permission from Reference [38]
When light interacts with a particle which is much smaller
than the wavelength, its conduction electrons can be displaced
from their nuclei. Hence, opposite charges will be build up on
the particle’s surface which acts as a restoring force for the
oscillating electrons. Such oscillations are maximized when
the frequency of light matches the inherent oscillating fre-
quency of the nanoparticles. The position, intensity, and width
of the LSPR band depends on the materials of the used
nanoparticles, their sizes, and shapes, as well as on the char-
acteristics of their local dielectric environment [44]. In this
regard, the design and fabrication of new plasmonic nano-
structures would have deeply impact on the development of
new approaches for plasmonic enhanced devices and on its
efficiency [45–47].
Plasmonic Enhanced Devices Based on the Nanoantenna
Effect of Plasmonic Structures
Plasmonic photovoltaics are one of the most exciting fields in
nanophotonics at the moment [48–51]. In 1998, Stuart and
Hall observed 20-fold enhanced photocurrent at the wave-
length of 800 nm when silver nanoparticles were deposited
onto silicon [52]. This was the earliest idea of using plasmonic
resonances to manipulate light and improve the absorption in
Plasmonics (2014) 9:859–866
semiconductor materials. Recently, it has been found that the
plasmonic metal nanostructures can enhance the photo ab-
sorption and the generated photocurrent, which has emerged
to a promising candidate to enhance the performance of op-
toelectronic devices [53–55], for example in solar cells [34,
56–58], photodetectors [59–63], and light-emitting diodes
[64].
Solar Cells
Plasmonic metal nanostructures have become exceedingly
attractive due to their high potentials to enhance the light
harvesting and, thus, the performance of inorganic solar cells
like in Si photovoltaics, GaAs, CdSe/Si, InGaN/GaN, and
InP/InGaAsP [65], polymer solar cells (PSCs) [29, 30,
66–68], and dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) [14, 69–71].
Among the abovementioned solar cells, PSCs have recently
attracted extensive interests in the research as a potential
source for renewable and clean energy source alternatives. In
contrast to conventional silicon-based solar cells, PSCs have
the advantages of low-cost, light-weight, mechanical flexible,
and solution processable by roll-to-roll type processing tech-
niques. The most efficient and popular PSCs design concept is
based on the polymer donor and fullerene acceptor bulk-
heterojunction (BHJ) active layer sandwiched between a hole
conducting layer on the top of a transparent anode and a
cathode. The BHJ active layer, achieved by blending the
polymer donor and fullerene acceptor in solvent, maximizes
the interfacial donor/acceptor area to provide more exciton
dissociation sites to generate more charge carries and forms
continuous pathways to the device electrodes for an efficient
collection of both electrons and holes. However, one of the
critical problems which limit the device performance of PSCs
based on the BHJ active layer is insufficient light absorption.
The thickness of these active layers is typically about 100 nm
and result in poor light absorption which is determined by the
tradeoff between the amount of optical absorption and the low
charge mobility of BHJ active layer [72, 73]. Therefore, an
enhancement of light absorption of the active layer with a
specific limited thickness is essential to overcome this limita-
tion and obtain a breakthrough in the efficiency of PSCs.
Recently, it has been reported that the usage of plasmonic
metal nanostructures is believed to be a promising approach to
enhance the light absorption/harvesting properties of BHJ
active layers in a PSC without increasing its thickness [34,
66, 67, 74]. Plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) can offer three
main configurations in thin film solar cells, which enhance the
absorption of the incident light (Fig. 2) [75]. First, plasmonic
metal nanoparticles with diameters larger than 50 nm can be
used as a light scattering substance, where incident light is
coupled or trapped in the thin absorbing semiconductor layer
due to scattering effects (see Fig. 2a). In this case, the light
absorption is enhanced by an increase of optical path length
Plasmonics (2014) 9:859–866
Fig. 2 Plasmonic light-trapping geometries for thin-film solar cells. a
Light trapping by scattering from metal nanoparticles at the surface of the
solar cell. Light is preferentially scattered and trapped into the semicon-
ductor thin film by multiple and high-angle scattering, causing an increase
in the effective optical path length in the cell. b Light trapping by the
excitation of localized surface plasmons in metal nanoparticles embedded
inside the photoactive layer of the solar cells. Secondly, plas-
monic metal nanoparticles with diameters in the range of 5–
20 nm can be used as the antennas, which create regions with
intensive electric fields due to LSPR excitations (see Fig. 2b).
In this configuration, the nanostructures are close to the
photoactive layer in order to enhance the effective light ab-
sorption in the photoactive layer. Thirdly, plasmonic metallic
nanostructures placed at the backside of the surface in the
form of periodically arranged nanoarrays which can couple
Fig. 3 TEM image of Au a
nanostars, c nanorods, e
nanospheres, and the UV–vis
absorption spectra of b nanostars,
d nanorods, f nanospheres
colloids in aqueous medium,
respectively. Reproduced with
permission from Reference [86]
861
in the semiconductor. The excited particles’ near-field causes the creation
of electron–hole pairs in the semiconductor. c Light trapping by the
excitation of surface plasmon polaritons at the metal/semiconductor
interface. A corrugated metal back surface couples light to surface plas-
mon polariton or photonic modes that propagate in the plane of the
semiconductor layer. Reproduced with permission from Reference [75]
the incident light into a SPP mode in the semiconductor. Then,
the light propagates in the plane of the semiconducting layer
until it is completely absorbed by the active medium (see
Fig. 2c). By using plasmonic metallic nanostructures in these
three configurations, it is possible to achieve a broadband,
polarization- and angle-independent light absorption enhance-
ment. In this case, the plasmonic assisted solar cell has the
potential to significantly improve its light harvesting proper-
ties, and, thus, its power conversion efficiency.
862 Plasmonics (2014) 9:859–866

Two main routes of plasmonic effect have been applied to
PSCs, which are fabricate periodic metal nanoarrays or
nanogating to trigger surface plasmon polaritons along the
metal–dielectric interface, and incorporate noble metallic
(mainly gold or silver) NPs to generate LSPR [76–79]. The
latter is more attractive due to that the incorporation of metal
NPs in the PSCs is solution processable, which make it
technically feasible and full compatibility with roll-to-roll
processing techniques [67]. Generally, the main strategies of
incorporation plasmonic metal NPs in PSCs to enhance the
light harvest, include the disperse of random plasmonic metal
NPs into the active layer, buffer layers, or interfaces within the
PSCs structure [34]. It should be noted that the distance
between the metal NPs and active layer is an essential factor
to effectively utilize the LSPR effect. Ostrowski et al. demon-
strated that the interaction between SPR and excitons expo-
nentially decrease with an increasing distance between the
metallic NPs and the active layer [80]. To maximize the LSPR
effect of the light-trapping of the active layer, the metal NPs
should be located at a position close to the active layer or
directly dispersed into the active layer. However, excitons
quenching and rapid recombination of photo-generate charge
carries will occur by non-radiative energy transfer when the
active layer directly contact with the metal NPs [81–83].
Focusing the LSPR effect of noble metal nanoparticles for
light-trapping effectively, it is generally necessary to coat the
bare noble metallic nanoparticles with surfactants. This in-
hibits a reaction of metal NPs with dielectric environment and,
thus, eliminates the exciton quenching by avoiding a direct
contact between NPs and the active layer. It has been demon-
strated that coating metal NPs with a metal oxide layer (main-
ly SiO2 and TiO2) to form a core/shell structure is beneficial to
thermal and chemical stability and can effectively inhibit the
charge recombination within the NPs and photo-generate
excitons quenching [29, 34, 67, 71, 84, 85].
Besides the size, type of metal, and the dielectric environ-
ment, the shape of metal NPs also strongly influence the
LSPR effect [30, 81, 85, 86]. Compared to the metal NPs with
a spherical shape, NPs with sharp features such as rodlike and
stallar geometries, show a much stronger LSPR effect (Fig. 3).

Fig. 4 An optical antenna-diode

for photodetection. a Band
diagram for plasmonically driven
internal photoemission over a
nanoantenna-semiconductor
Schottky barrier. b Representation
of a single Au resonant antenna
on an n-type silicon substrate. c
Scanning electron micrograph of
a representative device array prior
to ITO coating, imaged at a 65°
tilt angle. d Photocurrent spectra
extracted fit with Lorentzian
curves (solid lines). e
Corresponding calculated
absorption spectra. Reproduced
with permission from Reference
[59]
Plasmonics (2014) 9:859–866 863

As a result, a greater contribution to the enhancement of the
light absorption of PSCs and consequently enhance the device
performance have been obtained [86]. Yamada group has
investigated the plasmonic Ag NPs with cubical shapes for
enhancing the light harvest of PSCs devices [87]. The authors
found that Ag NPs with cubical shapes provided a higher light
absorption enhancement than those of Ag nanospheres with
same size. Park group has also investigated the LSPR effects
of Ag NPs with a plate shape in PSCs [88]. They found that
the Ag NPs with anisotropic shapes show a higher absorption
and consequently a better device performance than those of
Ag nanospheres of the same size in PSCs devices. In addition,
Yang group has demonstrated that the extinction peak wave-
length of active layer-incorporated metal NPs should spectral-
ly match the wavelength regions of poor active layer light
absorption to maximize an enhancement of the light-trapping
of active layer [34].
Multicolor Photo Detection Device
Recently, an increasing number of studies have evaluated the
use of metal nanoparticles in plasmonic enhanced photocur-
rent generation. Nanoantennas are key optical components for
light harvesting [89–91]. Some researchers have proposed a
charge-transfer mechanism due to the localization of the elec-
tromagnetic field by LSPR excitation.
Halas group developed an active optical antenna device
which can convert light into a current of electrons for
photodetection (Fig. 4a) [60]. Optically excited plasmons
can produce electron–hole pairs within the metal nanostruc-
ture. The photocurrent can be generated when the photon
energies are higher than the Schottky barrier height.
Figure 4b and c is an optical diode device shown which
consists of an array of gold nanorods. In this setup, the gener-
ated photocurrent is directly related to the plasmonic properties
of the nanorods with different geometries. Both the experimen-
tal spectrum and simulated absorption, spectrum exhibit sim-
ilar peak locations and a linear redshift with increasing aspect
ratio of the nanorods (Fig. 4d and e). Bonnell group has also
demonstrated that hot electrons can be extracted from plas-
monic particles and can be directed into a molecular electronic
device [35]. As a consequence, the enhanced photocurrent
shows a temperature and wavelength dependence resulting
from the plasmonic particle size and separation.
It is well known that plasmonic nanostructures can be
readily created to exhibit distinct resonance frequencies by
controlling the nanostructure size, shape, and periodicity. This
can selectively amplify the photoresponse of the device to-
wards light with different wavelengths which enables a highly
specific detection of multicolors. Duan group reported about a
dramatic enhancement of the overall quantum efficiency and
spectral selectivity which enables a multicolor photo detection
by coupling graphenes with plasmonic nanostructures [59].
The graphene devices coupled with different nanoparticle
structure array (Fig. 5) exhibit a corresponding photo-
response peak to the consistent maximum sensitivity of the
wavelength of light source. Furthermore, this confirms a plas-
monic enhancement effect and demonstrates that the

Fig. 5 Multi-color photodetection

using graphene devices coupled
with different plasmonic
nanostructures. a Dark-field image
of a 50×50 μm2 area of 18-nm
diameter nanoparticle array
obtained by thermally annealing
4 nm Au thin film. b Scanning
electron microscopy image of a
representative device with the
nanoparticle array, and c the
corresponding spectral response of
the photocurrent enhancement; d,
e, f 50-nm diameter 30-nm height
nanodisk array; g, h, i 100-nm
diameter 30-nm height nanodisk
array; j, k. l 100-nm length, 50-nm
width, and 30-nm height nanorod
array. Scale bars are 10 μm in a, d,
g, and j and 400 nm in b, e, h, and
k. The plasmonic nanostructures in
d, g, and j are obtained by using e-
beam lithography to define Au
patterns. Reproduced with
permission from Reference [36]
864
multicolor photo detection can be achieved by coupling the
graphene devices with different plasmonic nanostructures.
Light-Emitting Diodes
In spite of many advantages regarding the development of
GaN-based light emitting diodes (LED), the overall quantum
efficiency (IQE) is still low in conventional quantum well
(QW) structures [92]. Okamoto et al. first exploited an effi-
ciency enhancement of InGaN QW-based LEDs by using
surface plasmons [93]. When the resonant frequency of the
silver overlaps with the emission frequency of the InGaN
QWs, the energy, which is coupled to the surface plasmon
mode, is significantly increased and thus the IQE is enhanced
[94]. Kwon et al. demonstrated for the first time a plasmonic
enhanced InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) blue
LED with a Ag nanoparticles (NPs) layer inserted between the
n-GaN layer and the MQW layer (Fig. 6) [32]. By incorpo-
rating an embedded Ag NPs layer, the optical output of LEDs
was enhanced by 32.2 % at an input current of 100 mA, and
the PL decay time measured by time resolved PL in the
presence of Ag NPs is significantly reduced. The authors
attributed the increase of spontaneous emission rate to the
energy transfer between the QW light emitter and the surface
plasmons of the Ag NPs [32]. Among the various techniques
to enhance the performance of LEDs, the methods based on
LSPR effect of plasmonic metallic nanostructures are believed
to be promising [43].
Moreover, the plasmonic effect excited by metallic nano-
structures is also becoming one of the most attractive ap-
proaches for light emission enhancement in organic light
emitting diodes (OLEDs) through the coupling with localized
surface plasmon resonance and the emission energy [32, 64,
95, 96]. For example, Koo et al. have demonstrated that the
light extraction efficiency of OLEDs can be enhanced by a
quasi-periodic buckling structure with broad distribution and
Fig. 6 Schematic 3D representation of a InGaN/GaN LED with embed-
ded Ag nanoparticles [32]
Plasmonics (2014) 9:859–866
directional randomness [95]. Furthermore, they found the
diffraction of the surface plasmon mode produces polarized
conversion from a transverse magnetic mode to a transverse
electric mode [97].
Summary and Outlook
Recent advances of plasmonic enhanced devices for various
functional applications have been summarized in the previous
sections. The integration of plasmonic structures into photo-
voltaic devices provides a promising way to enhance the
efficiency of the devices. In order to achieve the best enhanc-
ing effect, optimizing the size, shape, and array of metal
structure is a key factor. The ways of incorporating plasmonic
metallic nanostructures into devices and identification of suit-
able fabrication parameters with good reproducibility is an-
other key factor. These possibilities would allow completely
new designs and fabrication techniques which would result in
higher efficiencies, sensitivities, and, consequently, in more
promising applications of the devices.
Acknowledgments This work was supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (Project Code, 21373144), and the National
Research Foundation of Singapore (CREATE Programme of
Nanomaterials for Energy and Water Management and NRF-RF2009-
04). This is also a project supported by the Natural Science Foundation of
Jiangsu Province (Project Code, SBK201341597).
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