Tunable Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance and Broadband Visible Photo-response of Cu Nanoparticles/ZnO Surfaces.

Plasmonic Cu nanoparticles (NP) were successfully deposited on ZnO substrates by atomic layer deposition (ALD) owing to the Volmer-Weber island growth mode. An evolution from Cu NP to continuous Cu films was observed with increasing the number of ALD cycles. Real and imaginary parts of the NP dielectric functions, determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry using an effective medium approach, evidence a localized surface plasmon resonance that can be tuned between the visible and near infrared ranges by controlling the interparticle spacing and size of the NP. The resulting Cu NP/ ZnO device shows an enhanced photo-response under white light illumination with good responsivity values, fast response times and stability under dark/light cycles. The significant photocurrent detected for this device is related with the hot electron generation at the NP surface and injection into the conduction band of the ZnO. The possibility of tuning the plasmon resonance together with the photo-responsivity of the device is promising in many applications related with photo-detection, photonics and photovoltaics.