Dual optical functionality of local surface plasmon resonance for RuO2 nanoparticle–ZnO nanorod hybrids grown by atomic layer deposition

Abstract

We demonstrate that a hybrid nanostructure consisting of a RuO2 nanoparticle (NP)–ZnO nanorod confers dual local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) enhancement of ultraviolet (UV) light emission and increase of visible light absorption. A RuO2 NP–ZnO nanorod hybrid was fabricated by an atomic layer deposition method. The size and compositional control of the RuO2 NP allowed (i) visible light absorption increase by the LSPR effect and (ii) proper interfacial electronic alignment of the RuO2–ZnO nanojunction, leading to LSPR coupling with UV light emission enhancement. Based on the combined LSPR effect factor, the dual functionality of LSPR was maximized with 10–20 nm sized RuO2 NPs. These results suggest that a sophisticated design of the nanostructure material heterointerface enables LSPR enhancement of both light harvesting and emission.