Enhancement of ZnO light emission via coupling with localized surface plasmon of Ag island film

Enhancement of the light emission of ZnO films was observed by coupling through localized surface plasmons. By sputtering Ag islands onto ZnO films, their band gap emission coming through the Ag island films was enhanced by threefolds, while the defect emission was quenched. The enhancement was found to be mainly dependent on the sputtering time of the Ag islands, which is related to the island size. Furthermore, the relative spectral position between the ZnO emission band and the localized surface plasmon resonance bands of Ag islands was found to be decisive for the enhancement or quenching of photoluminescence, indicating that the emission intensity of ZnO films can be controlled by the Ag island size and the localized surface plasmon resonance band position.