Localized surface plasmons and hot electrons

- Plasmon excitation in noble metal nanoparticles can generate hot electrons.
- Theory provides insight into energy and abundance of plasmon-generated hot carriers.
- Plasmon-generated hot electrons can produce photocurrent in photodiode devices.
- Plasmon-generated hot carriers assist chemical reactions such as water splitting.
- Hot carriers can be spatially localized with super-resolution imaging techniques.

The ability of plasmonic devices to generate hot electrons has the potential to move chemical manufacturing outdoors by harnessing photon energy and converting it to useful chemical energy. By using localized surface plasmons to generate hot carriers in noble metal nanostructures, visible light can produce energetic electrons (or holes) which drive chemical reactions or create a light-induced photocurrent. Within this Perspective, we look into recent theory of plasmonic hot electron generation and how the underlying nanoparticle structure influences both the number and energy of the hot carriers produced. Applications in photodiodes and photocatalysis are highlighted to demonstrate potential device opportunities for plasmon-generated hot electrons. Super-resolution imaging studies, in which the location of hot carrier production in hybrid plasmonic-semiconductor devices is spatially localized to <10 nm, are also presented.