Effect of Substrate on Surface Plasmon Resonance of PLD Grown Silver Nanoparticles

Present work discusses the importance of substrate for desired plasmonic responses. Silver nanoparticles are deposited on silica and zinc oxide substrate by pulsed laser deposition system. SEM, EDAX, XRD and UV-visible spectroscopy are used to study the effect of substrate on surface plasmon resonance of silver nanoparticles. A shift in resonance wavelength is observed for two substrates with a visible change in the intensity of the surface plasmons. Nanoparticles deposited on silica substrate show sharp SPR in comparison to nanoparticles deposited on zinc oxide. Nanoparticles deposited on ZnO cover a wide absorption spectrum in comparison to nanoparticles deposited on silica substrate. This generic study can be very helpful for design considerations of various plasmonic structures for photovoltaic applications.