Modified Absorption and Emission Properties Leading to Intriguing Applications in Plasmonic–Excitonic Nanostructures
Vishal Kumar, Nisika Nisika, Mukesh Kumar
Abstract
Abstract Hybrid nanostructures composed of metal and semiconducting nanocrystals have drawn tremendous attention owing to their extraordinary absorption and emission properties. The energy transfer in metal–semiconductor hybrids as a result of synergetic plasmon–exciton interactions leads to numerous applications in the field of solar energy harvesting, photocatalytic reactions, imaging, photonics, sensing, and many more. Various breakthroughs in advanced characterization techniques over the past decade have disclosed several factors affecting the energy transfer processes leading to modified absorption and emission properties in metal–semiconductor hybrids. Herein, various theoretical and experimental methodologies are summarized, covering numerous advancements in metal–semiconductor nanostructures with greater emphasis on identifying parameters such as nanostructure size, shape, surface, distance between nanocrystals, and many more, which influence the optical properties of these hybrid nanocrystals. In addition, the impact of these parameters on the performance of various applications is also illuminated. Several challenges and future opportunities in the field are discussed, that will not only increase the performance and practicality of current applications, but also pave the way for future applications.