Cu–Ag alloy for engineering properties and applications based on the LSPR of metal nanoparticles
Chao-chao Jian, Jianqi Zhang, Xiangchao Ma
Abstract
become larger than that of single Cu and Ag across the whole energy range between 1.5 and 3.2 eV. In contrast, intra-band electron transition rates of Cu-Ag alloys become smaller than that of single Cu and Ag. Because the intra-band electron transitions mainly contribute to the resistive loss in metals, which finally results in a thermal effect rather than high-energy hot carriers, the reduction of intra-band electron transitions in Cu-Ag alloy is beneficial for the transforming the energy absorbed by LSPR into high-energy hot carriers through other non-radiative channels. These results indicate that alloying of Ag and Cu can effectively improve the generation rates of high-energy hot carriers through the inter-band electron transition, but decrease the resistive loss through intra-band transition of electrons, which should be used as a guide in optimizing the non-radiative decay processes of LSPR.