Surface-Plasmon-mediated hot-electron generation and harvesting.

(a) A schematic of the hot electron injection from metal nanoparticles into a host semiconductor. (b) SP-induced energy distribution of the electrons in metal. (c) Photocurrent generation in metal-semiconductor PV devices via absorption of above- and below-gap photons. Below-gap photons generate hot electrons in metal, which can tunnel through the Schottky barrier into the semiconductor and contribute to the photocurrent. (d) Hot-electron-driven photocurrent generation in the metal-insulator-metal device. Figure 6 of "Plasmonic materials for energy: from physics to applications," Svetlana V. Boriskina, Hadi Ghasemi, Gang Chen, Materials Today, 10/2013; 16:379-390. DOI:10.1016/j.mattod.2013.09.003