Surface plasmon coupled emission (SPCE) is a novel analytical technique in which the isotropic emission of a fluorophore is combined with the surface plasmon resonance of a Ag (or Au) thin film to yield highly directional emission from the so-called plasmaphore and thus greatly increased sensitivity. Here we report a 40-fold amplification of rhodamine B (RhB) fluorophore when graphene is used as the spacer layer in a conventional Ag-based SPCE setup. In addition to protecting the Ag thin film from oxidation, the highly impermeable graphene facilitated π–π stacking interactions with the RhB molecules that resulted in an efficient radiated emission from the plasmaphore. In addition, we found that the plasmaphore emission was more sensitively dependent on the in-plane crystallinity (measured by coherence length L a) of the graphene spacer layer than its thickness. This study describes the unique features of graphene as a spacer layer for SPCE-based analytical platforms and its potential applications in chem-bio sensing and detection.

The metal‐oxide semiconductors exhibit remarkable optoelectronic properties and have immense implication in applications involving energy conversion, light emission, environmental remediation, etc. The presence of metal nanostructures in titanium dioxide (TiO2), zinc oxide metal‐oxide semiconductors have enhanced the photo‐activity, due to the plasmon resonances and are predominantly researched for organic and perovskite photovoltaics. Generally, the metal nanoparticle dopants are introduced by methods like sputtering, sol–gel, etc. However, compared with conventional doping methods, ion‐implantation technique is a purely physical process, and a high controllability and repeatability can be achieved. Here, the current status of synthesis of nanocomposites in TiO2‐based photo‐anodic applications by ion‐implantation method is reviewed, and there is no elaborate review on this topic. Finally, the future prospects of ion‐implantation technique for controlling the excitonic behavior in TiO2 are discussed.