Strong coupling between plasmons and optical modes, such as waveguide or resonator modes, gives rise to a splitting in the plasmon absorption band. As a result, two new hybrid modes are formed that exhibit near-field enhancement effects. These hybrid modes have been exploited to improve light absorption in a number of systems. Here we show that this modal strong coupling between a Fabry-Pérot nanocavity mode and a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) facilitates water splitting reactions. We use a gold nanoparticle (Au-NP)/TiO/Au-film structure as a photoanode. This structure exhibits modal strong coupling between the Fabry-Pérot nanocavity modes of the TiO thin film/Au film and LSPR of the Au NPs. Electronic excitation of the Au NPs is promoted by the optical hybrid modes across a broad range of wavelengths, followed by a hot electron transfer to TiO. A key feature of our structure is that the Au NPs are partially inlaid in the TiO layer, which results in an enhancement of the coupling strength and water-oxidation efficiency. We observe an 11-fold increase in the incident photon-to-current conversion efficiency with respect to a photoanode structure with no Au film. Also, the internal quantum efficiency is enhanced 1.5 times under a strong coupling over that under uncoupled conditions.

The generation of ammonia from atmospheric nitrogen and water using sunlight is a preferable approach to obtaining ammonia as an energy carrier and potentially represents a new paradigm for achieving a low-carbon and sustainable-energy society. Herein, we report the selective conversion of dinitrogen into ammonia through plasmon-induced charge separation by using a strontium titanate (SrTiO3) photoelectrode loaded with gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) and a zirconium/zirconium oxide (Zr/ZrOx ) thin film. We observed the simultaneous stoichiometric production of ammonia and oxygen from nitrogen and water under visible-light irradiation.

We have successfully developed a plasmon-induced technique for ammonia synthesis that responds to visible light through a strontium titanate (SrTiO3) photoelectrode loaded with gold (Au) nanoparticles. The photoelectrochemical reaction cell was divided into two chambers to separate the oxidized (anodic side) and reduced (cathodic side) products. To promote NH3 formation, a chemical bias was applied by regulating the pH value of these compartments, and ethanol was added to the anodic chamber as a sacrificial donor. The quantity of NH3 formed at the ruthenium surface, which was used as a co-catalyst for SrTiO3, increases linearly as a function of time under irradiation with visible light at wavelengths longer than 550 nm. The NH3 formation action spectrum approximately corresponds to the plasmon resonance spectrum. We deduced that plasmon-induced charge separation at the Au/SrTiO3 interface promotes oxidation at the anodic chamber and subsequent nitrogen reduction on the cathodic side.

Metallic nanoparticles such as silver and gold show localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs), which are associated with near-field enhancement effects in the vicinity of nanoparticles. Therefore, strong light-matter interaction is induced by the near-field enhancement effects of LSPRs. Because the resonant wavelength of LSPRs can be easily controlled by the size and shape of the metallic nanoparticles in the visible and near-infrared wavelength range, LSPRs have received considerable attention as optical antennae for light energy conversion systems such as solar cells. LSPRs decay very quickly as a result of light scattering and excitation of electron-hole pairs in the metal itself. However, in addition to the near-field enhancement effect, this light scattering and electron-hole pair excitation, which are known to cause loss of LSPRs, can be utilized as a solar cell enhancement mechanism. Here, we focus on plasmonic solid-state solar cells. The mechanisms of the light scattering by LSPRs, near-field enhancement, and plasmon-induced charge separation based on electron-hole pair excitations can be clarified. We review the related studies from the viewpoint of these mechanisms rather than material science.

A plasmon-induced water splitting system that operates under irradiation by visible light was successfully developed; the system is based on the use of both sides of the same strontium titanate (SrTiO3) single-crystal substrate. The water splitting system contains two solution chambers to separate hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2). To promote water splitting, a chemical bias was applied by regulating the pH values of the chambers. The quantity of H2 evolved from the surface of platinum, which was used as a reduction co-catalyst, was twice the quantity of O2 evolved from an Au-nanostructured surface. Thus, the stoichiometric evolution of H2 and O2 was clearly demonstrated. The hydrogen-evolution action spectrum closely corresponds to the plasmon resonance spectrum, indicating that the plasmon-induced charge separation at the Au/SrTiO3 interface promotes water oxidation and the subsequent reduction of a proton on the backside of the SrTiO3 substrate. The chemical bias is significantly reduced by plasmonic effects, which indicates the possibility of constructing an artificial photosynthesis system with low energy consumption.

CoO is a promising hole-extracting layer (HEL) for inverted planar perovskite solar cells with device configuration ITO/CoO/CHNHPbI/PCBM/Ag. The devices fabricated according to a simple solution procedure showed the best photovoltaic performance attaining power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 14.5% under AM 1.5 G 1 sun irradiation, which is significantly superior to those of materials fabricated with a traditional HEL such as PEDOT:PSS (12.2%), NiO (10.2%), and CuO (9.4%) under the same experimental conditions. We characterized the chemical compositions with XPS, crystal structures with XRD, and film morphology with SEM/AFM techniques. Photoluminescence (PL) spectra and the corresponding PL decays for perovskite deposited on varied HEL films were recorded to obtain the hole-extracting characteristics, for which the hole-extracting times show the order CoO (2.8 ns) < PEDOT:PSS (17.5 ns) < NiO (22.8 ns) < CuO (208.5 ns), consistent with the trend of their photovoltaic performances. The reproducibility and enduring stability of those devices were examined to show the outstanding long-term stability of the devices made of metal oxide HEL, for which the CoO device retained PCE ≈ 12% for over 1000 h.

We report here, for the first time, kinetic control of the face-direction of cyclodextrin (CD) in the construction of a pseudo-rotaxane with an alkyl chain bearing pyridyl end caps. The yields of complexes of CDs with guest alkyl derivatives were controlled by the simple change of the position and the number of methyl groups bound to the pyridyl moiety. Single-substituted pyridyl groups attached to the ends of the alkyl chain regulated the rate for CDs passing them. Two methyl substituents could clearly govern the degree of complex formation of CD with guest molecules and resulted in the distinction of face-direction of CD molecules entering the gates at guest ends.

Strong coupling between two resonance modes leads to the formation of new hybrid modes exhibiting disparate characteristics owing to the reversible exchange of information between different uncoupled modes. Here, we realize the strong coupling between the localized surface plasmon resonance and surface plasmon polariton Bloch wave using multilayer nanostructures. An anticrossing behavior with a splitting energy of 144 meV can be observed from the far-field spectra. More importantly, we investigate the near-field properties in both the frequency and time domains using photoemission electron microscopy. In the frequency domain, the near-field spectra visually demonstrate normal-mode splitting and display the extent of coupling. Importantly, the variation of the dephasing time of the hybrid modes against the detuning is observed directly in the time domain. These findings signify the evolution of the dissipation and the exchange of information in plasmonic strong coupling systems and pave the way to manipulate the dephasing time of plasmon modes, which can benefit many applications of plasmonics.