Probing polarization modes of Ag nanowires with hot electron detection on Au/TiO2 nanodiodes

We report the effect of surface plasmons of silver nanowires (AgNWs) on the generation of hot electrons. The AgNWs were deposited on ultra-thin Au/TiO2 Schottky nanodiodes using a spraying method. As surface coverage of the AgNWs on the thin gold film increased, the short-circuit current under illumination increased, showing the effect of the AgNWs on the energy conversion efficiency. Detection of the hot electron flow enhanced by the AgNWs on the Au/TiO2 nanodiodes provides evidence of transverse (3.28 eV) and bulk silver (3.52 eV) plasmon modes that were confirmed by the measurement of the absorbance spectra of the AgNWs. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4799156]