Localized surface plasmon resonance enhanced ultraviolet emission and F-P lasing from single ZnO microflower

In this work, monodispersed ZnO microflowers are fabricated by a vapor phase transport method, and Au nanoparticles (NPs) are directly decorated on the surface of the ZnO microflowers. The micro-photoluminescence of a single ZnO microflower demonstrates that the near band-edge emission is tremendously enhanced while the defect-related emission is completely suppressed after Au decoration. The average enhancement factor reaches up to 65 fold. The enhancement mechanism is assumed to be the electron transfer from excited Au NPs to the ZnO microflower induced by the localized surface plasmon resonance based on the time-resolved photoluminescence. The enhanced F-P lasing from a single ZnO sample is further realized. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.