Fabrication of surface metal nanoparticles and their induced surface plasmon coupling with subsurface InGaN/GaN quantum wells.

Based on the fabrication of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) with controlled geometry and surface density on an InGaN/GaN quantum well (QW) epitaxial structure, which contains indium-rich nano-clusters for producing localized states and free-carrier (delocalized) states in the QWs, and the characterization of their localized surface plasmon (LSP) coupling behavior with the carriers in the QWs, the interplay behavior of LSP coupling with carrier delocalization in the QWs is demonstrated. By using the polystyrene nanosphere lithography technique with an appropriate nanosphere size and adjusting the post-fabrication thermal annealing condition, the induced LSP resonance wavelength of the fabricated Ag NPs on the QW sample can match the QW emission wavelength for generating the coherent coupling between the carriers in the QWs and the induced LSP. The coupling leads to the enhancement of radiative recombination rate in the QWs and results in increased photoluminescence (PL) intensity, red-shifted PL spectrum, reduced PL decay time, and enhanced internal quantum efficiency. It is found that the observed effects are mainly due to the LSP coupling with the delocalized carriers in the QWs.