Surface plasmon enhanced ultraviolet light-emitting devices

In this paper, n-ZnO/i-ZnO/MgO/p-GaN structured light-emitting devices have been designed and constructed, and Ag nanoparticles whose surface plasmon resonance absorption spectrum overlaps well with the electroluminescence (EL) of the structure were employed to improve the emission characteristics of the devices. A noticeable enhancement in the EL intensity has been obtained, and the enhancement can be attributed to the resonant coupling between the electron–hole pairs in the structure and the surface plasmons of the Ag nanoparticles. - Highlights: ► ZnO-based LEDs with emission at around 400 nm have been constructed. ► Ag nanoparticles were employed to improve the emission of the LEDs. ► A noticeable enhancement in the EL intensity has been obtained. ► The enhancement can be attributed to the coupling of the Ag surface plasmon modes.