Surface plasmon resonance mediated photoluminescence properties of nanostructured multicomponent fluorophore systems

The interaction between light and matter is the fundamental aspect of many optoelectronic applications. The efficiency of such devices is mainly dictated by the light emitting properties of fluorophores. Unfortunately, the intensity of emission is adversely affected by surface defects, scattering and chemical instability. Therefore, enhancing the luminescence of fluorophores is necessary for better implementation of nanocomposites in biological and optical applications. There are many interesting phenomena which can be observed if the characteristics of the fluorophores and metal nanoparticles are integrated. Photoluminescence (PL) by fluorophores can be enhanced or quenched by the presence of neighboring plasmonic metal nanostructures. An unambiguous study of the mechanism behind the enhancement and the quenching of emission is necessary to obtain new insight into the interactions between light and metal-fluorophore nanocomposites. In this review the core aspect of combining plasmonic metal nanostructures with fluorophores is discussed by considering various functional roles of plasmonic metals in modifying the PL properties reported by various research groups. A few representative applications of SPR mediated luminescence are also discussed.