Plasmon-Induced Charge Transfer: Challenges and Outlook

The decay of a surface plasmon, a collective electron oscillation at the surface of a metal, can generate hot charge carriers that may be transferred to an adjacent semiconductor. This plasmon-induced charge transfer process can be used to enhance photocatalysis, to create photodetectors, or to drive selective photochemistry. However, the charge transfer efficiency in many fabricated devices remains too low for practical applications, typically <1%. In this Perspective, I discuss critical aspects of designing plasmonic systems for improved performance and highlight important findings for maximizing the transfer efficiency. In particular, I draw attention to the article by Ma and Gao in this issue of ACS Nano that describes using real-time time-dependent density functional theory to give a detailed and informative look at the charge transfer dynamics at a TiO₂-Ag nanocluster interface.