Degenerately Doped Metal Oxide Nanocrystals for Infrared Light Harvesting: Insight Into their Plasmonic Properties and Future Perspectives

Abstract

The tuneability of localized surface plasmon resonace (LSPR) of degenerately doped metal oxides (MOXs) nanocrystals (NCs ) over a wide range of infrared (IR) region via controlling NCs size and doping content offer a unique opportunity to develop future generation optoelectronics and photonic devices like IR photodetectors, sensors etc. The central aim of this review article is to highlight the distinct and remarkable plasmonic properties of degenerately or heavily doped-MOXs nanocrystals via reviewing comprehensive literature reported so far. Particularly, literature of each MOXs NCs i.e. ZnO, CdO, In2O3, and WO3 doped with different dopants discussed separately. In addition to the discussion on most commonly used colloidal synthesis approaches, the ultrafast dynamics of charge carriers in NCs and extraction of LSPR assisted- hot carriers are also discussed in detail. Finally, the future perpective applications of MOXs NCs in IR photodetector and photovoltaic (PV) self-powered chemical sensor are also presented.