Plasmonic Fabry–Pérot nanocavities produced via solution methods

Abstract

Plasmonic nanomaterials have garnered considerable attention in the scientific community due to their applicability in light-mediated technologies, owing to tunability, large optical cross-sections and scalability. Plasmonic nanoparticles with uniform morphology exhibit substantial optical cross-sections but limited energy absorption windows, reducing effectiveness for applications using polychromatic illumination like sunlight. Integrating plasmonics electrodes with a Fabry–Pérot nanocavity is a promising approach to broaden the absorption energy range of single morphology particles. Traditionally, the fabrication of these nanocavities involves clean room processes, posing scalability challenges and limiting the materials' scope. This study presents a successful approach for enhancing light absorption in a plasmonic photoelectrode system through a Fabry–Pérot nanocavity created using bottom-up solution methods. This approach technique overcomes some of the existing scalability issues while enabling the fabrication of a photocathode that can be rendered semitransparent or opaque. Such versatility opens up many application possibilities for these photosystems, from photocatalysis to optical devices.