Amorphous carbon-based films with surface-plasmon-enhanced full-color photoluminescence

A series of amorphous carbon-based films were deposited on the nanostructured Ag layers to observe surface plasmon (SP) enhanced photoluminescence (PL). The dependence of PL peak wavelength and intensity on the film composition and the nanostructure of the Ag layers were systematically investigated. The PL wavelength was tuned from 442 nm to 635 nm by varying the carbon content of the as-deposited carbon-based films. The nanostructure of Ag layers varied from nanoparticles (NPs) to continuous films via process control. With the SPs generated at the carbon-based film/Ag layer interface, the PL intensity was found to be significantly enhanced with a peak enhancement factor of 6, and the light emission range of the composite films was extended to 434–653 nm. The dependence of PL intensity on the spectral overlap between the carbon-based films and plasmon resonant Ag layers, Ag surface morphology and the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of the carbon-based films was discussed. The redshift of SP resonance with the increasing refractive index of the upper carbon-based films was observed.