Size and surrounding medium effects on plasmonic response of Au-Ag-Cu nanospheres

The possible synthesis of multimetallic nanostructures formed by combining the individual noble metals has attracted a considerable attention because of their improved optical response and cost-effectiveness. In this study, the plasmonic response of Au-Ag-Cu trimetallic nanospheres has been investigated by using discrete dipole approximation (DDA). The size, and surrounding medium-dependent optical parameters such as localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) wavelength, relative contribution of scattering in the extinction (scattering yield), and full width at half maximum (FWHM), have been calculated for their possible use in cost-effective plasmonic applications. These optical parameters can be tuned from 400 to 600 nm in the visible region of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum through change in size and surrounding medium. The calculated FWHM is enhanced more by trimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) than by individual and bimetallic NPs and, therefore, may be preferred for plasmonic solar cells in the visible region.