Plasmonic nanocomposites of zinc oxide and titanium nitride

The authors produce plasmonic ZnO-TiN nanocomposite films by depositing plasma-synthesized ZnO nanocrystals onto a substrate and then by infilling the nanocrystal network's pores with TiN via remote plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD). This ZnO-TiN nanocomposite exhibits a plasmonic resonance that is blueshifted compared to planar titanium nitride thin films. The authors study the effects of PEALD conditions and the ZnO film thickness on the plasmonic response of these nanocomposites and exploit the optimized film in a device that generates photocurrent at zero bias.