Harnessing plasmonic hot carriers for energy transfer applications
Abstract: Landau damping of surface plasmons generates hot electron-hole pairs, which carry an initial energy equal to the plasmon quanta before relaxation. These hot carriers hold the promise for nonthermal pathways for photoelectric conversion and photocatalytic reactions. Despite decades of experimental and theoretical efforts, the mechanism and the precise role of the plasmonic hot carriers have not been well understood.