Fig. 5
Geometry dependence of nonthermal hot electron generation. Nonthermal carrier generation rates for the ten displayed nanoparticle configurations are plotted with their corresponding plasmon resonance wavelengths, which are labeled and color-coded for clarity. Red text corresponds to gap plasmon resonances. Geometries employing Ag exhibit higher rates than Au owing to lower damping and a longer momentum relaxation time, and generation through gap excitation is shown to be much more efficient than bare nanoparticle resonances. In all cases the nanoparticle volume was fixed at (150 nm)3, corresponding to a diameter of 185 nm for the nanospheres and a 340 nm length (100 nm edge) for the nanorod. In the nanopatch geometries (5, 7–10) an Al2O3 spacer was employed with the corresponding thickness labeled
