Surface plasmon induced photoluminescence enhancement in the Au–ZnS nanocomposite

Abstract In this study, we prepared a novel Au–ZnS nanocomposite by simple homogeneous precipitation at room temperature. It is found that the defect emission (around 490 nm) from ZnS is dramatically tailored by the presence of Au nanoparticles. Specifically, the photoluminescent performance of this structure is strongly influenced by the size and concentration of Au cores and the surfactant. When the Au core is 12 nm and the mass fraction of Au is 0.050%, an enhancement of up to 38.5% in the photoluminescent intensity was observed. This enhancement is attributed to energy transfer from ZnS to Au followed by a large local electromagnetic field on or near the surface of the Au nanoparticles.