Metal-Enhanced Surface Plasmon-Coupled Phosphorescence

In this paper, we report the first observation of metal-enhanced surface plasmon-coupled phosphorescence (ME-SPCP) from 2,3,7,8,12,17,18-octaethyl-21H,23H-porphyrin platinum II (PtOEP) immobilized in 1% poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) films on 47 nm continuous gold films coated with 20 and 80 nm silver colloids. In addition to the free space intensity enhancements, increased photostability decay rates, and additional short lifetime components for glass and gold substrates treated with silver colloids, we also observe a pronounced intensity enhancement and photostability of the SPCP signal from the PtOEP/PVC sample on the 47 nm Au films coated with 80 nm Ag colloids. In contrast, we observe a minor enhancement of the SPCP signal from the Au films coated with only 20 nm Ag colloids. The SPCP enhancement from the PtOEP complexes in 1% PVC films on Au films coated with Ag colloids is the first observation of ME-SPCP. In addition, we note the observation of two populations of near-field-induced plasmons: those facilitating ME-SPCP and noncoupled metal-enhanced free space phosphorescence.