Reactive Magnetron Sputtering of Large-Scale 3D Aluminum-Based Plasmonic Nanostructure for Both Light-Induced Thermal Imaging and Photo-Thermoelectric Conversion

摘要

Plasmonic nanostructures have attracted tremendous interest due to theirspecial capability to trap light, which is of great significance for manyapplications such as solar steam generation and desalination, electric powergeneration, photodetection, sensing, catalysis, cancer therapy, and photoacousticimaging. However, the noble metal-based (Au, Ag, Pd) plasmonicnanostructures with expensive costs and limitations to large-scale fabricationrestrict their practical applications. Here, a novel and noble-metal-free Al/AlN plasmonic nanostructure fabricated by a reactive magnetron sputteringat the elevated temperature of 200 ℃ is presented. The unique 3D Al/AlNplasmonic nanostructures show a highly efficient (96.8%) and broadband(full solar spectrum) absorption and a strong photothermal conversion effecton its surface, demonstrating the potential in applications in light-inducedthermal imaging and photo-thermoelectric power generation. This simplefabrication method and the developed Al/AlN plasmonic nanostructurecombine excellent light trapping performance, abundant and low-cost Al andN elements, good heat localization effect, and scalable fabrication method,suggesting a promising alternative to noble-metal plasmonic nanostructuresfor photonic applications.