LAUSR

Abstract A simple, convenient, and surfactant free synthesis technique for Au nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in ZnO matrix is reported. At room temperature, a dramatic eight times enhancement of the deep level emission (DLE) in contrast to near band edge (NBE) emission was seen as compared to the pristine ZnO NPs with part per billion by weight (ppbw) addition of metal (~165 ppbw). The findings point to the feasibility of surface plasmons aided enhancement of green light emission. The relative variation of NBE and DLE of Au-ZnO has been explored to elucidate the origin of green emission and the enhancement of its intensity with the ppbw addition of metal. The observations open so far, an unexplored avenue of tuning the surface plasmon aided green emission of ZnO and its application for the integrated circuit, the formation of the nano-sized emitter at the visible region, visible light emitting diodes, sensors, and display system.