LAUSR

ABSTRACT In this work, double plasmon resonances in hybrid structures comprising Ag nanoparticles (NPs) and amorphous hydrogenated carbon films (a-C:H) have been studied. Granulated silver films with a gravimetric thickness of 10 nm were thermally deposited on top or underneath a-C:H films fabricated by plasma-assisted chemical vapour deposition on a quartz substrate. Two plasmon bands with comparable intensities have been observed in the hybrid structures optical density spectrum after annealing at 200°C. On the other hand, in the absence of the amorphous hydrogenated carbon film the short-wavelength peak in the optical density spectrum of the same Ag film is hardly observable. In addition, plasmon-enhanced photoluminescence of the a-C:H film being excited close to the spectral dip at the wavelength of 405 nm was observed. The nature of double plasmon resonance spectra were discussed and explained by the resonance interaction of plasmons excited in Ag NPs with excitons in a-C:H. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT