Absorption Enhancement in Peridinin-Chlorophyll-Protein Light-Harvesting Complexes Coupled to Semicontinuous Silver Film

Plasmonics. 2012 Mar;7(1):115-121. doi: 10.1007/s11468-011-9283-7. Epub 2011 Aug 24.

Abstract

We report on experimental and theoretical studies of plasmon-induced effects in a hybrid nanostructure composed of light-harvesting complexes and metallic nanoparticles in the form of semicontinuous silver film. The results of continuous-wave and time-resolved spectroscopy indicate that absorption of the light-harvesting complexes is strongly enhanced upon coupling with the metallic film spaced by 25 nm of a dielectric silica layer. This conclusion is corroborated by modeling, which confirms the morphology of the silver island film.