Transparent Conductive Oxides as Near-IR Plasmonic Materials for Energy Conversion

Using first principles calculations, we investigate the origin of near-infrared plasmonic activity in M-doped ZnO, one of the most promising transparent conductive oxide (TCO) materials. Our results [1-2] predict realistic values for the plasma frequency and the free electron density as a function of the M-doping, in agreement with recent experimental results. Then we characterize the plasmon properties of In-doped nanowires that have been envisaged as plasmonic nanoparticles for energy conversion applications. \\[4pt] [1] A. Calzolari, et al., ACS Photonics 1, 703 (2014).\\[0pt] [2] M. Bazzani, et al., APL. 98, 121907 (2011)