Self-aligned epitaxial metal-semiconductor hybrid nanostructures for plasmonics

We demonstrate self-alignment of epitaxial Ag nanocrystals on top of low-density near-surface InAs quantum dots (QDs) grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The Ag nanocrystals support a surface plasmon resonance that can be tuned to the emission wavelength of the QDs. Photoluminescence measurements of such hybrid metal-semiconductor nanostructures reveal large enhancement of the emission intensity. Our concept of epitaxial self-alignment enables the integration of plasmonic functionality with electronic and photonic semiconductor devices operating down to the single QD level. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3596460]