Abrupt Plasmonic Activation of Photoionization Rates in Quantum Dot Solids

We study emission of thin film quantum dot solids as a function of intensity of an illuminating laser field when they are deposited on substrates containing gold nanoparticles. Our results show that at a given intensity of this laser the plasmonically enhanced emission of such solids starts to decline abruptly, making them inefficient emitters. We show that such a process is caused by sudden activation of photoionization processes in such structures. For this, we demonstrate how the combined effects of the heat generated by the metallic nanoparticles and plasmons lead to the collapse of the electrostatic barrier (Coulomb blockage) responsible for suppression of such processes in quantum dot solids. The results highlight the strong dependency of plasmonic emission enhancement of such solids on the exciting light source intensity and demonstrate the limits where the impacts of plasmonic field enhancement can be harvested.

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