Plasmon-Induced Hot Carriers Transport in Metallic Ballistic Junctions

The recent surge of theoretical research and experimental effort to devise plasmon-induced hot-carrier devices for radiation harvesting relies on the capability to separate charges at metal-semiconductor interfaces; however, the demand for momentum conservation of hot carriers at these interfaces sets an inherent limit to the quantum yield of such devices, making them currently less efficient than commonly used solar cells. Here we report experiments that suggest that ballistic whole-metal plasmon-induced hot carriers junctions based on atomic contacts could potentially be as efficient as semiconductor-based photovoltaic devices.