Six-fold plasmonic enhancement of thermal scavenging via CsPbBr3 anti-Stokes photoluminescence

One-photon up-conversion, also called anti-Stokes photoluminescence (ASPL), is the process whereby photoexcited carriers scavenge thermal energy and are promoted into a higher energy excited state before emitting a photon of greater energy than initially absorbed. Here, we examine how ASPL from CsPbBr3 nanoparticles is modified by coupling with plasmonically active gold nanoparticles deposited on a substrate. Two coupling regimes are examined using confocal fluorescence microscopy: three to four Au nanoparticles per diffraction limited region and monolayer Au nanoparticle coverage of the substrate. In both regimes, CsPbBr3 ASPL is blue-shifted relative to CsPbBr3 deposited on a bare substrate, corresponding to an increase in the thermal energy scavenged per emitted photon. However, with monolayer Au nanoparticle coverage, ASPL is enhanced relative to the conventional Stokes-shifted PL. Together, these phenomena result in a 6.7-fold increase in the amount of thermal energy extracted from the system during optical absorption and reemission.