Plasmon field effects on the nonradiative relaxation of hot electrons in an electronically quantized system: CdTe-Au core-shell nanowires.

The intense electromagnetic fields of plasmonic nanoparticles, resulting from the excitation of their localized surface plasmon oscillations, are known to enhance radiative processes. Their effect on the nonradiative electronic processes, however, is not as well-documented. Here, we report on the enhancement of the nonradiative electronic relaxation rates in CdTe nanowires upon the addition of a thin gold nanoshell, especially at excitation energies overlapping with those of the surface plasmon oscillations. Some possible mechanisms by which localized surface plasmon fields can enhance nonradiative relaxation processes of any quantized electronic excitations are proposed.