Synthesis and surface plasmon resonance of Au–ZnO Janus nanostructures

Metal–semiconductor Janus nanostructures with asymmetry and directionality have recently aroused significant interest, both in fundamental light–matter interactions mechanism and in technological applications. Here we report the synthesis of different Au–ZnO Janus nanostructures via a facile one-pot colloid method. The growth mechanism is revealed by a series of designed synthesis experiments. The light absorption properties are determined by both the decrease of dipole oscillations of the free electrons and the plasmon-induced hot-electron transfer. Moreover, the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation method is used to elucidate the electric field distributions of these Janus nanostructures.