Photoinduced charge separation based on localized surface plasmon resonance (i.e. plasmon-induced charge separation, PICS), proceeds at the interface between gold, silver, or copper nanoparticle and semiconductor such as TiO
2. PICS, which is often confused with, but different from the metal co-catalyst effect and the plasmonic enhancement effect, is caused by electron injection from resonant plasmonic metal nanoparticle to a semiconductor. Applications of PICS include photovoltaic cells, photodiodes, photoconductive devices, photocatalysts, chemical sensors, surface patterning techniques, photochromic materials, holographic memories, and photoactuators.
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