Surface plasmon coupled chemiluminescence from zinc substrates: Directional chemiluminescence

In this letter, the observation of surface plasmon coupled directional chemiluminescence (SPCC) from zinc thin films is reported. Fresnel calculations predict that light in the ultraviolet and visible spectral range can induce surface plasmon modes in 30 nm zinc thin films. Free-space emission from blue and green chemiluminescent solutions on zinc thin films was isotropic, and the SPCC emission was highly directional and p-polarized in accordance with the Fresnel calculations. In addition, the decay rates of the free-space and SPCC emission were similar, which suggests that zinc thin films have no catalytic effect on chemiluminescence.