Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 March 2011
The photoluminescence intensity from a bis (2,2'-bipyridine)-(5-isothiocyanato-phenanthroline) Ruthenium (RuBICP) monolayer covalently bound to a glass substrate is found to be enhanced up to 20 times when silver nanoparticles are deposited on top. The emission spectra are blue shifted by interactions with the silver nanoparticles. Field enhancement is found to be able to enhance the radiative decay rate by over three orders of magnitude but fewer than 2 % of the molecules in the sample experience this large enhancement. Increased absorption rates also increase the luminescence but to a much smaller degree.