Promoting performance of generation and transport of hot carriers in metal/semiconductor junctions is critical for harvesting energy of hot carriers. However, the low injection efficiency of hot carriers generated in the commonly used noble metals su
ch as Au hinder the applications of hot-carrier devices. Here, we proposed that metallic TiN might be a better plasmonic material than the noble metals for generating and transporting hot carriers, based on first-principles calculations and Monte Carlo simulations. For the TiN/TiO2 junction, the concentration of hot carriers near the Fermi level is high, the lifetime and mean free path of the hot carriers are long, and the injection efficiency is large. The optimal injection efficiency could be achieved in a core/shell cylindrical TiN/TiO2 junction with the thickness of TiN ~ 5 nm and the incident photon energy ~ 0.6 eV.
