Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Ultrafast Optical Study Of Small Gold Monolayer Protected Clusters: A Closer Look At Emission, S. Hei Yau, O. Varnavski, John D. Gilbertson, Bert D. Chandler, G. Ramakrishna, T. Goodson

Chemistry Faculty Research

Monolayer-protected metal nanoclusters (MPCs) were investigated to probe their fundamental excitation and emission properties. In particular, gold MPCs were probed by steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopic measurements; the results were used to examine the mechanism of emission in relation to the excited states in these systems. In steady-state measurements, the photoluminescence of gold clusters in the range of 25 to 140 atoms was considerably stronger relative to larger particle analogues. The increase in emission efficiency (for Au₂₅, Au₅₅, and Au₁₄₀ on the order of 10^-5) over bulk gold may arise from a different mechanism …