Günter Schmid | Searcharxiv

arXiv2011

Possible Origin of the Anomalous Far-infrared Absorption by Small Metal Particles

We have carried out the far-infrared transmission measurements on the ligand stabilized Au55 particles dispersed in CsI. We have found that there exists the crossover energy Ec ~ 160 cm -1 (~ 19 meV) beyond which the absorption coefficient recovers the classical electric dipole-like absorption and, hence, the absorption for frequencies higher than Ec is insensitive to the particle size. We propose that the physical origin of the enigmatic anomalous far-IR absorption by small metal particles lies in the absorption arising from the transitions the electrons between the discrete energy levels below Ec on which the particle size independent, classical electric dipole absorption develops for frequencies higher than Ec.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Measurement of the Energy Gap of Au55 Nanoparticles Using Far-infrared Transmission Spectroscopy

We have carried out far-infrared (far-IR) transmission measurements on the ligand stabilized Au55 nanoparticles dispersed in Teflon at volume fractions ranging from 0.2% to 1%. Instead of a series of peaks which might arise from the electron transition between discrete energy levels, we have observed a broad far-IR absorption coefficient that follows with an onset at Δ ~ 10 cm-1. Furthermore this frequency dependence is totally different from that of the expected absorption due to the induced electric dipole. The onset of the absorption reminiscent of an energy gap at ~ 10 cm-1 (~ 1. 2 meV) is surprisingly smaller than that of the expected for a metal sphere of 5.3 Å in radius and independent of temperature. In this work we did not observe the level correlation effect on the far-IR absorption predicted for an ensemble of metal nanoparticles. It is concluded that Au55 nanoparticles behave like a three-dimensional (3D) semimetal with an energy gap Δ ~ 10 cm-1 rather than a giant atom.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗