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The colours of nanometric gold

Optical response functions of selected gold-cluster thiolates

  • Structure and Thermodynamics of Free Clusters
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Abstract.

A set of broad-range NIR-vis-UV optical absorption spectra, measured for selected gold-cluster thiolate compounds (GCTs, containing ~20 to 300 Au atoms), is consistently displayed and then analyzed within the dielectric-functions approach. The size-evolution toward `bulk' (Au diameter >3-nm) optical response is thereby clearly demonstrated. The emergence of apparent energy gaps, Eon, for onset of optical absorption, as well as other fine-structure, is consistent with that of a well-quantized metallic electronic structure for the compounds' cores: the onset-band's location Eon and intensity are attributed semiclassically to a circulation-frequency resonance of the Fermi-level electrons. With decreasing cluster-size, an increasing fraction of the integrated (sum-rule) intensity is `missing' from the <4 eV region. This might be explained by the outermost layer consisting of Au(I)thiolate complexes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332-0400, USA

    R. B. Wyrwas, M. M. Alvarez, J. T. Khoury, R. C. Price, T. G. Schaaff & R. L. Whetten

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  1. R. B. Wyrwas
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  2. M. M. Alvarez
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  3. J. T. Khoury
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  4. R. C. Price
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  5. T. G. Schaaff
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  6. R. L. Whetten
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Correspondence to R. L. Whetten.

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Wyrwas, R., Alvarez, M., Khoury, J. et al. The colours of nanometric gold. Eur. Phys. J. D 43, 91–95 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2007-00117-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2007-00117-6

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