Hot-Carrier Generation in Plasmonic Nanoparticles: The Importance of Atomic Structure.

ABSTRACT: Metal nanoparticles are attractive for plasmon-enhanced generation of hot carriers, which may be harnessed in photochemical reactions. In this work, we analyze the coherent femtosecond dynamics of photon absorption, plasmon formation, and subsequent hot-carrier generation through plasmon dephasing using first-principles simulations. We predict the energetic and spatial hot-carrier distributions in small metal nanoparticles and show that the distribution of hot electrons is very sensitive to the local structure. Our results show that surface sites exhibit enhanced hot-electron generation in comparison to the bulk of the nanoparticle. Although the details of the distribution depend on particle size and shape, as a general trend, lower-coordinated surface sites such as corners, edges, and {10

SUBMITTER: Rossi TP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7458472 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature