This article is cited in 56 papers

INSTRUMENTS AND METHODS OF INVESTIGATION

Photoemission from metal nanoparticles

I. E. Protsenko^ab, A. V. Uskov<sup>ba

a</sup> P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences
^b Plasmonics LLC

Abstract: The approach of A M Brodsky and Yu Ya Gurevich is generalized to photoemission from metal nanoparticles at the excitation of a localized plasmon resonance (LPR) in them. The cross section and the probability amplitude of photoemission from a nanoparticle are obtained analytically, taking into account the LPR excitation and the electromagnetic field and photoelectron mass changes at the metal–environment interface. An increase by two orders of magnitude in the photocurrent from a layer of Au nanoparticles to silicon compared to a bulk Au layer is predicted due to an increase in the electromagnetic field strength under the excitation of LPR and due to a significant part of the nanoparticle surface being nonparallel to the incident field polarization. Practicable applications of the results include improving the performance of photocells and photodetectors, and probably reducing the minimum photoeffect time.

PACS: 42.79.Pw, 79.60.Jv, 85.60.Gz, 88.40.hj

Received: March 22, 2011
Revised: June 10, 2011
Accepted: June 16, 2011

DOI: 10.3367/UFNr.0182.201205e.0543

 English version: Physics–Uspekhi, 2012, 55:5, 508–518

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