Time-domain investigation of the acoustic vibrations of metal nanoparticles: size and encapsulation effects

Aurélien Crut; Paolo Maioli; Natalia Del Fatti; Fabrice Vallée

doi:10.1016/j.ultras.2014.02.013

Time-domain investigation of the acoustic vibrations of metal nanoparticles: size and encapsulation effects

Ultrasonics. 2015 Feb:56:98-108. doi: 10.1016/j.ultras.2014.02.013. Epub 2014 Mar 12.

Authors

Aurélien Crut¹, Paolo Maioli², Natalia Del Fatti², Fabrice Vallée²

Affiliations

¹ FemtoNanoOptics Group, Institut Lumière Matière UMR5306, Université Lyon 1-CNRS, 69622 Villeurbanne, France. Electronic address: aurelien.crut@univ-lyon1.fr.
² FemtoNanoOptics Group, Institut Lumière Matière UMR5306, Université Lyon 1-CNRS, 69622 Villeurbanne, France.

PMID: 24656934
DOI: 10.1016/j.ultras.2014.02.013

Abstract

The acoustic vibrations of single-metal and multi-material nanoparticles are studied by ultrafast pump-probe optical spectroscopy and described in the context of the continuous elastic model. The applicability of this model to the small size range, down to one nanometer, is discussed in the light of recent experimental data and ab initio calculations. Investigations of multi-material nano-objects stress the impact of the intra-particle interface on the characteristics of their vibrational modes, also yielding information on the composition and spatial distribution of the constituting materials.

Keywords: Acoustic vibrations; Metal nanoparticles; Pump–probe; THz domain; Ultrafast spectroscopy.