Photodesorption of atoms from metal particles with visible laser light

Abstract

The interaction of small metal particles on surfaces with low-intensity laser light gives rise to an interesting new photodesorption process. Atoms are ejected after excitation of a surface plasmon oscillation in the metal particles. The effect offers the possibility to manipulate a particle size distribution on the surface in a well-defined way. First results show that even a considerable narrowing of a distribution can be achieved. The experimental results reported here include measurements of the desorption rate as a function of irradiation time for fixed laser wavelength and intensity, and for a specific initial particle size distribution. In addition, a model for the narrowing of the size distribution has been developed. Good agreement with experiment is found.