Abstract
We report a new effect, the ejection of atoms from metal particles if a surface plasmon oscillation is excited with laser light. The process is nonthermal and exhibits a resonant dependence of the photodesorption yield on the laser frequency. In contrast to earlier work the desorption is stimulated by visible light and with a low-power cw laser. Specifically, we have illuminated sodium particles (r = 10-150 nm) supported on a LiF single crystal in ultrahigh vacuum with light of an argon or krypton-ion laser and have detected sodium atoms photodesorbed from the particle surface with a mass spectrometer. To elucidate the kinetics of the process, the velocity distribution of the desorbing atoms was investigated with time-of-flight measurements. The effect described here is not only interesting for a detailed understanding of photodesorption phenomena1 but may also have important applications for the generation of clusters on surfaces with a very uniform size distribution and the production of thin metal films with a well-defined surface roughness.
© 1988 Optical Society of America
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