Plasmon enhanced luminescence from fullerene molecules excited by local electron tunneling.
Tunneling electrons from a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) induce luminescence from C(60) and C(70) molecules forming fullerene nanocrystals grown on ultrathin NaCl films on Au(111). Intramolecular fluorescence and phosphorescence associated with the transitions between the lowest electronic excited state and ground state of C(70) molecules are identified, leading to unambiguous chemical recognition on the nanoscale. Moreover we demonstrate that the molecular luminescence is selectively enhanced by localized surface plasmons in the STM tip-sample gap.
Rossel
Frédéric
F
Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institut de Physique des Nanostructures, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. frederic.rossel@epfl.ch
Pivetta
Marina
M
Patthey
François
F
Schneider
Wolf-Dieter
WD
D004583:Electrons; D037741:Fullerenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000379:methods*; D008422:Materials Testing; D012666:Semiconductors; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000379:methods*
D037741:Fullerenes