title: Plasmon enhanced luminescence from fullerene molecules excited by local electron tunneling.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Institut de Physique des Nanostructures, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. frederic.rossel@epfl.ch
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rossel
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pivetta
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Patthey
authors.forename: Wolf-Dieter
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Schneider
mesh_terms: D004583:Electrons; D037741:Fullerenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D008163:Luminescent Measurements / Q000379:methods*; D008422:Materials Testing; D012666:Semiconductors; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D037741:Fullerenes