No abstract

We report an experimental and a theoretical study of the radial elasticity of multiwalled carbon nanotubes as a function of external radius. We use atomic force microscopy and apply small indentation amplitudes in order to stay in the linear elasticity regime. The number of layers for a given tube radius is inferred from transmission electron microscopy, revealing constant ratios of external to internal radii. This enables a comparison with molecular dynamics results, which also shed some light onto the applicability of Hertz theory in this context. Using this theory, we find a radial Young modulus strongly decreasing with increasing radius and reaching an asymptotic value of 30+/-10 GPa.

We report on the optical response of size selected Ag2, Ag3, Au2, and Au3 embedded in argon matrices. Cluster samples were investigated in situ by excitation, fluorescence, and absorption spectroscopy. The spectra for the dimers are in agreement with previous measurements made on conventionally prepared matrices. Our previously reported spectra of trimers in krypton are confirmed by the argon results. The influence of the matrix gas will briefly be discussed.

We report on the successful ‘‘soft landing’’ of size selected silver dimers and trimers in solid krypton matrices. Silver cluster cations, produced by sputtering, were mass selected in a quadrupole mass filter and then codeposited with krypton on a cooled sapphire or CaF2 window in the presence of low energy electrons. Neutralized cluster samples were interrogated in situ by excitation and fluorescence spectroscopy. Deposition of slow (≤20 eV) silver dimer cations gave rise to strong excitation bands (centered at λ=275 and 390 nm) from Ag2 plus the characteristic triplet signal of the atom. The spectra imply that fewer than 25% of the dimers were fragmented during the neutralization and deposition steps. In similar experiments with Ag3 we were able to assign trimer absorption bands at 331, 364, 402, 421, 458, and 514 nm and identify characteristic emission features at 381, 560, and 626 nm.

The optical absorption of small mass selected Agn-clusters (n=8-39) embedded in solid Ar, Kr and Xe has been measured. Strong absorption has been found between 3 and 4.5 eV. The absorption spectra show 1 to 3 major peaks depending on the cluster size. The width of these peaks is smaller than in gas phase photodepletion experiments of silver ions, most likely due to the low and well defined temperature of the clusters in the matrix. The results are compared to a simple model based on a Drude metal, taking into account the spillout of the electrons and allowing for a deviation of the duster from a spherical shape. Absorption cross sections scale with the number of valence electrons.