Fast electronic relaxation in metal nanoclusters via excitation of coherent shape deformations: Circumventing a bottleneck

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dc.creatorKresin, Vitaly V.
dc.creatorOvchinnikov, Yu. N.
dc.date2005-12-22
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T06:56:20Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T06:56:20Z
dc.descriptionElectron-phonon relaxation in size-quantized systems may become inhibited when the spacing of discrete electron energy levels exceeds the magnitude of the phonon frequency. We show, however, that nanoclusters can support a fast nonradiative relaxation channel which derives from their distinctive ability to undergo Jahn-Teller shape deformations. Such a deformation represents a collective and coherent vibrational excitation and enables electronic transitions to occur without a multiphonon bottleneck. We analyze this mechanism for a metal cluster within the analytical framework of a three-dimensional potential well undergoing a spheroidal distortion. An expression for the time evolution of the distortion parameter is derived, the electronic level crossing condition formulated, and the probability of electronic transition at a level crossing is evaluated. An application to electron-hole recombination in a closed-shell aluminum cluster with 40 electrons shows that the short (~250 fs) excitation lifetime observed in recent pump-probe experiments can be explained by the proposed mechanism.
dc.description21 pages
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0512222
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0512222
dc.identifierPhys. Rev. B 73, 115412 (2006)
dc.identifierdoi:10.1103/PhysRevB.73.115412
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/106597
dc.subjectAtomic and Molecular Clusters
dc.subjectMesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
dc.titleFast electronic relaxation in metal nanoclusters via excitation of coherent shape deformations: Circumventing a bottleneck
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