Symmetry breaking in ligand-protected gold clusters probed by nonlinear optics. Issue 24 (6th June 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Van Steerteghem, Nick; Van Cleuvenbergen, Stijn; Deckers, Steven; Kumara, Chanaka; Dass, Amala; Häkkinen, Hannu; Clays, Koen; Verbiest, Thierry; Knoppe, Stefan
• Is Part Of: Nanoscale. Volume 8:Issue 24(2016)
• Page Start: 12123
• Page End: 12127
• Publication Date: 2016-06-06
• Subjects: Nanoscience -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; 620.505
• DOI: 10.1039/c6nr02251k
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2040-3364

Abstract

Abstract : Strategies for symmetry breaking in monolayer-protected gold clusters were explored and probed using second-order nonlinear scattering. Abstract : The first hyperpolarizabilities of [Au25 (SR)18 ] −1/0 and Au38 (SR)24 clusters were determined by Hyper-Rayleigh Scattering. A strong dependence on the molecular symmetry was observed, and we explore two strategies to destroy the center of inversion in [Au25 (SR)18 ] −1/0, protection by chiral ligands and alloying of the cluster with silver. This may open new avenues to applications of Au : SR clusters in second-order nonlinear optics.