Electronically Driven Fragmentation of Silver Nanocrystals Revealed by Ultrafast Electron Crystallography

TL;DR

This study uses ultrafast electron diffraction to reveal how silver nanocrystals undergo nonthermal fragmentation driven by surface plasmon resonance excitation, providing insights into their transient structural and electronic changes.

Contribution

It introduces a novel ultrafast electron diffraction approach to observe electronically driven nonthermal fragmentation in silver nanocrystals.

Findings

Identification of transient structural signatures of prefragmented state

Evidence of nonthermal fragmentation mechanism

Correlation between electronic excitation and nanocrystal breakup

Abstract

We report an ultrafast electron diffraction study of silver nanocrystals under surface plasmon resonance excitation, leading to a concerted fragmentation. By examining simultaneously transient structural, thermal, and Coulombic signatures of the prefragmented state, an electronically driven nonthermal fragmentation scenario is proposed.