Direct observation of ultrafast charge transfer in relation to the surface enhanced Raman scattering activation detected by transient reflecting grating spectroscopy

Pseudocarbynes: Charge-Stabilized Carbon Chains

Carbyne is the long-sought linear allotrope of carbon. Despite many reports of solid carbyne, the evidence is unconvincing. A recent report of supposed carbyne shows gold clusters in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images. In order to determine the effects of such clusters, we performed ab initio calculations of uncapped and capped linear carbon chains and their complexes with gold clusters. The results indicate that gold dramatically alters the electron densities of the C≡C bonds. The resulting charge-stabilization of the carbon chains leads to pseudocarbynes. These findings are corroborated in calculations of the structures of crystals containing isolated carbon chains and those intercalated with gold clusters. Calculated Raman spectra of these pseudocarbynes with gold clusters are in better agreement with experiment than calculated spectra of isolated carbon chains. The current work opens the way toward the design and development of a new class of metal-intercalated carbon compounds.

Ultrafast and nonlinear surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

Ultrafast surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) has the potential to study molecular dynamics near plasmonic surfaces to better understand plasmon-mediated chemical reactions such as plasmonically-enhanced photocatalytic or photovoltaic processes. This review discusses the combination of ultrafast Raman spectroscopic techniques with plasmonic substrates for high temporal resolution, high sensitivity, and high spatial resolution vibrational spectroscopy. First, we introduce background information relevant to ultrafast SERS: the mechanisms of surface enhancement in Raman scattering, the characterization of plasmonic materials with ultrafast techniques, and early complementary techniques to study molecule-plasmon interactions. We then discuss recent advances in surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopies with ultrafast pulses with a focus on the study of molecule-plasmon coupling and molecular dynamics with high sensitivity. We also highlight the challenges faced by this field by the potential damage caused by concentrated, highly energetic pulsed fields in plasmonic hotspots, and finally the potential for future ultrafast SERS studies.

TDDFT Studies of Absorption and SERS Spectra of Pyridine Interacting with Au20

We present time dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations for a tetrahedral Au20 complex interacting with pyridine for the purpose of modeling absorption and surface enhanced Raman scattering, with emphasis on chemical and electrodynamic enhancement effects. These calculations are done using the ADF code with the BP86 functional, the zeroth-order regular approximation and with the resonant electronic response modeled using a short time approximation expression for the perturbed density matrix, with a damping factor that is empirically chosen. The absorption spectrum of bare Au20 shows strong intraband (sp-sp) and interband (sp-d) coupling with a low-energy peak at 2.89 eV that is mostly intraband and other peaks at 3.94 and 4.70 eV that have mixed intra- and interband character. SERS spectra are calculated for pyridine/Au20 for both vertex (V) and surface (S) configurations at their respective lowest energy absorption maxima (near 2.89 eV), and we find that the V configuration has higher intensities that correspond to SERS enhancements of 10(3)-10(4), whereas S has an enhancement of 10(2)-10(3). These enhancement values are significantly lower than the analogous results for pyridine/Ag20 primarily because of reduced oscillator strength associated with the intraband transition in Au20. Decomposition of the pyridine/Au20 enhancement factor into chemical and electromagnetic contributions (through an analysis of the static SERS intensities) shows enhanced chemical enhancements compared to Ag20 but reduced electromagnetic enhancements.

Binding Interactions and Raman Spectral Properties of Pyridine Interacting with Bimetallic Silver-Gold Clusters

The binding interactions between pyridine and bimetallic silver-gold clusters are investigated using density functional theory (DFT). The binding energies of pyridine-bimetallic cluster complexes indicate that the bonding depends strongly on the binding site (Au or Ag atom) and bonding molecular orbitals in a given configuration. The donation of the lone-pair electrons of the nitrogen of pyridine to an appropriate unoccupied orbital of each metal cluster plays an important role. The low-lying excited states and charge-transfer states of four stable complexes of interest are calculated on the basis of a time-dependent DFT method. In nonresonance Raman scattering processes, the influence of binding interactions on the relative Raman intensity of totally symmetric pyridine vibrational modes is discussed. These calculated relative Raman intensities are compared with observed surface-enhanced Raman spectra of pyridine adsorbed on silver-gold alloy surfaces.

Theoretical differential Raman scattering cross-sections of totally-symmetric vibrational modes of free pyridine and pyridine-metal cluster complexes

The differential Raman scattering cross-sections of totally-symmetric vibrational modes for pyridine and pyridine-metal clusters have been calculated by using ab initio and density functional methods. The results are compared with experimental data and a good agreement is obtained. In particular, we can theoretically reproduce the significant changes in the relative Raman intensities of the nu(12) mode in pyridine-metal cluster complexes. We focus on two mechanisms for these Raman intensities changes: (1) the chemical interaction between the pyridine and the metal clusters; and (2) the charge transfer mechanism. For the pyridine-silver cluster complexes, we find that due to the weak bonding, the chemical interaction does not influence the relative intensities of the Raman peaks of the nu(1) and nu(12) modes. However, in the case where the copper or the gold clusters are attached to pyridine, the intensity of the band of the nu(12) mode is weakened significantly. We also find that the charge transfer mechanism increases the asymmetry of the bands of the nu(1) and nu(12) modes on all three metals.