Dissociation (chemistry)

Plasmon

Quantum tunnelling

Physics

Surface plasmon

Electron

Physical chemistry

Chemical physics

Nanotechnology

Chemical reaction

Chemical bond

Organic chemistry

Atomic physics

Chemistry

Materials science

Molecule

Valence electron

Molecular physics

Optoelectronics

Copper

Biochemistry

Quantum mechanics

Scanning tunneling microscope

Photochemistry

Science

Direct plasmon chemistry Light can excite plasmons at a metal surface, which can then decay and create hot electrons that induce chemical reactions of adsorbed molecules. Kazuma et al. used a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to induce and map out the surface dissociation of a dimethyl disulfide molecule on silver and copper surfaces. A silver STM tip created localized plasmons at different distances from the molecule. The plasmons drove the reaction directly by exciting the valence electrons of the molecule into unoccupied states and cleaving the sulfur-sulfur bond. Science , this issue p. 521

Real-space and real-time observation of a plasmon-induced chemical reaction of a single molecule