PHOTODISSOCIATION SPECTROSCOPY OF NBNARM COMPLEXES

The optical absorption spectra of niobium clusters containing 7 to 20 atoms have been measured from 336 to 634 nm by way of photodissociation action spectroscopy of the corresponding van der Waals complexes with argon atoms: Nb(n) Ar(m) --> hv Nb(n) + m Ar. The clusters in this size range do not display discrete absorption bands characteristic of molecular behavior, but rather absorption cross sections which increase monotonically with decreasing wavelength. This behavior is in qualitative accord with the absorption behavior predicted by the spherical Mie model for small niobium spheres, however, the measured cross sections are 2-5 times larger than predicted over this wavelength range, with the smallest clusters displaying the largest deviations. Interpreted within the classical electrodynamic framework, these observations suggest that the absorption spectra derive oscillator strength from an incipient surface plasmon, redshifted from its predicted resonance frequency in the vacuum ultraviolet.