MEDIA EFFECTS ON THE OPTICAL-ABSORPTION SPECTRA OF SILVER CLUSTERS EMBEDDED IN RARE-GAS MATRICES

The optical absorption of small mass selected Ag(n)-clusters (n=7, 11, 15, 21) embedded in solid Ar, Kr and Xe has been measured. The absorption spectra show 1 to 3 major peaks between 3 and 4.5 eV, depending on the cluster size. Changing the matrix gas Ar --> Kr --> Xe induces a redshift which is comparable for all sizes studied and does not affect the main structure of the absorption spectra. We propose a scheme to estimate the gas phase value of the absorption energies which is in fair agreement with an estimation obtained by a simple model based on a Drude metal.