Physicists developed a way to determine the electronic properties of thin gold films after they interact with light. Nature Communications published the new method, which adds to the understanding of the fundamental laws that govern the interaction of electrons and light.
“Surprisingly, up to now there have been very limited ways of determining what exactly happens with materials after we shine light on them,” says Hayk Harutyunyan, an assistant professor of physics at Emory University and lead author of the research. “Our finding may pave the way for improvements in devices such as optical sensors and photovoltaic cells.”
From solar panels to cameras and cell phones — to seeing with our eyes — the interaction of photons of light with atoms and electrons is ubiquitous. “Optical phenomenon is such a fundamental process that we take it for granted, and yet it’s not fully understood how light interacts with materials,” Harutyunyan says.
One obstacle to understanding the details of these interactions is their complexity. When the energy of a light photon is transferred to an electron in a light-absorbing material, the photon is destroyed and the electron is excited from one level to another. But so many photons, atoms and electrons are involved — and the process happens so quickly — that laboratory modeling of the process is computationally challenging.
For the Nature Communications paper, the physicists started with a relatively simple material system — ultra-thin gold layers — and conducted experiments on it.