Evolution of Excited-State Dynamics in Periodic Au₂₈, Au₃₆, Au₄₄, and Au₅₂ Nanoclusters

Understanding the correlation between the atomic structure and optical properties of gold nanoclusters is essential for exploration of their functionalities and applications involving light harvesting and electron transfer. We report the femto-nanosecond excited state dynamics of a periodic series of face-centered cubic (FCC) gold nanoclusters (including Au₂₈, Au₃₆, Au₄₄, and Au₅₂), which exhibit a set of unique features compared with other similar sized clusters. Molecular-like ultrafast S_n → S₁ internal conversions (i.e., radiationless electronic transitions) are observed in the relaxation dynamics of FCC periodic series. Excited-state dynamics with near-HOMO–LUMO gap excitation lacks ultrafast decay component, and only the structural relaxation dominates in the dynamical process, which proves the absence of core–shell relaxation. Interestingly, both the relaxation of the hot carriers and the band-edge carrier recombination become slower as the size increases. The evolution in excited-state properties of this FCC series offers new insight into the structure-dependent properties of metal nanoclusters, which will benefit their optical energy harvesting and photocatalytic applications