TECHNIQUES FOR THE STUDY OF THE ELECTRONIC PROPERTIES.

The electronic structure of a solid is affected by size and altered from the continuous electronic levels forming a band, characteristic of bulk or microsized solids, to discrete-like or quantized levels. This is drastically observed when the particle size goes down to the nano-meter range and is the origin of the so-called ''quantum confinement'' terminology referring to this phenomenon. From a solid state point of view, electronic states of confined materials can be considered as being a superposition of bulk-like states with a concomitant increase of the oscillator strength. The valence/conduction band-width and position observables of a solid oxide are functions of the crystal potential and this, in turn, is perturbed by effect of the size in two ways; a short-range effect induced by the presence of ions with a different coordination number and bond distance, and a large-range one, induced by changes in the Madelung potential of the oxide. Theoretical analyses for oxides show a redistribution of charge when going from large periodic structures to small clusters which is roughly considered small for ionic solids and significantly important for covalent ones. Chapter 1 of this book describes the most recent theoretical frameworks employed to deal with these physical phenomena while here we will describe their influence in physico-chemical observables obtained by spectroscopical techniques