Wafer-thin gold flakes emit a faint glimmer after being hit with a laser, and researchers are beginning to perceive why. Gold flakes are extensively used in nanoscience, so the brand new information ought to give scientists extra management over chemical reactions helpful for vitality storage and catalysis.
Gold owes its dazzling lustre to the way in which it displays light. But ultra-thin gold flakes can even generate and emit their very own light in a course of known as photoluminescence. This begins when the gold is …