Imaging nanoporous metals with beams of electrons provides deep insights into unusual optical properties
Friday, June 8, 2012 - 08:01
in Physics & Chemistry
Gold is usually thought of as being a shiny metal however, in its porous form, gold actually appears dull and black. The surfaces of nanoporous gold are rough and the metal loses its shine. Michel Bosman at the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering and co-workers have now experimentally demonstrated that the dullness is a consequence of the way incoming light couples to the electrons on the gold surface.