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Measurements of the nonlinear dispersion of χ(3) have been performed on the surface plasmon resonance of aqueous colloidal gold. An analysis of the observed dispersion has revealed that the T1 and T2 lifetimes for the plasmon excitation are extremely rapid (10−14 s) but the release of heat by the particle electron/thermal reservoir is slower (2 ps). Picosecond time-resolved transient grating experiments on the same gold sol and organic dye solutions have confirmed that the nonradiative thermal decay of the metal particles occurs on the time scale of tens of picoseconds. The application of these methods to the study of ultrafast nonradiative relaxation mechanisms in molecular systems is discussed.
Heilweil et al. (1985) studied this question.