Time-resolved STM light emission from an evaporated Au ®lm

STM (scanning tunneling microscope) light emission from an evaporated Au ®lm irradiated by pico second laser pulses has been investigated for various bias voltages of the STM. The observed emission consists of two components. The ®rst component that has the same duration as the incident laser pulse is excited by laser induced tunneling electrons. The second component that has a longer duration than that of the laser pulse is emitted from surface polariton plasmons excited nonlinearly by the laser pulse. # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved