Size dependent electron interactions in metal nanoparticles

Summary form only given. Reduction of the size of a material to a nanometric scale leads to drastic modifications of its properties that evolve from that of a solid to that of a few atoms cluster. Of particular interest in metallic systems is the alteration of the conduction electron scattering processes that play a central role in their specific properties and whose study is thus not only of fundamental but also of technological interest. We have used a two-color femtosecond absorption saturation technique to study the impact of the confinement on electron-electron and electron-phonon scattering in silver nanoparticles.