Fluorescence Microscopy of Nanoscale Silver Oxide Thin Films

The experimental conditions for photoactivated intermittent fluorescence from nanoscale silver oxide were studied with fluorescence microscopy. Strong fluorescence was observed from the Ag₂O particles with size of 10-20 nm excited with both blue and green light. We observed the saturation of photoexcitation with blue light and explained the experimental results using the model of agglomeration of silver atoms to form small clusters and the fluorescence of Ag₂ and Ag₃ clusters.