Laser Synthesis of Linear Carbon Structures for Nanophotonics

Here we study stable elongated carbon chains synthesized by the laser fragmentation technique in a colloidal solution. The mechanical stabilization of carbyne is achieved due to the electron bonding of carbon chains to gold nanoparticles. The high degree of alignment of the gold-terminated carbyne chains results in strongly anisotropic light absorption characterized by a distinctive cosine dependence on the angle between the carbyne molecule and polarization plane of the excitation.