Singular asymptotics of surface-plasmon resonance

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• Dr Ory Schnitzer, Imperial College
• Monday 08 February 2016, 15:00-16:00
• Lecture Theatre 4, Strathcona Building.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact David Smith.

Surface plasmons are collective electron-density oscillations at a metal-dielectric interface. In particular, localised surface-plasmon modes of nano-metallic structures with narrow non-metallic gaps, which enable a tuneable resonance frequency and a giant near-field enhancement, are at the heart of numerous nanophotonics applications. In this work, we elucidate the singular near-contact asymptotics of the plasmonic eigenvalue problem governing the resonant frequencies and modes of such structures. In the classical regime, valid for gap widths > 1nm, we find a generic scaling describing the drastic redshift of the resonance frequency as the gap width is reduced, and in several prototypical dimer configurations derive explicit expressions for the plasmonic eigenvalues and eigenmodes using matched asymptotic expansions; we also derive expressions describing the resonant excitation of such modes by light based on a weak-dissipation limit. In the sub-nanometric ``nonlocal’’ regime, we show intuitively and by systematic analysis of the hydrodynamic Drude model that nonlocality manifests itself as a potential discontinuity, and in the near-contact limit equivalently as a widening of the gap. We thereby find the near-contact asymptotics as a renormalisation of the local asymptotics, and in particular a lower bound on plasmon frequency, scaling with the 1/4 power of the Fermi wavelength. Joint work with Vincenzo Giannini, Richard V. Craster and Stefan A. Maier.

This talk is part of the Applied Mathematics Seminar Series series.

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• Applied Mathematics Seminar Series
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