Ab-initio approach for gap plasmonics

Abstract

Gap plasmonics deals with the properties of surface plasmons in the narrow region between two metallic nanoparticles forming the gap. For sub-nanometer gap distances electrons can tunnel between the nanoparticles leading to the emergence of novel charge transfer plasmons. These are conveniently described within the quantum corrected model by introducing an artificial material with a tunnel conductivity inside the gap region. Here we develop a methodology for computing such tunnel conductivities within the first-principles framework of density functional theory, and apply our approach to a jellium model representative for sodium. We show that the frequency dependence of the tunnel conductivity at infrared and optical frequencies can be significantly more complicated than previously thought.

7 pages, to appear in Phys. Rev. B

References in corpus (4)

• Resonance shifts and spill-out effects in self-consistent hydrodynamic nanoplasmonics
• Ab-initio nanoplasmonics: The impact of atomic structure
• Quantum corrected model for plasmonic nanoparticles: A boundary element method implementation
• Nonlocal and Quantum Tunneling Contributions to Harmonic Generation in Nanostructures: Electron Cloud Screening Effects