Quantum dynamical simulations of local field enhancement in metal nanoparticles

CHRISTIAN F. A. NEGRE; EDUARDO M. PERASSI *BOTH THE FIRST AND SECOND AUTHORS CONTRIBUTED EQUALLY TO THIS WORK. ; EDUARDO A. CORONADO; CRISTIÁN G. SÁNCHEZ

JOURNAL OF PHYSICS CONDENSED MATTER

IOP PUBLISHING LTD

Lugar: Bristol BS1 6HG United Kingdom; Año: 2013 vol. 25 p. 125304 - 125304

0953-8984

div id="articleAbsctract"> Field enhancements (Γ) around small Ag nanoparticles (NPs) are calculated using a quantum dynamical simulation formalism and the results are compared with electrodynamic simulations using the discrete dipole approximation (DDA) in order to address the important issue of the intrinsic atomistic structure of NPs. Quite remarkably, in both quantum and classical approaches the highest values of Γ are located in the same regions around single NPs. However, by introducing a complete atomistic description of the metallic NPs in optical simulations, a different pattern of the Γ distribution is obtained. Knowing the correct pattern of the Γ distribution around NPs is crucial for understanding the spectroscopic features of molecules inside hot spots. The enhancement produced by surface plasmon coupling is studied by using both approaches in NP dimers for different inter-particle dist