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We reveal the feasibility of the localized surface plasmon resonance in a system of Bi nanoparticles embedded into an AlxGa1-xAs semiconductor matrix. With an ab initio determined dielectric function for bismuth and well-known dielectric properties of AlxGa1-xAs solid solution, we performed calculations of the optical extinction spectra for such metamaterial using Mie's theory. The calculations demonstrate a strong band of the optical extinction using the localized surface plasmons near a photon energy of 2.5 eV. For the semiconducting matrices with a high aluminum content x>0.7, the extinction by plasmonic nanoparticles plays the dominant role in the optical properties of the medium near the resonance photon energy.
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We perform numerical modeling of the optical absorption spectra of metamaterials composed of systems of semimetal antimony nanoparticles embedded into AlxGa1-xAs semiconductor matrices. We reveal a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in these metamaterials, which results in a strong optical extinction band below, near, or above the direct band gap of the semiconductor matrices, depending on the chemical composition of the solid solutions. We elucidate the role of dielectric losses in AlxGa1-xAs, which impact the LSPR and cause non-plasmonic optical absorption. It appears that even a dilute system of plasmonic Sb nanoinclusions can substantially change the optical absorption spectra of the medium.
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We show using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) that light can be confined into slot waveguide modes residing between individual atomic layers of coinage metals, such as gold. As the top atomic monolayer lifts a few Å off the underlying bulk Au (111), ab initio electronic structure calculations show that for gaps >1.5 Å, visible light squeezes inside the empty slot underneath, giving optical field distributions 2 Å thick, less than the atomic diameter. Paradoxically classical electromagnetic models are also able to reproduce the resulting dispersion for these subatomic slot modes, where light reaches in-plane wavevectors â¼2 nm-1 and slows to <10-2c. We explain the success of these classical dispersion models for gaps ≥1.5 Å due to a quantum-well state forming in the lifted monolayer in the vicinity of the Fermi level. This extreme trapping of light may explain transient "flare" emission from plasmonic cavities where Raman scattering of metal electrons is greatly enhanced when subatomic slot confinement occurs. Such atomic restructuring of Au under illumination is relevant to many fields, from photocatalysis and molecular electronics to plasmonics and quantum optics.
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Despite decades of intensive experimental and theoretical efforts, the physics of cuprate high-temperature superconductors in general, and, in particular, their normal state, is still under debate. Here, we report our investigation of low-energy charge excitations in the normal state. We find that the peculiarities of the electronic band structure at low energies have a profound impact on the nature of the intraband collective modes. It gives rise to a new kind of mode with huge intensity and non-Lorentzian spectral function in addition to well-known collective excitations like conventional plasmons and spin fluctuation. We predict two such modes with maximal spectral weight in the nodal and antinodal directions. Additionally, we found a long-living quasi-one-dimensional plasmon becoming an intense soft mode over an extended momentum range along the antinodal direction. These modes might explain some of the resonant inelastic X-ray scattering spectroscopy data.
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We analyze the possibility to realize a localized surface plasmon resonance in metamaterials composed of As1-zSbz nanoparticles embedded in an AlxGa1-xAs1-ySby semiconductor matrix. To this end, we perform ab initio calculations of the dielectric function of the As1-zSbz materials. Changing the chemical composition z, we trace the evolution of the band structure, dielectric function, and loss function. In terms of the Mie theory, we calculate the polarizability and optical extinction of a system of As1-zSbz nanoparticles in an AlxGa1-xAs1-ySby environment. We show a possibility to provide localized surface plasmon resonance near the band gap of the AlxGa1-xAs1-ySby semiconductor matrix by a built-in system of As1-zSbz nanoparticles strongly enriched by Sb. The results of our calculations are supported by available experimental data.
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Efficient simulation methods for taking nonlocal effects in nanostructures into account have been developed, but they are usually computationally expensive or provide little insight into underlying physics. A multipolar expansion approach, among others, holds promise to properly describe electromagnetic interactions in complex nanosystems. Conventionally, the electric dipole dominates in plasmonic nanostructures, while higher order multipoles, especially the magnetic dipole, electric quadrupole, magnetic quadrupole, and electric octopole, can be responsible for many optical phenomena. The higher order multipoles not only result in specific optical resonances, but they are also involved in the cross-multipole coupling, thus giving rise to new effects. In this work, we introduce a simple yet accurate simulation modeling technique, based on the transfer-matrix method, to compute higher-order nonlocal corrections to the effective permittivity of 1d plasmonic periodic nanostructures. In particular, we show how to specify the material parameters and the arrangement of the nanolayers in order to maximize or minimize various nonlocal corrections. The obtained results provide a framework for guiding and interpreting experiments, as well as for designing metamaterials with desired dielectric and optical properties.
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We calculate, within the density-functional theory, the atomic and electronic structure of the clean Pt(111) and Au(111) surfaces and the nML-Au/Pt(111) systems with n varying from one to three. The effect of the spin-orbital interaction was taken into account. Several new electronic states with strong localization in the surface region were found and discussed in the case of clean surfaces. The Au adlayers introduce numerous quantum well states in the energy regions corresponding to the projected bulk band continuum of Au(111). Moreover, the presence of states resembling the true Au(111) surface states can be detected at n = 2 and 3. The Au/Pd interface states are found as well. In nML-Au/Pt(111), the calculated work function presents a small variation with a variation of the number of the Au atomic layer. Nevertheless, the effect is significantly smaller in comparison to the s-p metals.
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The effect of the band structure anisotropy (triangular, square, and hexagonal wrapping) on the electronic collective excitations (plasmons) in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) is studied in the framework of the random-phase approximation. We show that the dynamical dielectric response in these systems strongly depends on the direction of the in-plane momentum transfer q. The effect is so pronounced that it results in a different number of electronic collective excitations in some q regions, both with - and â¼q-like energy dispersions. This finding is in striking contrast to the conventional 2DEG case with isotropic energy band dispersion where only a single plasmon with dispersion can exist. Our prediction of acoustic modes (with the â¼q dispersion) in a one-energy-band electron system expands the previous knowledge that such kind of plasmon can be realized only in two-component systems.
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In this work, we study, in the framework of the ab initio linear-response time-dependent density functional theory, the low-energy collective electronic excitations with characteristic sound-like dispersion, called acoustic plasmons, in bulk ferromagnetic nickel. Since the respective spatial oscillations in slow and fast charge systems involve states with different spins, excitation of such plasmons in nickel should result in the spatial variations in the spin structure as well. We extend our study to NiHx with different hydrogen concentrations x. We vary the hydrogen concentration and trace variations in the acoustic plasmons properties. Finally, at x=1 the acoustic modes disappear in paramagnetic NiH. The explanation of such evolution is based on the changes in the population of different energy bands with hydrogen content variation.
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We present a detailed first-principles investigation of the response of a free-standing graphene sheet to an external perpendicular static electric field E. The charge density distribution in the vicinity of the graphene monolayer that is caused by E was determined using the pseudopotential density-functional theory approach. Different geometries were considered. The centroid of this extra density induced by an external electric field was determined as zim = 1.048 Å at vanishing E, and its dependence on E has been obtained. The thus determined zim was employed to construct the hybrid one-electron potential which generates a new set of energies for the image-potential states.
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The accurate determination of electronic temperatures in metallic nanostructures is essential for many technological applications, like plasmon-enhanced catalysis or lithographic nanofabrication procedures. In this Letter, we demonstrate that the electronic temperature can be accurately measured by the shape of the tunnel electroluminescence emission edge in tunnel plasmonic nanocavities, which follows a universal thermal distribution with the bias voltage as the chemical potential of the photon population. A significant deviation between electronic and lattice temperatures is found below 30 K for tunnel currents larger than 15 nA. This deviation is rationalized as the result of a two-electron process in which the second electron excites plasmon modes with an energy distribution that reflects the higher temperature following the first tunneling event. These results dispel a long-standing controversy on the nature of overbias emission in tunnel junctions and adds a new method for the determination of electronic temperatures and quasiparticle dynamics.
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We present a first-principles fully-relativistic study of surface and interface states in the n one monolayer (ML) Au/Pt(111) heterostructures. The modification of an unoccupied s - p -type surface state existing on a Pt(111) surface at the surface Brillouin zone center upon deposition of a few atomic Au layers is investigated. In particular, we find that the transformation process of such a surface state upon variation of the Au adlayer thickness crucially depends on the nature of the relevant quantum state in the adsorbate. When the Au adlayer consists of one or two monolayers and this relevant state has energy above the Pt(111) surface state position, the latter shifts downward upon approaching the Au adlayer. As a result, in the 1 ML Au/Pt(111) and 2 ML Au/Pt(111) heterostructures at the equilibrium adlayer position, the Pt-derived surface state experiences strong hybridization with the bulk electronic states and becomes a strong occupied resonance. In contrast, when the number n of atomic layers in the Au films increases to three or more, the Pt(111) surface state shifts upward upon reduction of the distance between the Pt(111) surface and the Au adlayer. At equilibrium, the Pt-derived surface state transforms into an unoccupied quantum-well state of the Au adlayer. This change is explained by the fact that the relevant electronic state in free-standing Au films with n ≥ 3 has lower energy in comparison to the Pt(111) surface state.
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Attosecond time-resolved photoemission spectroscopy reveals that photoemission from solids is not yet fully understood. The relative emission delays between four photoemission channels measured for the van der Waals crystal tungsten diselenide (WSe2) can only be explained by accounting for both propagation and intra-atomic delays. The intra-atomic delay depends on the angular momentum of the initial localized state and is determined by intra-atomic interactions. For the studied case of WSe2, the photoemission events are time ordered with rising initial-state angular momentum. Including intra-atomic electron-electron interaction and angular momentum of the initial localized state yields excellent agreement between theory and experiment. This has required a revision of existing models for solid-state photoemission, and thus, attosecond time-resolved photoemission from solids provides important benchmarks for improved future photoemission models.
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Quantum interference is a striking manifestation of one of the basic concepts of quantum mechanics: the particle-wave duality. A spectacular visualization of this effect is the standing wave pattern produced by elastic scattering of surface electrons around defects, which corresponds to a modulation of the electronic local density of states and can be imaged using a scanning tunnelling microscope. To date, quantum-interference measurements were mainly interpreted in terms of interfering electrons or holes of the underlying band-structure description. Here, by imaging energy-dependent standing-wave patterns at noble metal surfaces, we reveal, in addition to the conventional surface-state band, the existence of an 'anomalous' energy band with a well-defined dispersion. Its origin is explained by the presence of a satellite in the structure of the many-body spectral function, which is related to the acoustic surface plasmon. Visualizing the corresponding charge oscillations provides thus direct access to many-body interactions at the atomic scale.
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Plasmons in metallic nanomaterials exhibit very strong size and shape effects, and thus have recently gained considerable attention in nanotechnology, information technology, and life science. In this review, we overview the fundamental properties of plasmons in materials with various dimensionalities and discuss the optical functional properties of localized plasmon polaritons in nanometer-scale to atomic-scale objects. First, the pioneering works on plasmons by electron energy loss spectroscopy are briefly surveyed. Then, we discuss the effects of atomistic charge dynamics on the dispersion relation of propagating plasmon modes, such as those for planar crystal surface, atomic sheets and straight atomic wires. Finally, standing-wave plasmons, or antenna resonances of plasmon polariton, of some widely used nanometer-scale structures and atomic-scale wires (the smallest possible plasmonic building blocks) are exemplified along with their applications.
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Nearly two-dimensional (2D) metallic systems formed in charge inversion layers and artificial layered materials permit the existence of low-energy collective excitations, called 2D plasmons, which are not found in a three-dimensional (3D) metal. These excitations have caused considerable interest because their low energy allows them to participate in many dynamical processes involving electrons and phonons, and because they might mediate the formation of Cooper pairs in high-transition-temperature superconductors. Metals often support electronic states that are confined to the surface, forming a nearly 2D electron-density layer. However, it was argued that these systems could not support low-energy collective excitations because they would be screened out by the underlying bulk electrons. Rather, metallic surfaces should support only conventional surface plasmons-higher-energy modes that depend only on the electron density. Surface plasmons have important applications in microscopy and sub-wavelength optics, but have no relevance to the low-energy dynamics. Here we show that, in contrast to expectations, a low-energy collective excitation mode can be found on bare metal surfaces. The mode has an acoustic (linear) dispersion, different to the dependence of a 2D plasmon, and was observed on Be(0001) using angle-resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy. First-principles calculations show that it is caused by the coexistence of a partially occupied quasi-2D surface-state band with the underlying 3D bulk electron continuum and also that the non-local character of the dielectric function prevents it from being screened out by the 3D states. The acoustic plasmon reported here has a very general character and should be present on many metal surfaces. Furthermore, its acoustic dispersion allows the confinement of light on small surface areas and in a broad frequency range, which is relevant for nano-optics and photonics applications.