Field enhancement at metallic interfaces due to quantum confinement

Fatih Öztürk, Sanshui Xiao, Min Yan, Martijn Wubs, Antti-Pekka Jauho, N. Asger Mortensen

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

    Abstract

    We point out an apparently overlooked consequence of the boundary conditions obeyed by the electric displacement vector at air-metal interfaces: the continuity of the normal component combined with the quantum mechanical penetration of the electron gas in the air implies the existence of a surface on which the dielectric function vanishes. This, in turn, leads to an enhancement of the normal component of the total electric field. We study this effect for a planar metal surface, with the inhomogeneous electron density accounted for by a Jellium model. We also illustrate the effect for equilateral triangular nanoislands via numerical solutions of the appropriate Maxwell equations, and show that the field enhancement is several orders of magnitude larger than what the conventional theory predicts. (C) 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI: 10.1117/1.3574159]
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalJournal of Nanophotonics
    Volume5
    Pages (from-to)051602
    ISSN1934-2608
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2011

    Keywords

    • Friedel oscillations
    • Nanoplasmonics
    • Field enhancement
    • Zero-epsilon phenomena

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