• Stenger, Nicolas
• Wubs, Martijn
• Raza, Søren
• Mortensen, N. Asger

Abstract

Recent experiments have demonstrated that the plasmon resonances of metallic nanostructures with feature sizes below 10nm is drastically different to the predictions of classical electrodynamics. This peculiar behavior of the plasmon resonances is usually attributed to the emergence of the quantum wave nature of the electron gas at these scales leading to effects such as nonlocal effects, quantum confinement, and quantum tunneling. However, the exact mechanism at work is far from understood and this calls naturally for dedicated experiments using high-end near field microscopy with subnanometer spatial resolution like Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy in Transmission Electron Microscopes. After reviewing the potential quantum effects influencing the plasmon resonance on the nanometer scale, I will present ongoing experiments performed at the Technical University of Denmark on metallic nanoparticles with sizes below 10 nanometers [3]. I will then conclude by discussing potential implications of these quantum effects on the design of plasmonic nanostructures like metallic Metamaterials.<br/>

Topics

• nanoparticle
• impedance spectroscopy
• experiment
• metamaterial
• electron energy loss spectroscopy
• microscopy