Computer Simulation of Surface Plasmon Resonance in Metal Nanoparticles

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Computer Simulation of Surface Plasmon Resonance
in Metal Nanoparticles
Warren Mar PI Edward T. Yu in
collaboration with Swee-Hoe Lim, Daniel Derkacs,
and Bin Feng Electrical Engineering, UCSD, La
Jolla, CA 92093 wmar_at_ucsd.edu ety_at_ece.ucsd.e
du
Finite Element Modeling Space is broken up into
tetrahedrons. This enables the use of less
elements for less important areas and more
elements for the resonance effect.
Simulation Methodology The simulations utilize a
linearly polarized plane wave at normal
incidence. The metal is modeled by a complex
frequency dependent dielectric function, whereas
the substrate is treated as a simple dielectric.
Substrate Normally the incident light shining on
a silicon substrate gets reflected and only a
portion makes it into the substrate.
Nanoparticle Enhancement The strength of the
flied in the substrate is strengthen by the
resonance effect in the metal nanoparticle.
Plasmon Resonance The incident electromagnetic
radiation is coupled to vibrations of the
electron gas in the metal nanoparticles. At
resonance this effect produces strong electric
fields near the particle.


Results The 3D simulations successfully simulated
the plasmon resonance response in freespace.
Placing a metal nanoparticle on top of a silicon
substrate focuses the field near the substrate
and this strong field penetrates into the
substrate. Many factors, such as material, size,
and shape affect the field profile in the
substrate.
Future Novel optical electronic devices can be
designed to take advantage of this effect.
Knowing the field profile will aid in optimizing
device characteristics for specific applications.
One promising application is utilizing
nanoparticles to increase the performance of
solar cells.