Quantum-corrected transient analysis of plasmonic nanostructures

Abstract

A time domain surface integral equation (TD-SIE) solver is developed for quantumcorrected analysis of transient electromagnetic field interactions on plasmonic nanostructures with sub-nanometer gaps. Quantum correction introduces an auxiliary tunnel to support the current path that is generated by electrons tunneled between the nanostructures. The permittivity of the auxiliary tunnel and the nanostructures is obtained from density functional theory (DFT) computations. Electromagnetic field interactions on the combined structure (nanostructures plus auxiliary tunnel connecting them) are computed using a TD-SIE solver. Time domain samples of the permittivity and the Green function required by this solver are obtained from their frequency domain samples (generated from DFT computations) using a semi-analytical method. Accuracy and applicability of the resulting quantum-corrected solver scheme are demonstrated via numerical examples. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America