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Plasmons

W. Luis Mochán
Centro de Ciencias Fı́sicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México,
Apartado Postal 48-3, Cuernavaca, Mor., 62251 México

I. INTRODUCTION

Consider a metal whose conductions electrons move freely. In equilibrium the negative electronic charge is balanced by the
positive charge of the ionized metal atoms. If this balance is somehow disturbed by perturbing the electron density, increasing
it within some region R which becomes thus negatively charged, the electrons would be subsequently driven away from that
region by their mutual repulsion. Equilibrium is however not restored immediately, as the electrons have inertia and would keep
on moving away from R even after the system becomes neutral. Thus, after some time interval, R would become positively
charged. The electrons would then be attracted to this positive charge, arresting their outward motion and inducing an inward
motion. By overshooting again the equilibrium situation, R would become negative again and the whole cycle would repeat
itself until the energy associated with the perturbation is lost through Joule heating or some other dissipative process. Thus,
an oscillation of the charge carrier density may be established within conductors. Due to the analogy between the electronic
dynamics within a metal and the motion of charged ions within a plasma, the charge oscillations described above are known
as plasma oscillations, and they have a characteriztic frequency ω p which depends on the mass, density, and charge of the
carriers, known as the plasma frequency. Typically, this frequency is much higher than the thermal frequency k B T /h̄, where kB
is Boltzmann’s constant, T is the temperature, and h̄ is Planck’s constant, so that the quantization of the plasma oscillations has
to be taken into account when describing the electronic dynamics of solids. A quantized plasma oscillation of a conductor, with
a typical energy E p = h̄ω p , is known as a plasmon.

II. SIMPLE MODELS

To estimate the plasma frequency, consider the most simple model of a conductor: that of a gas of electrons of number density
n0 moving freely in a homogeneous positively charged background and interacting with the self consistent field ~E. If somehow
a charge accumulation Q localized in a given region R is produced due to a compression or a rarefaction of the electron gas
(Fig. 1), it produces far away a Coulomb field E(~r) = Q~r/r 3 where the vector~r goes from R towards the observation position.
Each electron becomes accelerated according to Newton’s second law, md 2~r/dt 2 = −e~E(~r,t), where m and −e are the electronic
mass and charge respectively, so that ∂~j(~r,t)/∂t = (n0 e2 /m)~E(~r,t), where ~j = −n0 ed~r/dt is the electric current density at ~r.
R R
Integrating over a large closed surface Σ that surrounds completely the charge we obtain (d/dt) Σ d~a · ~j = (ne2 /m) Σ d~a · ~E,
which becomes a simple differential equation for the charge,

d2Q 4πne2
= − Q, (1)
dt 2 m
R R
by introducing the continuity equation Σ d~a · ~j = −dQ/dt and Gauss’ law Σ d~
~ = 4πQ. Its solution Q(t) = Q(0)e−iω pt
a·E
oscillates with the bulk plasma frequency
 1/2
4πne2
ωp = . (2)
m
Typical values for the energy of a quantized plasma wave or plasmon are E p = h̄ω p ∼ 5 − 15eV.
If the charge were located at the surface of a semiinfinite conductor, half of the field lines would be in vacuum and would
induce no electric current (Fig. 2), the current flow across the surface Σ would then be cut in half, and the charge would obey

d2Q ω2p
= − Q, (3)
dt 2 2
instead of Eq. (1). The solution Q(t) = Q(0)e−iωst is an oscillation with the surface plasma frequency
ωp
ωs = √ . (4)
2
2

Σ Q

FIG. 1: Charged region R (gray) in a homogeneous conductor. The charge Q contained within the Gaussian surface Σ (dashed circle) produces
a field ~E(~r,t) (wide arrows) which induces a current density ~j(~r,t) (thin arrows) which flows across Σ, modifying Q over time t and yielding a
plasma oscillation.

Σ
Q

FIG. 2: Charged region R at the surface of a semiinfinite conductor. The field ~E(~r,t) (wide arrows) is as in Fig. 1 but the current density
~j(~r,t) (narrow arrows) is only induced in the half space within the conductor. Thus, there is charge flow only across half the Gaussian surface
Σ (dashed circle).

As a last simple example, consider a small spherical metallic particle which is initially perturbed by displacing all of its
electrons ~ζ (Fig. 3). Thus, there would be an accumulation of electrons on one hemisphere and a deficiency of electrons on the
other hemisphere. The ensuing surface charge σ = ~P · n̂ produces a homogeneous electric depolarization field ~E = −(4π/3)~P,
where ~P = −n0 e~ζ is the electric polarization. This field accelerates the charges, according to md 2~ζ/dt 2 = −eE, which becomes

d2 ~ ω2p~
ζ = − ζ (5)
dt 2 3
upon substitution. Its solution ζ(t) = ζ(0)e−iωd t oscillates with the dipolar surface plasma frequency
ωp
ωd = √ . (6)
3
3


− −

− −

+ +

+ +
+

FIG. 3: Metallic sphere (solid circle) all of whose electrons are displaced the same distance ~ζ (short arrow), occupying a displaced region
(dashed circle), producing negative (top) and positive (bottom) surface charges (light gray). The interior (dark) remains neutral. The polariza-
tion (narrow arrows) and electric field (wide arrows) within the sphere are shown schematically.

These examples show that different systems may have plasmons, that is, collective excitations that involve fluctuations in
the charge density, with different frequencies which depend not only on the properties of the material but also on geometrical
properties such as size and shape.

III. DISPERSION RELATIONS

In the previous section we showed a few simple models that predict charge oscillations of frequencies ω p , ωs , and ωd at
inifinite, semiinfinite, and small conductors. In this section we will calculate these quantitities in a more general context, and we
will obtain expressions which are independent of the particular model made for the system.

A. Bulk Plasmons

According to Gauss law,

∇ · ~D = 0 (7)

in the absence of external charge, where ~D = ~E + 4π~P is the displacement field and ~P the polarization. Within a linear homoge-
neous isotropic material, the displacement may be written in terms of the electric field,
~D = ε~E, (8)

where the dielectric function ε is a property of the material. Thus, Gauss law implies that ε∇ · ~E = 0. The trivial solution
∇· ~E = 4πρ = 0 corresponds to the a null charge density ρ within a homogeneous system and a transverse electric field. However,
there is a second frequently overlooked posibility, namely, that ∇ · ~E = 4πρ 6= 0 but ε = 0. Thus, the electric field may have a
longitudinal contribution, and charge fluctuations may appear within a solid, but only if the dielectric function is null.
Matter responds differently to electromagnetic fields of different frequencies or colors, as demonstrated by Newton’s prisms
experiments. Consequently, the dielectric function depends on the frequency, i.e., ε → ε ω . According to the discussion above,
charge oscillations may exist but only for those frequencies for which

εω = 0. (9)

As an application, we consider the Drude model, in which electrons are assumed to respond freely and independently to a
perturbing electric field. We expect that independent electrons would be unable to support collective oscillations. However,
4

the electron-electron interaction is partially incorporated into the Drude model by identifying the perturbing field with the self-
consistent electric field ~E, which includes the mean value of the field produced by the electrons themselves, and not as an
external field. The Drude dielectric function is
ω2p
εD
ω = 1− , (10)
ω2
and leads to plasma oscillations at its zero
ωD = ω p . (11)

Dissipation may be incorporated by changing ω 2 → ω2 + iω/τ in Eq. (10), where τ is the mean time between electronic
collisions.
Plasmon excitations within a solid are possible only due to the temporal dispersion of the dielectric function as the dielectric
constant may only vanish at some finite frequencies but never in the static limit. The meaning of dispersion may be understood
if we introduce the frequency dependence explicitely into Eq. (8), i.e., ~Dω = εω ~Eω , and Fourier transform using the convolution
theorem,
Z
~D(t) = dt 0 ε(t − t 0 )~E(t 0 ). (12)

The Fourier transform of εω yields the delay dependent dielectric function ε(t − t 0 ) which is a measure of the response ~D(t) of
the system at time t to a perturbing field ~E(t 0 ) which acts at a time t 0 . Causality demands ε(t − t 0 ) = 0 whenever t 0 > t. Just
as the response of the system at a given time depends on the excitation at previous times, it is also the case that the response
of the system at a given position ~r depends on the excitation at nearby positions ~r 0 and not only at ~r. Thus, Eq. (12) should be
generalized to become
Z Z
~D(~r,t) = dt 0 d 3 r0 ε(~r,~r0 ,t − t 0 )~E(~r0 ,t 0 ). (13)

The dependence of ε on ~r and ~r 0 is known as spatial dispersion or non-locality. Within a homogeneous system ε depends only
on the interval ~r −~r 0 between the excitation and the observation point, so that the RHS of Eq. (13) becomes a convolution. A
space and time Fourier transform yields then a simple algebraic relation
~D~qω = ε~qω ~E~qω ; (14)
non-locality is equivalent to a dependence of the dielectric response ε~qω on the wavevector ~q besides the frequency ω. Within
non-local media ~q defines a prefered direction even within isotropic media. Therefore, the non-local response of the system to a
transverse field ~E~qTω ⊥ ~q and to a longitudinal field ~E~qω = ~E~qLω k ~q might differ, so we write

~D~qTω = ε~qTω ~E~qTω , (15)

~D~qLω = ε~qLω ~E~qLω , (16)


instead of the single Eq. (14).
Identifying ∇ → i~q in Fourier space, we now deduce from Eq. (7) the dispersion relation ω = ω~q vs. ~q of bulk plasmons,
given implicitly by
ε~qLω = 0, (17)
i.e., for a given wavevector ~q longitudinal waves may propagate provided their frequency ω~q is such that the longitudinal
dielectric function vanishes.
Notice that plasmons do not propagate within local media as their group velocity ~v g = ∇~q ω~q vanishes, but in a spatially
dispersive medium, the frequency of the plasmon does depend on the wavevector and plasmons may propagate and transport
energy. A simple model that illustrates plasmon propagation is the hydrodynamic model, a generalization of the Drude model, in
which the conduction electrons feel the forces due to variations of the pressure beyond their interaction with the self-consistent
field. The pressure is mainly due to the Pauli principle which allows only one fermion to occupy each electronic state. To
increase the density of an electronic fluid, higher energy levels have to be occupied and this requires work. The hydrodynamic
longitudinal dielectric function is

ω2p
ε~qHω = 1 − , (18)
ω2 − β2 q2
5

2.5

1.5
ω/ωp
1

0.5

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
q/kF

FIG. 4: Dispersion relation for bulk plasmons calculated for Na within the hydrodynamic model (solid). The shadowed area between dashed
lines corresponds to the region where plasmons might decay due to excitation of electron hole pairs.

where β is a measure ofp the compressibility of a Fermion gas of density n 0 . A calculation


√ of β assuming local equilibrium of the
electron gas yields β = 1/3vF , where vF = h̄kF /m is the Fermi velocity, h̄kF = 2mEF is the Fermi momentum, and EF is the
Fermi energy, i.e., the kinetic energy
p of the highest occupied state. More elaborate calculations are consistent with a frequency
dependent β with the value β = 3/5vF at typical plasmon frequencies. The dispersion relation (17) of bulk plasmons becomes

ω = (ω2p + β2 q2 )1/2 , (19)

which we illustrate schematically in Fig. 4.


Notice that we may also solve Eq. (19) for q for a given value of ω. For ω < ω p the solution is imaginary, meaning that charge
fluctuations may exist for frequencies below ω p , but they do not propagate. Rather, they decay exponentially within a distance
λs = 1/|q|. In the static limit, we obtain λs = λT F from Eq. (19), where λT F = β/ωP is the Thomas-Fermi screening length.
One of the main drawbacks of the hydrodynamic model is that it ignores the single particle excitations. For a free independent
electron conductor, these consist of electrons which are taken from occupied states with momentum h̄~k within the Fermi sphere
(i.e., h̄k < h̄kF ) and excited into empty states with momentum h̄(~k +~q) outside of the Fermi sphere, leaving a hole in the initial
state. The momentum of these electron-hole (e − h) pairs is h̄~q and its energy h̄ 2 [(~k +~q)2 − k2 ]/2m may take a quasi-continuum
of values bounded by h̄2 (q2 ± 2qkF )/2m. Plasmons with wavevector q and energy h̄ω within these bounds, displayed in Fig. 4
by dashed lines, are short lived as they may decay through excitation of e − h pairs, a mechanism known as Landau damping.
Thus, plasmons may exist as well defined collective excitations only within a short range of wavevectors and frequencies.
An alternative formulation for the calculation of the plasmon dispersion may be obtained from the inhomogeneous Gauss’
law, which we may write in Fourier space with the help of Eq. (16) as
ρ~qext
ω
ρ~qω = , (20)
ε~qLω

where ρext = i~q · ~D~qω /4π is the external and ρ = i~q · ~E~qω /4π the total charge density within the conductor. Thus, we may
interpret the inverse dielectric function 1/ε~qLω as a charge-charge response function. A finite response may be obtained from
an infinitesimal excitation, i.e., the system may oscillate spontaneously, only when the response function has a pole. Thus, the
plasmon dispersion relation is given by the pole of 1/ε~qLω , which, naturally, coincides with Eq. (17).

B. Surface Plasmons

As suggested by the remarks above, we may obtain the normal modes of an arbitrary system by searching for the poles of
its response functions. Consider an electromagnetic wave of amplitude E i impinging on the surface of an isotropic semiinfinite
6

Vacuum Metal

qk kk
−q⊥
k⊥
q⊥
qk

FIG. 5: Electromagnetic wave incident on the surface of a semiinfinite system. We show the wavevectors of the incident, reflected and
transmitted waves and their perpendicular and parallel components.

conductor. (Fig. 5). The wave sets in motion the charges within the conductor which radiate a reflected wave of amplitude E r .
For s (transverse electric) and p (transverse magnetic) incident polarizations, the reflected wave have the same polarization, so
we may define scalar reflection amplitudes rs = Esr /Esi and r p = E pr /E pi , given by Fresnel’s formulae,

q⊥ − k ⊥
rs = , (21)
q⊥ + k ⊥

εω q ⊥ − k ⊥
rp = , (22)
εω q ⊥ + k ⊥

where ~q = (~qk , q⊥ ) is the wavevector of the incident wave in vacuum and ~k = (~kk , k⊥ ) is the wavevector of the transmitted wave
into the metal. Snell’s law requires that ~kk = ~qk and the electromagnetic wave equations in vacuum and within the metal require
  1/2
ω 2 2
q⊥ = − qk , (23)
c

and
   1/2
ω 2
k ⊥ = εω − q2k . (24)
c

The reflection amplitudes (21) and (22) have the nature of surface response functions and therefore, their poles yield the
surface normal modes of the system. We note first that conservation of energy apparently implies that the reflectances R s = |rs |2
and R p = |r p |2 ought to be smaller than unity, as it is not possible to reflect more energy than is incident upon the surface. Thus,
it would seem that rs and r p can have no pole. However, if qk > ω/c, i.e., outside of the light cone, Eq. (23) yields an imaginary
value for q⊥ . In this case, the incident and reflected waves do not propagate but are rather evanescent waves each of which
carries no energy along the normal to the surface. Only in this situation can the reflection amplitudes display poles. As both the
reflected and transmitted waves should decay away from the surface, the signs of Imq ⊥ and Imk⊥ should be equal to each other.
Eqs. (21) and (22) imply that there is no s polarized mode and that a p polarized mode is only possible if ε ω < 0. Substituting
Eqs. (23) and (24) into the normal mode condition ε ω q⊥ + k⊥ = 0, we obtain the surface plasmon dispersion relation
 1/2
ω εω
qk = . (25)
c εω + 1

In Fig. 6 we show the dispersion relation of surface plasmons (SP) calculated from Eq. (25) with a Drude dielectric function.
The dispersion relation lies outside of the light cone, for large q k , ω approaches asymptotically a constant frequency given by ω s
( Eq. (4)) and for small qk it approaches the light cone.
7

1
qk = ω/c qk = nω/c
0.8
ω = ωs

ω/ω p 0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
qk c/ω p


FIG. 6: SP dispersion relation calculated within the Drude model (solid). The asymptotic frequency ω s = ω p / 2, the vacuum light cone
qk = ω/c and the light cone of glass n = 1.5 are indicated by dashed lines.

For very large wavevectors qk  ω/c the phase velocity of the SP v = ω/qk becomes much smaller than the speed of light
c, so that the retardation of the electromagnetic field may be ignored. It is common to set c = ∞ in this non-retarded region
and treat the problem as quasi-static, i.e., solving the equations of electrostatics. In this limit, q ⊥ ≈ k⊥ ≈ iqk and therefore the
reflection amplitude (22) becomes
εω − 1
r p ≈ −g = . (26)
εω + 1
The non-retarded surface response function g is the quotient between the external and the induced scalar potentials, and its
expression (26) may be recognized as the image charge induced within a conductor by the presence of a unit point charge within
vacuum. The pole of g,

εω = −1, (27)

yields the non-retarded SP frequency. This equation generalizes the previous non-retarded result (4) to arbitrary materials.
More refined microscopic theories of metallic surfaces should account for the thin but finite transition region or selvedge
where the properties change smoothly from those of the bulk metal to those of vacuum, and for the spatial dispersion of the
metal. Their effect may be characterized within the semiinfinite jellium model by the distance from the nominal surface of the
metal to the centroid of the induced charge density,
R
dz zρ(z)
d⊥ ≡ R . (28)
dz ρ(z)

The response function g depends on ~qk and ω and may be written as

1 − εω + (1 − εω )qk d⊥
g~qk ω ≈ , (29)
1 + εω + (1 − εω )qk d⊥

with poles at

εω + 1 = (εω − 1)qk d⊥ . (30)

Using the Drude model for the local limit εω of the bulk dielectric function we obtain
q
ω = ωs 1 − qk d⊥ ≈ ωs − ωs qk d⊥ /2. (31)
8

1 2 3
FIG. 7: Reflection of an electromagnetic wave from a thin film 2 of width d bounded by media 1 and 3.

Thus, instead of reaching an asymptotic value ω s , which is actually a bulk property determined by ε ω , the non-retarded SP has
a dispersion determined by d⊥ , a quantity that is very sensitive to the surface condition. The sign of the dispersion is positive or
negative corresponding to whether the induced surface charge lies inside (d k < 0) or outside (d⊥ > 0) of the metal. The latter is
the case for simple metals.

C. Thin films

The reflection amplitude of a thin film may be calculated from that of each of its surfaces by summing the amplitudes of the
multiply reflected waves. Thus, for the thin film of Fig. (7) we have
∞  n
r = r12 + t12 r23t21 e2ik⊥ d ∑ r21 r23 e2ik⊥ d (32)
n=0
t12 r23t21 e2ik⊥ d
= r12 + , (33)
1 − r21 r23 e2ik⊥ d
where each succesive term in the geometric series corresponds to an additional trip from the 1-2 interface towards the 2-3
interface and back, k⊥ is the normal wavevector within the film and r ab and tab denote the reflection amplitude of the surface ab
for a wave moving from medium a towards b. The dispersion relation of the thin film SP is then given implicitely by the poles
of r

r21 r23 e2ik⊥ d = 1. (34)

For an unsupported film r21 = r23 = −r12 and in the unretarded regime we obtain using Eq. (26) for r 21 ,
 2
εω − 1
= e2qk d , (35)
εω + 1

with solutions

coth(qk d/2) (even)
εω = − (36)
tanh(qk d/2) (odd).

according to the parity of the surface charge. In Fig. 8 we illustrate the dispersion relation of unretarded SP’s within a thin
unsupported film described by the Drude model. Each surface supports by itself a SP of frequency ω s . However, the field of
9

1
0.9
odd
0.8
ωs
0.7
ω/ω p 0.6
0.5 even
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
qk d
FIG. 8: Dispersion relation of the odd and even SP’s of a thin metallic film described by the Drude model. The SP frequency of a single surface
is indicated by a dashed line.

each SP penetrates the film a distance 1/qk and thus may couple to the SP on the opposite surface, lifting the degeneracy. For
small wavevectors, the odd coupled mode oscillates with the bulk plasma frequency ω p , while the even coupled mode acquires
an acoustical dispersion propagating with speed v s = ω/qk = ω p d/2 = 2πn0 de2 /m, i.e.,

vs = 2πns e2 /m, (37)

where ns = n0 d is the number of electrons per unit area in the film.

D. Spherical particles

The scalar potential ψind ind


lm (r, θ, φ) = Clm Ylm (θ φ)r
−l−1 produced at r > a by the charges induced at the surface of a metallic

sphere of radius a subject to an external potential ψ ext ext l


lm (r, θ, φ) = Clm Ylm (θ, φ)r with angular momentum lm may be obtained in
2
the non-retarded limit by solving Laplace’s equation ∇ ψ = 0 within the sphere and in the surrounding vacuum and imposing
boundary conditions at r = a. This procedure yields the response function of the sphere,
ind
Clm εω − 1 2l+1
Slm ≡ ext = − ε + (l + 1)/l a , (38)
Clm ω

for each value of l and m. Thus, the collective normal modes of the sphere, i.e., its multipolar surface plasmons, are given by
the zeroes of the denominator,
l +1
εω = − . (39)
l
For the Drude model without dissipation we obtain
r
l
ω= ωp. (40)
2l + 1
This results yields ωd for the case l = 1. Thus, Eq. (39) is a generalization of Eq. (6) to conductors with arbitrary dielectric
function and yields modes with arbitrary angular momentum l. Notice that in the limit l → ∞, Eq. (39) coincides with the SP
relation for a flat surface (27).
10

~v
F~

FIG. 9: An external charge (black dot) moving withi speed ~v within the bulk of a conductor (light gray), induces an excentric screening charge
(dark gray) which produces a desaccelerating force ~F.

F~

FIG. 10: An external electron (black dot) collides with the surface of a metal (light gray) where it is specularly reflected. Along its trajectory
(dashed) it interacts with its image (dark gray) being accelerated before the collision and decelerated afterwards by different forces (arrows),
loosing energy and momentum in the process.

IV. OBSERVATION

As plasmons are charge oscillations, they may couple to charged particles. A charged particle shot through the bulk of a
conductor with velocity ~v induces screening charges of the opposite sign in its neighborhood. However, as the projectile is in
motion and there is some delay before the screening is fully developed, the center of the screening charge lags behind the position
of the projectile, as shown schematically in Fig. (9). Thus, the attraction force towards the screening charge slows down the
projectile, taking energy and momentum from it. Quantum mechanically, the particle looses energy h̄ω and momentum h̄~q due
to the emission of plasmons with frequency ω and wavevector ~q. Only plasmons with velocities that match that of the particle,
i.e., with ω = ~q ·~v are emitted, and with a probability per unit time which is proportional to the loss function −Im(1/ε~qLω ). The
loss function displays a sharp peak whenever (~q, ω) approaches the plasmon dispersion relation (17). For example, plasmon
excitation may be observed with electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), in which high energy electrons are shot into a
metallic thin film in a transmission electron microscope and the intensity of the electrons which are inelastically scattered into
different directions is measured.
Consider now a relatively low energy electron which collides with the surface of a conductor where it is specularly reflected.
On its way towards the surface and back it induces screening charges at the surface which produce a field which acts back on
the projectile. According to image theory, the field may be calculated in terms of a fictituous image charge within the metal.
The image charge is not a point charge and it lags behind the ideal image position due to the delay in the development of the
screening. Thus, the energy and momentum gained from the image force as the projectile approaches the surfaces is smaller
than those lost as the projectile rebounds (Fig. 10). Quantum mechanically, the electron losses energy h̄ω and momentum h̄~q k
along the surface by emitting surface plasmons with a probability proportional to the surface loss function −Img~qk ω . The loss
function displays a sharp peak whenever (~q k , ω) approaches the surface plasmon dispersion relation (30) which may therefore
be measured with low energy reflection EELS.
Besides being excited by external charges, plasmons may also be excited by electromagnetic fields. The electric field of p-
polarized light impinging on the surface of a metal may push charge against the surface, and the resulting charge accumulation
may subsecuently propagate towards the bulk as a plasmon or along the surface as a surface plasmon. In the former case, the
11

FIG. 11: Attenuated total reflection experiment. P polarized light is incident at an angle θ on the surface of a glass semicylinder where it
is totally reflected(solid arrow). The evanescent transmitted field (short dashes) reaches the surface of the metal, where it may excite an SP
(dashed), attenuating the total reflection.

reflectance is slightly reduced below that given by the Fresnel amplitude (22) at frequencies above ω p . In order to couple to
surface plasmons, the incoming wave should have a wavevector q k > ω/c. This may be accomplished in an attenuated total
reflection experiment (ATR) in which the surface is illuminated through a glass prism with an index of refraction n > 1 (Fig. 11),
in which the light line nω/c extends beyond that of vacuum (Fig. 6). By varying θ and/or ω the region ω/c ≤ q k = n(ω/c) sin θ ≤
nω/c may be explored (Fig. 6). The reflectance of the system is close to 1 due to total reflection in the glass-air interface, except
for a sharp dip when (~qk , ω) crosses the dispersion relation of the SP (25). SP’s may also be excited at a rough surface, where ~q k
is no longer a conserved quantity and SP’s may couple to ordinady light. The electric field close to the surface may be amplified
several orders of magnitude due to SP excitations. This amplification is partly responsible for the enhanced Raman scattering
by molecules adsorbed at rough metallic surfaces.

V. FINAL REMARKS

Plasmons, are present and have been studied in manifold systems: quasi two, one and zero dimensional structures, in the
presence of strong static electric and magnetic fields, in small particles of various shapes, etc. Their frequency may be obtained
from the poles of appropriate response functions, typically, the total charge-external charge response, commonly identified with
the inverse dielectric operator ρ = ε̂−1 ρext . The operator ε̂−1 may be represented by a matrix (ε−1 ) introducing a suitable basis
|αi, and each of the matrix elements (ε−1 )αβ depends on frequency and may depend on other conserved quantities, such as
momentum or angular momentum, if they are present. Plasmons are then given by the poles of the (ε −1 ), or equivalently, from
det(εαβ ) = 0. Plasmons play a fundamental role in the screening of electromagnetic fields within matter and may be detected
through inelastic scattering of charged particles or through resonant scattering of light.

1 Halevi, Peter (ed.), Spatial Dispersion in Solids and Plasmas (North Holland, Amsterdam, 1992).
2 Halevi, Peter (ed.), Photonic Probes of Surfaces, (North Holland, Amsterdam, 1995).
3 Ibach, H. and Mills, D. L., Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy and Surface Vibrations (Academic, New york, 1982).
4 Ibach, H. and Luth, H., Solid-State Physics: An Introduction to Principles of Materials Science 2nd ed. (Springer, Berlin, 1995)
5 Kittel, C., Introduction to Solid State Physics (Wiley, New York, 1953).
6 Kittel, C., Quantum Theory of Solids (Wiley, New York, 1963).
7 Liebsch, A., Electronic Excitations at Metal Surfaces (Plenum, New York, 1997).
8 Raether, H., Excitation of Plasmons and Interband Transitions by Electrons (Springer, Berlin, 1980).
9 Raether, H., Surface Plasmons (Springer, Berlin, 1988).

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