Plasmon excitation in metallic spheres

• Published in: Physical review. B, Condensed matter Condensed matter, 1985-01, Vol.31 (10), p.6354-6359
• Main Authors: BARBERAN, N, BAUSELLS, J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Collective effects; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Dispersió (Física nuclear); Electron states; Exact sciences and technology; Exchange, correlation, dielectric and magnetic functions, plasmons; Fonons; Materials science; Mecànica estadística; Metals, semimetals and alloys; Optical properties and condensed-matter spectroscopy and other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Other interactions of matter with particles and radiation; Phase transformations (Statistical physics); Phonons; Physics; Plasmons (Física); Plasmons (Physics); Scattering (Physics); Specific materials; Statistical mechanics; Transformacions de fase (Física estadística)
• ISSN: 0163-1829; 1095-3795
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.31.6354

A detailed study is presented of the influence of several parameters on the energy-loss probability of fast electrons (∼100 keV) incident on small metallic spherical particles. We consider the collective modes of the sphere, including bulk-type modes which do not appear to have been considered previously in the literature. A Gaussian distribution is used to describe the electron in the plane transverse to the trajectory. We discuss the effects of the variation of several parameters—incident beam size, probe velocity, radius of the sphere, impact parameter, and the excited mode—and conclude that the absorption spectra depend critically on the geometry of the probe as the experimental data of Batson and Treacy suggest.