Plasmons in disordered nanoparticle chains: Localization and Transport

TL;DR

This paper investigates how disorder affects plasmon coupling in metallic nanoparticle chains, revealing localization effects in eigenmodes and transport, and suggests these systems are promising for studying optical wave localization.

Contribution

It introduces a dipole model analysis of disorder effects on plasmon localization and transport in nanoparticle chains, providing estimates of localization length and potential for controlled experiments.

Findings

Localization effects observed in eigenmodes and transport behavior

Disorder influences plasmon coupling and localization length

Chains with controlled disorder are promising for optical wave studies

Abstract

Disorder-induced effects on plasmon coupling in chains of metallic nanoparticles are studied within a dipole model, by considering two types of disorder: fluctuations of the particles' shapes and fluctuations of their positions. Typical localization effects are found both in the eigenmodes and in the transport behavior of the system, and an estimate of the localization length is made. It is argued that chains with deliberately introduced disorder constitute promising systems for studying localization effects of electromagnetic waves at optical frequencies under well controllable and manipulable conditions.