Spatially Resolved Dynamic Structure Factor of Finite Systems from MD Simulations

TL;DR

This study uses restricted molecular dynamics simulations to analyze the spatially resolved dynamic structure factor of metallic clusters, revealing insights into collective electron excitations and optical responses in nano plasmas.

Contribution

It introduces a method to evaluate bi-local correlation functions in finite metallic systems, providing detailed analysis of collective excitations and their dependence on system parameters.

Findings

Identification of resonances corresponding to different collective excitation modes

Dependence of eigenmode properties on electron density, temperature, and cluster size

Comparison of nano plasma excitations with bulk material properties

Abstract

The dynamical response of metallic clusters up to $10^3$ atoms is investigated using the restricted molecular dynamics simulations scheme. Exemplarily, sodium like material is considered. Correlation functions are evaluated to investigate the spatial structure of collective electron excitations and optical response of laser excited clusters. In particular, the spectrum of bi-local correlation functions shows resonances representing different modes of collective excitations inside the nano plasma. The spatial structure, the resonance energy and width of the eigenmodes have been investigated for various values of electron density, temperature, cluster size and ionization degree. Comparison with bulk properties is performed and the dispersion relation of collective excitations is discussed.