A Dedicated Modelling Scheme for Nonclassical Optical Response from the Nanosphere-on-Mirror Structure

TL;DR

This paper introduces a specialized modeling scheme based on the T-matrix method to accurately predict nonclassical optical responses in Nanosphere-on-Mirror structures, incorporating advanced models for quantum effects.

Contribution

It develops an upgraded T-matrix approach including nonlocal and surface response models, validated against numerical simulations for small gaps, advancing understanding of quantum optical effects in nanostructures.

Findings

Resonance shifts observed with nonclassical models

Reduced field enhancements in small gaps

Good agreement with physical expectations

Abstract

Within the framework of the T-matrix method, we present a modeling tool that predicts the optical response from the Nanosphere-on-Mirror (NSoM) construct. The nonclassical effects in metals are accounted for by the nonlocal hydrodynamic Drude model (NLHDM) or the surface response model (SRM). Two essential elements in the T-matrix method, i.e., the T-matrix of the sphere and the R matrix accounting for the effects of the mirror, have been fully upgraded to include longitudinal waves for the NLHDM and the augmented interface conditions for the SRM. The proposed tool is quantitatively validated both in the near and the far field by an in-house developed BEM solver for the NLHDM where the gap between the sphere and the mirror is as small as 1 nm. Two physical checks are performed, where the results from the classical local response model are compared with the ones from the NLHDM and the SRM. The observed shifts in resonances and reduced field enhancements in the gap region agree well with previous physical findings. The proposed tool may not only serve as a reference tool for other numerical methods, but also provides an ideal platform for investigating nonclassical optical processes in the NSoM, hence paving a semi-analytical way to understand the extreme optics at very small scales.