Optical properties of metal nanoparticles with arbitrary shapes

TL;DR

This paper investigates the optical properties of metallic nanoparticles with arbitrary shapes using the Discrete Dipole Approximation, analyzing how geometry and size influence their optical spectra and signatures.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical approach to study optical spectra of arbitrarily shaped nanoparticles, linking spectral features to geometry and material properties.

Findings

Optical spectra depend on nanoparticle shape and size.

Distinct optical signatures can identify nanoparticle geometry.

Theoretical calculations align with experimental observations.

Abstract

We have studied the optical properties of metallic nanoparticles with arbitrary shape. We performed theoretical calculations of the absorption, extinction and scattering efficiencies, which can be directly compared with experiments, using the Discrete Dipole Approximation (DDA). In this work, the main features in the optical spectra have been investigated depending of the geometry and size of the nanoparticles. The origin of the optical spectra are discussed in terms of the size, shape and material properties of each nanoparticle, showing that a nanoparticle can be distinguish by its optical signature.