Concentration of energy inside laser-irradiated gold and silver plasmon nanoparticles in air

Abstract

We simulated laser-intensity distribution inside spherical gold and silver nanoparticles with radii between 10 and 100 nm, which are exposed to laser radiation at 400, 532, and 800 nm in air, and analyzed the results. The effect of high energy concentration inside illuminated (front) and shadowed (back) hemispheres of gold and silver nanoparticles is established for several nanoparticle sizes and laser wavelengths. The results can be used in nanophotonics of new plasmon devices (concentrators, antennas, etc.) and photon components.