We study the optical excitation of high-order surface plasmon resonance modes in individual Ag nanorice particles using dark-field scattering spectroscopy. We analyze the results by model calculations using the boundary element method. Symmetry breaking caused by oblique illumination makes the even order resonance modes observable in the optical spectrum. All the resonance peaks are found to redshift with increasing length of the particle.

In this paper we describe the propagation of the coherent component of an electromagnetic wave in a colloidal system with large inclusions using an effective-medium approach. We show that the effective medium is nonlocal ͑spatially dispersive͒ and derive expressions for the nonlocal longitudinal and transverse components of the dielectric response, ⑀ L and ⑀ T . Numerical calculations of the wave-vector dependence of these response functions are displayed. The dispersion relation for the transverse modes is calculated and compared with the results obtained using well-known approximations for the effective index of refraction. It is also shown that some of these approximations have actually a nonlocal nature, explaining why it is not possible to use them to calculate, for example, the reflection properties of the colloidal system using conventional continuum electrodynamics. We also calculate the effective nonlocal electric permittivity ⑀ and effective nonlocal magnetic susceptibility and show that this more traditional description is equivalent to the one using ⑀ L and ⑀ T .

Manipulation of nanoscale objects to build useful structures requires a detailed understanding and control of forces that guide nanoscale motion. We report here observation of electromagnetic forces in groups of nanoscale metal particles, derived from the plasmonic response to the passage of a swift electron beam. At moderate impact parameters, the forces are attractive, toward the electron beam, in agreement with simple image charge arguments. For smaller impact parameters, however, the forces are repulsive, driving the nanoparticle away from the passing electron. Particle pairs are most often pulled together by coupled plasmon modes having bonding symmetry. However, placement of the electron beam between a particle pair pushes the two particles apart by exciting antibonding plasmonic modes. We suggest how the repulsive force could be used to create a nanometer-sized trap for moving and orienting molecular-sized objects.