Exact solution of the optical response of thick slabs in the discrete dipole approach

Abstract

The recently developed double cell technique, which describes the optical response of an arbitrary semi-infinite dielectric crystal taking into account internal field effects, is extended to include the response of thick slabs. The surface sensitivity of the first technique is fully retained. The implications of the internal field effects on the microscopy of these thick slabs are examined for three simple model systems. Further, we investigated under which conditions deviations from classical Fresnel-behaviour are to be expected and how important these corrections are.

Optical anisotropy of Ge(001)

“…The theoretical description of the optical reflection at a surface has been refined in two complementary ways, the continuous model [20] and the discrete dipole model [21]. With the discrete dipole model it has become possible to give an unambiguous link between the electronic and geometric structure of the surface region at an atomic scale and the optical response of a surface.…”

Optical anisotropy of Ge(001)2 × 1

“…The analysis of the change in surface-induced optical anisotropy can be performed along two lines, the continuous model, using the dielectric constant (see, e.g., refs. [3,25]) and the discrete dipole model [4]. In the discrete dipole model, atoms are represented by dipoles with a certain polarizability derived from quantum mechanics.…”

The Electromagnetic Response of a Metamaterial Slab in the Case of Normal Incidence

“…Also, due to the inherent structural asymmetry at particle positions near the surface, the local electromagnetic fields and currents at these positions naturally differ from those in the bulk of the medium. Consequently, the polarization distribution of the discrete scatterers can vary rapidly and even oscillate within a thin transition layer near the surface [19][20][21][22][23]. Various models for the air-metamaterial interface have been proposed to account for surface effects, such as a thin effective Drude transition layer [16] and a pair of electric and magnetic effective surface susceptibilities, which lead to the generalized sheet transition conditions [24].…”