Multiple-scattering theories including correlation effects to obtain the effective dielectric constant of nonhomogeneous thin films

Nonlocal effects in the optical response of composite materials with metallic nanoparticles

“…For metallic nanoparticles with sizes much smaller then l in the visible and IR regime, a different kind of size effect becomes significant which has to do with the wave nature of the metallic electrons. While in the literature, this quantum size effect has been studied in the context of dielectric response for nanoparticles [12] and composites with such particles [7], it is the purpose of the present work to study a different kind of size effect which arises from the increasing significance of the particle surface. Due to the simple fact that the surfaceto-volume ratio (w1/a) of the particle increases as the size decreases, the nonlocal optical effects become highly significant for nanoparticles.…”

“…Since the first publication of various effective medium theories (EMT) at the beginning of the twentieth century [1,2], there have been many extensions and modifications proposed in the literature over the last thirty years [3]. These include, for example: detailed treatment of the particle shape beyond that of a sphere [4,5]; consideration of the possibility of particle coalescence [5,6]; account for particle correlation through multiple scattering effects [7]; improved treatment of percolation threshold in these models [8]; generalization to an anisotropic effective dielectric response for the composite [9]; implication of the significance of multipolar response which is neglected in the conventional EMT [10]; and the various generalizations to include electrodynamic effects leading to an EMT which depends on the sizes of the embedded particles [11].…”

Material constants of composites. I. General theory for the dielectric constant

“…Results beyond the CPA (see e.g. [5]) are scarcely applied. Other more recent approaches concentrate either on the correct treatment of retardation effects (see e.g.…”

Effective dielectric properties of composite materials in the surface layer

“…The same should be possible for all methods based on the mean-field approach 10-12 as well as more sophisticated or numerical procedures. 4,9,18,19 On the other hand, even the simplest approximation in this problem will contain information about the size of inclusions, possibly proposing an alternative for the experimental measurements for revealing geometrical properties of the dissolved component.…”