Non-local conductivity and the effective potential in small metal particles

Abstract:

We discuss the absorption of electromagnetic radiation in small conducting particles, in the case where the electron motion is diffusive. We refine an earlier theory in which we calculated the absorption coefficient using an effective potential describing the screened electric field. Our new theory incorporates the effects of non-locality in the electrical conductivity, and shows how the two limiting behaviours of the effective potential at high and low frequencies can be derived from a unified theory. Our results are in full agreement with our earlier calculation.