Unveiling the scattering behavior of small spheres

Abstract

A classical way for exploring the scattering behavior of a small sphere is to approximate Mie coefficients with a Taylor series expansion. This ansatz delivered a plethora of insightful results, mostly for small spheres supporting localized plasmonic resonances. However, many scattering aspects are still uncharted, especially with regards to magnetic resonances. Here, an alternative system ansatz is proposed based on the Pad\'e approximants for the Mie coefficients. The result reveal the existence of a self-regulating radiative damping mechanism for the first magnetic resonance and new general resonating aspects for the higher order multipoles. Hence, a systematic way of exploring the scattering behavior is introduced, sharpening our understanding about the sphere's scattering behavior and its emergent functionalities.