Surface-response functions obtained from equilibrium electron-density profiles
Abstract
Surface-response functions are one of the most promising routes for bridging the gap between fully quantum-mechanical calculations and phenomenological models in quantum nanoplasmonics. Within all the currently available recipes for obtaining such response functions, ab initio calculations remain one of the most predominant, wherein the surface-response function are retrieved via the metal's non-equilibrium response to an external perturbation. Here, we present a complementary approach where one of the most appealing surface-response functions, namely the Feibelman d-parameters, yield a finite contribution even in the case where they are calculated directly from the equilibrium properties described under the local-response approximation (LRA), but with a spatially varying equilibrium electron density. Using model calculations that mimic both spill-in and spill-out of the equilibrium electron density, we show that the obtained d-parameters are in qualitative agreement with more elaborate, but also more computationally demanding, ab initio methods. The analytical work presented here illustrates how microscopic surface-response functions can emerge out of entirely local electrodynamic considerations.