Polarizability and Absorption of Small Conducting Particles in a Time-Varying Electromagnetic Field

Abstract

We study small conducting particles and thin films in an oscillating longitudinal electric field. We find the charge, current, and field distribution in the particle, the polarizability and the electric dipole absorption. We account for Thomas-Fermi screening by adding a Fick's diffusion term to Ohm's law. Alternatively, we describe a particle as a dielectric body with a non-local dielectric constant which is derived in a microscopic linear-response theory. We show that both approaches are equivalent.