A hybridization model for the plasmon response of complex nanostructures

We present a simple and intuitive picture, an electromagnetic analog of molecular orbital theory, that describes the plasmon response of complex nanostructures of arbitrary shape. Our model can be understood as the interaction or 'hybridization' of elementary plasmons supported by nanostructures of elementary geometries. As an example, the approach is applied to the important case of a four-layer concentric nanoshell, where the hybridization of the plasmons of the inner and outer nanoshells determines the resonant frequencies of the multilayer nanostructure.
The fabrication of materials on a nanoscale can be used to enhance and exploit properties that become stronger under conditions of reduced dimensionality. In metallic systems, the conduction electron charge [...]