Electrostatic Dipole Polarizability and Plasmon Resonances of Multilayer Nanoshells

We propose a generalized formula for calculating the dipole polarizability of spherical multilayer nanoshells (MNSs) within the long-wavelength approximation (LWA). Given a MNS with a finite number of concentric layers, radii, and dielectric properties, embedded in a dielectric medium, in the presence of a uniform electric field, we show that its frequency-dependent and complex dipole polarizability can be expressed in terms of the dipole polarizability of the preceding MNS. This approach is different from previous more involved methods where the LWA polarizability of a MNS is usually derived from scattering coefficients. Using both finite-element method- and Mie theory-based simulations, we show that our proposed formula reproduces the usual LWA results, when it is used to predict absorption spectra, by comparing the results to simulated spectra obtained from MNSs with n number of layers up to n = 6 layers. An iterative algorithm for calculating the dipole polarizability of a MNS based on the generalized formula is presented. A Fröhlich function whose zeroes correspond to the dipolar localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) supported by the MNS is proposed. We identify a pairing behaviour by some LSPRs in the Fröhlich function that might also be useful for mode characterization.