Light absorption by gold nanoparticle

The electromagnetic wave with a 500 nm wavelength is incident on a gold nanoparticle on a dielectric substrate. The figure shows the background electric field norm, for φ = π/4, θ = π/6 angles of incidence (left) and the norm of the total electric field for the same angles of incidence, after it has been influenced both by the material interface and by the gold nanoparticle (right). It is shown that the light absorption is increased by orders with the presence of the nanoparticle.

Image courtesy: I. Bariakhtar, Boston College. COMSOL Conference 2016, Boston