RS Fellow - EPSRC grant (2014): Ab initio many-body theory of plasmons in nanomaterials

纳米等离子体器件能够将光限制在远低于工作波长的超小区域内，在等离子体光伏或等离子体水分解等新型能源技术应用方面具有巨大的前景。然而，对这类系统的理论描述是非常具有挑战性的：它需要对等离子体激元的经典特性(由电动力学的麦克斯韦方程捕捉)和它的量子性质(由薛定谔方程描述)进行联合建模。在拟议的项目中，我们将开发一个新的理论和计算框架来描述与复杂环境接触的电子激发，如等离子激子或磁子。我们将应用这种方法来研究等离子体、磁子和光电化学系统中的基本过程，并利用我们的见解为未来的能源转换和信息技术设备提出改进的设计原则。

Nanoplasmonic devices, capable of confining light into ultrasmall domains well below the operating wavelength, bear great promise for novel energy technology applications, such as plasmonic photovoltaics or plasmonic water splitting. The theoretical description of such systems, however, is very challenging: it requires the combined modeling of the classical characteristics of the plasmon, captured by the Maxwell equations of electrodynamics, and its quantum nature, which is described by Schrödinger's equation. In the proposed project, we will develop a novel theoretical and computational framework for the description of electronic excitations, such as plasmons or magnons, in contact with complex environments. We will apply this approach to study fundamental processes in plasmonic, magnonic and photoelectrochemical systems und use our insights to suggest improved design principles for future energy conversion and information technology devices.