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Experimental benchmarking of dielectric models for simulating the localized surface plasmon resonance in Au-Ag alloy nanospheres

Magyar, Zsófia ; Horváth, Viktória ; Jönsson, Linnéa LU ; Pápa, Zsuzsanna ; Messing, Maria E. LU and Kohut, Attila (2026) In Materials Today Communications 51.
Abstract

The optical response of gold-silver (Au-Ag) alloy nanoparticles is strongly influenced by their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), which can be tuned by varying the particle composition. Accurate simulation of LSPR, often performed using Mie theory, critically depends on the choice of dielectric function, yet available datasets for gold, silver, and their alloys vary widely. In this work, we aim to demonstrate how different dielectric functions lead to discrepancies in simulated LSPR wavelengths, even for pure metals. By using numerical simulation tools, such as PyMieLab and the miepython library, we systematically evaluate commonly used dielectric models for Au–Ag alloys by comparing their predicted LSPR wavelengths with... (More)

The optical response of gold-silver (Au-Ag) alloy nanoparticles is strongly influenced by their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), which can be tuned by varying the particle composition. Accurate simulation of LSPR, often performed using Mie theory, critically depends on the choice of dielectric function, yet available datasets for gold, silver, and their alloys vary widely. In this work, we aim to demonstrate how different dielectric functions lead to discrepancies in simulated LSPR wavelengths, even for pure metals. By using numerical simulation tools, such as PyMieLab and the miepython library, we systematically evaluate commonly used dielectric models for Au–Ag alloys by comparing their predicted LSPR wavelengths with experimental measurements obtained from spark-ablation-generated nanoparticles with well-defined compositions and narrow size distributions. The composition-dependent experimental LSPR data – obtained for the whole composition range between pure silver and gold – provides a reliable benchmark for assessing the accuracy of each model. Our results highlight the potential uncertainty introduced by different dielectric functions and help to identify a model which describes experimental data the best. The results underline the importance of dielectric model selection for predictive optical simulations of alloy nanoparticles.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Dielectric function, Gold-silver alloy nanoparticles, Localized surface plasmon resonance, Spark ablation
in
Materials Today Communications
volume
51
article number
114920
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • scopus:105031003419
ISSN
2352-4928
DOI
10.1016/j.mtcomm.2026.114920
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
344c4f5c-84b3-4028-ad61-998a834df79f
date added to LUP
2026-04-21 15:42:39
date last changed
2026-04-21 15:43:43
@article{344c4f5c-84b3-4028-ad61-998a834df79f,
  abstract     = {{<p>The optical response of gold-silver (Au-Ag) alloy nanoparticles is strongly influenced by their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR), which can be tuned by varying the particle composition. Accurate simulation of LSPR, often performed using Mie theory, critically depends on the choice of dielectric function, yet available datasets for gold, silver, and their alloys vary widely. In this work, we aim to demonstrate how different dielectric functions lead to discrepancies in simulated LSPR wavelengths, even for pure metals. By using numerical simulation tools, such as PyMieLab and the miepython library, we systematically evaluate commonly used dielectric models for Au–Ag alloys by comparing their predicted LSPR wavelengths with experimental measurements obtained from spark-ablation-generated nanoparticles with well-defined compositions and narrow size distributions. The composition-dependent experimental LSPR data – obtained for the whole composition range between pure silver and gold – provides a reliable benchmark for assessing the accuracy of each model. Our results highlight the potential uncertainty introduced by different dielectric functions and help to identify a model which describes experimental data the best. The results underline the importance of dielectric model selection for predictive optical simulations of alloy nanoparticles.</p>}},
  author       = {{Magyar, Zsófia and Horváth, Viktória and Jönsson, Linnéa and Pápa, Zsuzsanna and Messing, Maria E. and Kohut, Attila}},
  issn         = {{2352-4928}},
  keywords     = {{Dielectric function; Gold-silver alloy nanoparticles; Localized surface plasmon resonance; Spark ablation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Materials Today Communications}},
  title        = {{Experimental benchmarking of dielectric models for simulating the localized surface plasmon resonance in Au-Ag alloy nanospheres}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2026.114920}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.mtcomm.2026.114920}},
  volume       = {{51}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}