Abstract:At visible and infrared frequencies, metals show tantalizing promise for strong subwavelength resonances, but material loss typically dampens the response. We derive fundamental limits to the optical response of absorptive systems, bounding the largest enhancements possible given intrinsic material losses. Through basic conservation-of-energy principles, we derive geometry-independent limits to per-volume absorption and scattering rates, and to local-density-of-states enhancements that represent the power radiated or expended by a dipole near a material body. We provide examples of structures that approach our absorption and scattering limits at any frequency; by contrast, we find that common "antenna" structures fall far short of our radiative LDOS bounds, suggesting the possibility for significant further improvement. Underlying the limits is a simple metric, |χ| 2 / Im χ for a material with susceptibility χ, that enables broad technological evaluation of lossy materials across optical frequencies. 4. H. A. Atwater and A. Polman, "Plasmonics for improved photovoltaic devices," Nat. Mater. 9, 205-213 (2010). 5. G. V. Naik, J. Kim, and A. Boltasseva, "Oxides and nitrides as alternative plasmonic materials in the optical range [Invited]," Opt. Mater. Express 1, 1090-1099 (2011). 6. P. Tassin, T. Koschny, M. Kafesaki, and C. M. Soukoulis, "A comparison of graphene, superconductors and metals as conductors for metamaterials and plasmonics," Nat. Photonics 6, 259-264 (2012). 7. M. D. Arnold and M. G. Blaber, "Optical performance and metallic absorption in nanoplasmonic systems," Opt.Express 17, 3835-3847 (2009). 8. J. B. Khurgin and G. Sun, "In search of the elusive lossless metal," Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 181102 (2010). 9. A. Raman, W. Shin, and S. Fan, "Upper bound on the modal material loss rate in plasmonic and metamaterial systems," Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 183901 (2013). 10. J. B. Khurgin, "How to deal with the loss in plasmonics and metamaterials," Nat. Nanotechnol. 10, 2-6 (2015). 11. L. Novotny and B. Hecht, Principles of Nano-Optics (Cambridge University, 2012), 2nd ed. Electrons, and Plasmons, vol. 5 (W. A. Benjamin, 1964). 35. V. J. Keast, "Ab initio calculations of plasmons and interband transitions in the low-loss electron energy-loss spectrum," J. Electron Spectros. Relat. Phenomena 143, 97-104 (2005). 36. D. R. Lytle, P. S. Carney, J. C. Schotland, and E. Wolf, "Generalized optical theorem for reflection, transmission, and extinction of power for electromagnetic fields," Phys. Rev. E 71, 056610 (2005). 37. R. G. Newton, "Optical theorem and beyond," Am. J. Phys. 44, 639-642 (1976). Johnson, "Fundamental limits to extinction by metallic nanoparticles," Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 123903 (2014).46. R. Fuchs, "Theory of the optical properties of ionic crystal cubes," Phys. Rev. B 11, 1732Rev. B 11, -1740Rev. B 11, (1975 14, 2783-2788 (2014). 142. U. Fano, "Effects of configuration interaction on intensities and phase shifts," Phys. Rev. 124, 1866Rev. 124, -1878Rev. 124, (1961. 143. K. Petermann, ...