Plasmon excitations in planar sodium clusters

The collective electronic excitation in planar sodium clusters is studied by time-dependent density functional theory calculations. The formation and development of the resonances in photoabsorption spectra are investigated in terms of the shape and size of the 2-dimensional (2-D) systems. The nature of these resonances is revealed by the frequency-resolved induced charge densities present on a real-space grid. For long double chains, the excitation is similar to that in long single atomic chains, showing longitudinal modes, end and central transverse modes. However, for 2-D planes consisting of ($n \times n$) atoms with $n$ up to 16, new 2-D characteristic modes emerge regardless of the symmetries considered. For a kick parallel to the plane, besides the equivalent end mode, mixed modes with contrary polarity occur, while for an impulse perpendicular to the plane there will be corner, side center, bulk center, and circuit modes. Our calculation reveals the importance of dimensionality for plasmon excitation and how it evolves from 1-D to 2-D.