Nonlinear response of metal nanoparticles: Double plasmon excitation and electron transfer

We investigate the dynamical response of a metal nanoparticle and the electron transfer to a molecule near its surface using time-dependent density functional theory. In addition to the linear response of the Mie resonance, double plasmon excitations and a low-frequency charge transfer band emerge and become prominent at high laser intensities. Both modes are nonlinear processes, which are derived from the re-excitation and decay of the primary plasmon mode, respectively. Our results shed light on the localised characters of the plasmon-molecule coupling and hot electron distributions. These findings have general implications to photoinduced phenomena in nanosystems.