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Meaning of plasmon in English:

plasmon

Pronunciation /ˈplazmɒn/

noun

Physics

  • A quantum or quasiparticle associated with a local collective oscillation of charge density.

    ‘It is based upon the coupling of plasmons (charge density oscillations) excited by light in thin metal films, with waveguide modes in a dielectric layer overcoating the metal film.’
    • ‘At each groove, plasmons scatter and radiate some light, while some plasmon energy remains to travel to the next groove.’
    • ‘The surface plasmons then decay into photons, which are emitted from the surface.’
    • ‘According to their calculations, when light shines on the largest sphere, it sets up a surface plasmon - a wave of vibrating electrons on the surface of the sphere - that creates an oscillating electric field.’
    • ‘When light strikes a metallic material, waves of electrons, called plasmons, are generated.’

Origin

1930s (in sense ‘the part of a cell's genetic material outside the nucleus’): from plasma+ -on. The physics sense dates from the 1950s.