The optical response of small charged metallic nanodisks of one atomic monolayer thickness is analyzed under the excitation by an incident plane wave and by a localized pointlike dipole. Using the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) and classical electrodynamical calculations we identify the bright and dark plasmon modes and study their evolution under external charging of the nanostructure. For neutral nanodisks, despite their monolayer thickness, the in-plane optical response, as obtained from TDDFT, is in agreement with classical electromagnetic results. The optical response for an incident wave polarized perpendicular to the nanostructure cannot be retrieved classically as it reflects a discrete energy structure of electronic levels. This latter situation appears most sensitive to external charging while the energy of the in-plane plasmon with dipolar character is nearly charge independent.

• Received 31 March 2017
• Revised 21 May 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.95.245413