Use of plasmon spectroscopy to evaluate the mechanical properties of materials at the nanoscale.

Relationships between volume plasmon excitations and mechanical properties of various materials are considered. Based on systematic evaluation of available data, correlations between the volume plasmon energy, Ep, Young's modulus, Ym, bulk modulus, Bm, shear modulus, Gm, and microhardness, Hm, are established. The resulting correlations indicate that plasmon energies potentially can be used to predict and/or determine the local mechanical properties of technologically important materials, such as metal alloys, semiconductors, and ceramics at the nanometer level.