DYNAMICAL SCREENING OF AN ATOM CONFINED WITHIN A FINITE-WIDTH FULLERENE

This is an investigation of the dynamical screening of an atom confined within a fullerene of finite width. The two surfaces of the fullerene lead to the presence of two surface plasmon eigenmodes. In the vicinity of these two frequencies, there is a large enhancement of the confined atom's photoabsorption rate. The dynamical screening factor is given for two cases. In the first case, the atom is fixed at the center of the fullerene. The effect of the interaction between the dipole moments of the shell and the atom on the dynamical screening factor is investigated. In the second case, it is calculated for the atom placed at an arbitrary position inside the fullerene. A method for obtaining the spatially averaged screening factor is outlined.