Lumped Circuit Modeling at Nanoscale (Part-I: Dielectric Anisotropy)

The past decade has witnessed a growing interest in pushing the limits of lumped circuit theory to the analysis and design of nanocircuits at infrared and visible frequencies. Just as how a relentless pursuit of microminiaturization of electronic devices has resulted in the very large-scale integration (VLSI) technology today, an even more aggressive research activity in the field of metamaterials and complex media opened roadmaps for subwavelength nanostructures. The motive for this urge is to break free from the diffraction limit and pitch into all new frontiers of plasmonics and nano-technology, whereby information processing and transmission are projected to happen at a greater speed and lower power levels. In order for nanocircuits and systems to develop, it is imperative that electromagnetic interaction with nanoparticles made of diverse media types be studied not only using full wave analysis, but also with the aid of quasi-static approach. Numerous papers have appeared that considered dielectric and plasmonic particles possessing isotropy, but dielectric anisotropy and bianisotropy have yet to garner their rightful attention. This paper aims to carry out this in case of anisotropic nanospheres. In a companion paper, we shall consider the equivalent circuits of nanospheres. We shall outline quasi-static analysis and derive fields both inside and outside a nanosphere and obtain equivalent circuit that takes into account coupling between two nanospheres.