title: Superbackscattering nanoparticle dimers.
abstract: The theory and design of superbackscattering nanoparticle dimers are presented. We analytically derive the optimal configurations and the upper bound of their backscattering cross-sections. In particular, it is demonstrated that electrically small nanoparticle dimers can enhance the backscattering by a factor of 6.25 with respect to single dipolar particles. We demonstrate that optimal designs approaching this theoretical limit can be found by using a simple circuit model. The study of practical implementations based on plasmonic and high-permittivity particles has been also addressed. Moreover, the numerical examples reveal that the dimers can attain close to a fourfold enhancement of the single nanoparticle response even in the presence of high losses.
authors.affiliation: Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department,Universidad Pública de Navarra, Campus Arrosadía, Pamplona, E-31006, Spain.
authors.forename: Iñigo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Liberal
authors.forename: Iñigo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ederra
authors.forename: Ramón
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gonzalo
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Ziolkowski