Electrodynamics at metal surfaces. IV. The electric fields caused by the polarization of a metal surface by an oscillating dipole

Abstract

We compute the electromagnetic field generated by an oscillating dipole located near a metal surface. The dielectric response of the metal is obtained by using the random phase approximation for a jellium model with a surface represented by an infinite barrier. The model includes the role of spatial dispersion (nonlocal response) and of the fact that the dielectric response varies continuously across the interface. These two effects remove the divergence given by the phenomenological electrodynamics (image formula).