On the use of the method of moments in plasmonic applications

In the last 40 years the method of moments (MOM) has been a cornerstone in the field of computational electromagnetics. Traditionally, this method has been used to solve integral equations formulated for antennas and other components in the microwave frequency range and below. In this paper, the application of MOM in the field of plasmonics is briefly reviewed. First, existing literature is referenced. Then the differences with the classical implementations are pointed out. Finally, its applicability, advantages, and disadvantages are discussed. This is done by comparing it with a numerical finite difference time domain solver well-known in the plasmonics research community for a number of example structures. It is shown that also at these higher frequencies, namely in the IR and optical range, MOM is a very powerful technique.