
The Brendel–Bormann oscillator model is a mathematical formula for the frequency dependence of the complex-valued
relative permittivity, sometimes referred to as the dielectric function. The model has been used to fit to the complex
refractive index of materials with absorption lineshapes exhibiting
non-Lorentzian broadening, such as metals
and amorphous insulators,
across broad spectral ranges, typically near-
ultraviolet,
visible, and
infrared frequencies. The
dispersion relation bears the names of R. Brendel and D. Bormann, who derived the model in 1992,
despite first being applied to optical constants in the literature by Andrei M. Efimov and E. G. Makarova in 1983.
Around that time, several other researchers also independently discovered the model.
The Brendel-Bormann oscillator model is aphysical because it does not satisfy the
Kramers–Kronig relations. The model is non-causal, due to a singularity at zero frequency, and
non-Hermitian. These drawbacks inspired J. Orosco and C. F. M. Coimbra to develop a similar, causal oscillator model.
Mathematical formulation
The general form of an oscillator model is given by
:
where
*
is the relative permittivity,
*
is the value of the relative permittivity at infinite frequency,
*
is the
angular frequency,
*
is the contribution from the
th absorption mechanism oscillator.
The Brendel-Bormann oscillator is related to the
Lorentzian oscillator and Gaussian oscillator
, given by
:
:
where
*
is the Lorentzian strength of the
th oscillator,
*
is the Lorentzian resonant frequency of the
th oscillator,
*
is the Lorentzian broadening of the
th oscillator,
*
is the Gaussian broadening of the
th oscillator.
The Brendel-Bormann oscillator
is obtained from the
convolution of the two aforementioned oscillators in the manner of
:
,
which yields
: