Dielectric function of quantum dots in the strong confinement regime

The complex dielectric function of quantum dots (QDs) with a core-shell structure is modeled in the strong confinement regime. These results should be useful for the design of negative epsilon optical metamaterials, where the gain due to QDs could be an essential ingredient. Using the dielectric function it is also shown that conventional expressions for the gain substantially overestimate it for narrow linewidths.