Relationships between volume plasmon excitations and mechanical
properties of various materials are considered. Based on systematic
evaluation of available data, correlations between the volume
plasmon energy, Ep, Young's modulus,
Ym, bulk modulus,
Bm, shear modulus, Gm, and microhardness,
Hm, are established. The resulting
correlations indicate that plasmon energies potentially can be used
to predict and/or determine the local mechanical properties of
technologically important materials, such as metal alloys, semiconductors,
and ceramics at the nanometer level.