  A quantum mechanical approach and local response theory are applied to study
plasmons propagating in nanometer-thin gold slabs sandwiched between different
dielectrics. The metal slab supports two different kinds of modes, classified
as long-range and short-range plasmons. Quantum spill-out is found to
significantly increase the imaginary part of their mode indices, and,
surprisingly, even for slabs wide enough to approach bulk the increase is 20%.
This is explained in terms of enhanced plasmonic absorption, which mainly takes
place at narrow peaks located near the slab surface.
