On different mechanisms of electron-phonon scattering of electron and hole excitations on an Ag(110) surface

We present the results of a detailed theoretical study of the electron-phonon scattering of electron and hole excitations in the unoccupied and occupied surface states on an Ag(110) surface. We show that the electron-phonon coupling parameter λ in the unoccupied surface state is approximately three times smaller than that in the occupied one, because the scattering of these states is determined by different phonon modes. The difference in the phonon-induced decay mechanisms of electron and hole excitations is determined by different spatial localizations of the unoccupied and occupied surface states at the $ \overline Y $ \overline Y point of the two-dimensional Brillouin zone.     

Shape of the magnetic resonance line in a thin film on the surface of an anisotropic superconductor

The shape of the EPR line in a thin (=λ/2, where λ is the London penetration depth of the magnetic field in the superconductor) paramagnetic film deposited on the surface of an anisotropic superconductor is calculated in an oblique magnetic field with allowance for the inhomogeneity of the local magnetic field of the Abrikosov vortex lattice. It is shown that, as the tilt angle of the external magnetic field is varied, the shape of the EPR line changes noticeably. This fact can give additional information about the superconductor parameters (the symmetry type of the vortex lattice and the anisotropy parameter of the superconductor). Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 386–388 (March 1999)     

Dependence of the intrinsic line width of surface states on the wave vector: The Cu(111) and Ag(111) surfaces

The dependence of the intrinsic line width Γ of electron and hole states due to inelastic scattering on the wave vector k _∥ in the occupied surface state and the first image potential state on the Cu(111) and Ag(111) surfaces has been calculated using the GW approximation, which simulates the self-energy of the quasiparticles by the product of the Greens’s function and the dynamically screened Coulomb potential. Different contributions to the relaxation of electron and hole excitations have been analyzed. It has been demonstrated that, for both surfaces, the main channel of relaxation of holes in the occupied surface states is intraband scattering and that, for electrons in the image potential states, the interband transitions play a decisive role. A sharp decrease in the intrinsic line width of the hole state with an increase in k _∥ is caused by a decrease in the number of final states, whereas an increase in Γ of the image potential state is predominantly determined by an increase of its overlap with bulk states.     

A new optical method for measuring the electron-phonon interaction parameter λ〈Ω2〉 using the spectral dependence of the relaxation rate

The spectral dependence of the electron-phonon relaxation rate γ_e−ph(ℏω) in metals is studied in pump-supercontinuum-probe (PSCP) experiments with femtosecond time resolution. Investigation of this spectral dependence, which exhibits a substantial slowing of the relaxation rate γ_e−ph(ℏω) near the Fermi level E _F , using the parametrization γ_e−ph(ℏω)∝λ〈Ω²〉 (ℏω−E _F )² makes it possible to determine directly the electron-phonon interaction parameter λ〈Ω²〉. The parameter λ〈Ω²〉 for YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ is analyzed using this method. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 70, No. 5, 329–332 (10 September 1999)     

Effect of electron-phonon interaction on surface states in a ternary mixed crystal

A variational theory is proposed to study the surface states of electrons in a semi-infinite ternary mixed crystal, by taking the effect of electron-surface optical (SO) phonon interaction into account. The energy and the wave function of the electronic surface-states are calculated. The numerical results of the energies of the surface states of the polarons and the self-trapping energies are obtained as functions of the composition x and surface potential V₀ for several ternary mixed crystal materials. The results show that the electron-phonon interaction lowers the surface-state levels with the energies from several to scores of meV. It is also found that the self-trapping energy of the surface polaron has a minimum at some middle value of the composition x. It is indicated that the electron-phonon coupling effect can not be neglected. Received 4 January 1999 and Received in final form 7 January 2000     

Phase Diagram of Ising Systems with Additional Long Range Forces

We consider ferromagnetic Ising systems where the interaction is given by the sum of a fixed reference potential and a Kac potential of intensity λ≥0 and scaling parameter γ>0$. In the Lebowitz Penrose limit γ→0⁺$ the phase diagram in the (T,λ) positive quadrant is described by a critical curve λ^mf(T), which separates the regions with one and two phases, respectively below and above the curve. We prove that if $λ>^mf(T), i.e. above the curve, there are at least two Gibbs states for small values of γ. If instead λ<λ^mf(T) and if the reference Gibbs state (i.e. without the Kac potential) satisfies a mixing condition at the temperature T, then, at the same temperature the full interaction (i.e. with also the Kac potential) satisfies the Dobrushin Shlosman uniqueness condition for small values of γ so that there is a unique Gibbs state. Received: 9 April 1996 / Accepted: 26 November 1996     

Horizontal rolls in convective flow above a partially heated surface

Considering the nonlinearity arising from the interaction between electrons and lattice vibrations, an effective electronic model with a self-interaction cubic term is employed to study the interplay between electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions. Based on numerical solutions of the time-dependent nonlinear Schroedinger equation for an initially localized two-electron singlet state, we show that the magnitude of the electron-phonon coupling χ necessary to promote the self-trapping of the electronic wave packet decreases as a function of the electron-electron interaction U. We show that such dependence is directly linked to the narrowing of the band of bounded two-electron states as U increases. We obtain the transition line in the χ × U parameter space separating the phases of self-trapped and delocalized electronic wave packets. The present results indicates that nonlinear contributions plays a relevant role in the electronic wave packet dynamics, particularly in the regime of strongly correlated electrons.     

Theoretical analysis of the thermal conductivity of high-temperature superconductors

Summary The thermal conductivity of YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ high-T _c superconductor is analysed self-consistently on both normal and superconducting states on the base of the Bardeen-Rickayzen-Tewordt extended theory to take into account the effects of magnetic field and superconducting fluctuations. It is shown that experimental data are in a quantitative agreement with theory even if the number and variation intervals of adjustable parameters are substantially reduced in comparison with previous works. Phonon relaxation rates due to different mechanisms of phonon scattering as well as the parameters of electron-phonon interaction are estimated. It is shown that thermal conductivity in YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ is consistent with the BCS model with intermediate electron-phonon coupling λ=1–3 the phonon-electron and electron-phonon relaxation times near critical temperature are evaluated to be 10⁻¹⁰s and 10⁻¹²s, respectively.     

Effect of hole doping on the electronic structure and the Fermi surface in the Hubbard model within norm-conserving cluster pertubation theory

The concentration dependences of the band structure, spectral weight, density of states, and Fermi surface in the paramagnetic state are studied in the Hubbard model within cluster pertubation theory with 2 × 2 clusters. Representation of the Hubbard X operators makes it possible to control conservation of the spectral weight in constructing cluster perturbation theory. The calculated value of the ground-state energy is in good agreement with the results obtained using nonperturbative methods such as the quantum Monte Carlo method, exact diagonalization of a 4 × 4 cluster, and the variational Monte Carlo method. It is shown that in the case of hole doping, the states in the band gap (in-gap states) lie near the top of the lower Hubbard band for large values of U and near the bottom of the upper band for small U. The concentration dependence of the Fermi surface strongly depends on hopping to second (t′) and third (t″) neighbors. For parameter values typical of HTSC cuprates, the existence of three concentration regions with different Fermi surfaces is demonstrated. It is shown that broadening of the spectral electron density with an energy resolution typical of contemporary ARPES leads to a pattern of arcs with a length depending on the concentration. Only an order-of-magnitude decrease in the linewidth makes it possible to obtain the true Fermi surface from the spectral density. The kinks associated with strong electron correlations are detected in the dispersion relation below the Fermi level.     

Impact of eigenvalues on the pseudopotential calculation of superconducting parameters of metals Ga, Cd and In

In the present paper some superconducting (SC) state parameters of metals Ga, Cd and In have been studied through Harrison’s First Principle [HFP] pseudopotential technique using McMillan’s formalism. The impact of choosing two different sets of core energy eigenvalues viz. Herman-Skillman and Clementi (or Experimental) has been studied. It has been observed that the choice of eigenvalues has appreciable impact on the form factor and consequently on the SC state transition parameter viz. electron-phonon coupling strength (λ) and superconducting transition temperature T _c . Hence the choice of suitable eigenvalues is essential for these computations. Reasonable agreement with experimental and theoretical data have been obtained.     

Electron-phonon interaction effects on the surface states in wurtzite nitride semiconductors

A variational approach is used to study the surface states of an electron in a semi-infinite wurtzite nitride semiconductor. The surface-state energy of the electron is calculated, by taking the effects of the electron-surface optical phonon interaction and structure anisotropy into account. The numerical computation has been performed for the energies of the electronic surface states as a function of the surface potential V₀ for wurtzite GaN, AlN, and InN, respectively. The results show that the electron-phonon interaction lowers the surface state energy. It is also found that the energies of the electronic surface-state in wurtzite structures are lower than that in the zinc-blende structures by hundreds of meV for the materials calculated. The influence of e-p-interactions on the surface state of electron cannot be neglected.     

Electronic structure and excitations on clean and nanostructured metal surfaces

We present a brief overview of recent studies and new theoretical results for electron-phonon interaction in the $\overline{Y}$ surface states on FCC(110) noble metal surfaces as well as in surface and quantum-well states of thin films. We discuss the oscillations of electron-phonon coupling parameter λ and the respective contribution to the lifetime broadening of these states. We analyse the effect of spin-orbit splitting of surface states on an electron-electron contribution to lifetimes of excited electrons (holes). Oscillations of the electron-electron contribution and quadratic dependence of the linewidth on energy is discussed for ultrathin Pb(111) films.     

Sign inversion of the rotatory power and topology of the surface of gyration of αNiSO4·6H2O

The sign inversion point of the rotatory power of the gyrotropic crystals α-NiSO₄·6H₂O (λ _l=503 nm at 300 K) has been established. The topology of the gyration surface varies greatly in the vicinity of λ _l. We have demonstrated the possibility of using this method of spectrophotometric polarimetry for precise monitoring of the mounting of a gyrotropic crystal in the system “polarizer-crystal-analyzer.” Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1608–1609 (September 1998)     

Real-time surface shape measurement by an active interferometer

We have succeeded in video rate analysis of fringes stabilized by an active interferometer placed outside optical benches. The interferometer uses the closed loop control of injection current of a laser diode to compensate for fringe movement that is detected by a spatial filtering detector. A video image of the locked fringes with tilt is supplied to the real-time fringe analyzer that delivers unwrapped phase distribution from the three phase shifted fringes generated by the electronic moiré method. For a concave mirror of 130 mm diameter placed on a wooden desk we observed the repeatability of λ/60 for P-V surface error of λ/5.     

Scattering of Rayleigh waves by a statistical inhomogeneity of the mass density

The problem of the scattering of a Rayleigh wave by a surface inhomogeneity of the mass density of an isotropic solid is solved in the Born approximation of perturbation theory. The inhomogeneity is statistical with a Gaussian correlation function in the plane parallel to the surface and is deterministic with an exponentially decaying dependence on the coordinate perpendicular to the surface. Expressions are derived for the displacement fields in the scattered longitudinal (P), transverse (SV and SH), and Rayleigh (R) waves at large distances from the inhomogeneity. The Rayleigh wave energy scattering coefficients are calculated as functions of the wavelength λ, the correlation length a of the inhomogeneity, the depth d of the defective layer, and the Poisson ratio of the medium, σ. The angular distribution of the scattered Rayleigh wave energy is determined. Asymptotic expressions are obtained for the scattering coefficient in various limiting cases with respect to the parameters a/λ and λ/d. The relation between the energies in the scattered P, SV, SH, and R waves is established. The resulting equations are used to calculate the scattering coefficients numerically over a wide range of variation of the parameters a/λ, λ/d, and σ; the results are presented in the form of graphs and a table. A physical pattern of the scattering process is constructed and used as a basis for interpreting the results of the study. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 267–274 (February 1997)     

On the surface properties of a nanodiamond

The dependences of the specific surface energy, the surface tension, and the surface pressure on the size, the surface shape, and the temperature of a nanodiamond with a free surface have been investigated using the Mie-Lennard-Jones interatomic interaction potential. The nanocrystal has the form of a parallelepiped faceted by the (100) planes with a square base. The number of atoms N in the nanocrystal varies from 5 to ∞. The isothermal isomorphic dependences of the specific surface energy, its isochoric derivative with respect to the temperature, the surface tension, and the surface pressure on the nanodiamond size have been calculated at temperatures ranging from 20 to 4300 K. According to the results of the calculations, the surface energy under this conditions is positive, which indicates that the nanodiamond cannot be fragmented at temperatures up to 4300 K. The surface pressure for the nanodiamond P _sf (N) ∼ N ^−1/3 is considerably less than the Laplace pressure P _ls (N)^−1/3 ∼ N ^−1/3 for the same nanocrystal at the given values of the temperature, the density, and the number of atoms N. As the temperature increases from 20 to 4300 K, the lowering of the isotherm P _sf (N) is considerably more pronounced than that of the isotherm P _ls (N). At high temperatures, the isotherm P _sf (N) changes the shape of the size dependence and goes to the range of extension of small nanocrystals. It has been demonstrated that the lattice parameter of the nanodiamond can either decrease or increase with a decrease in the nanocrystal size. The most significant change in the lattice parameter of the nanodiamond is observed at temperatures below 1000 K.     

Superconducting state parameters of CuCZr100-C metallic glasses

The theoretical investigation of the superconducting state parameters (SSP) viz. electron-phonon coupling strength λ, Coulomb pseudopotential μ*, transition temperature T _c, isotope effect exponent α and effective interaction strength N ₀ V of ten Cu _C Zr_100−C metallic glasses have been reported using Ashcroft’s empty core (EMC) model potential. Three local field correction functions proposed by Hartree (H), Taylor (T) and Ichimaru-Utsumi (IU) are used in the current investigation to study the screening influence on the aforesaid properties. It is observed that the electron-phonon coupling strength λ and the transition temperature T _C are quite sensitive to the selection of the local field correction functions, whereas the Coulomb pseudopotential μ*, isotope effect exponent α and effective interaction strength N ₀ V show weak dependences on local field correction functions. The T _c obtained from IU-local field correction function are found an excellent agreement with available theoretical or experimental data. Also, the present results are found in qualitative agreement with other such earlier reported data, which confirms the superconducting phase in metallic glasses.      

Superconducting state parameters of metallic glass Mg70Zn30 using linearized screened pseudopotential

A linearized form for the screened form factors of electron-phonon interaction in the metallic glass Mg₇₀Zn₃₀ is applied for the first time to predict the superconducting state parameters viz. electron-phonon coupling strength (λ), Coulomb pseudopotential (μ*), transition temperature (T _c), isotope effect exponent (α) and the interaction strength (N ₀ V). Computed results agree with the experimental data available in the literature.     

Method for calculating the contribution of inelastic electron-electron scattering lifetimes of electronic states on (110) noble metal surfaces

A method for calculating the decay rate of surface states on the (110) noble metal surfaces within the GW approximation is described in detail. The band structure is described by a two-dimensional pseudo-potential model. As an example, the calculated lifetimes of surface states at the [`(Y)] \bar{Y} point on Cu(110) are presented. The calculated lifetime of the occupied state is approximately 2 times greater than that of the unoccupied state. The result obtained for the occupied surface state is in good agreement with the photoemission data.     

Temperature dependence of surface impedance of Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8−δ and YBa2Cu3O6.95 single crystals measured in the microwave band

The real part R _s and the imaginary part X _s of the surface impedance Z _s=R _s+ iX _s of Tl₂Ba₂CaCu₂O_8−δ and YBa₂Cu₃O_6.95 single crystals have been measured with high precision at frequency ω/2π=9.4 GHz in the temperature range 0<T<140 K. In the Tl₂Ba₂CaCu₂O_8−δ crystal a linear temperature dependence R _s(T) has been found for T⩽50 K, and the magnetic field penetration depth λ(4.2 K)=X _s(4.2 K)/ω μ ₀≈3760 Å has been measured. Along with well known features of the function Z _s(T) in high-quality YBa₂Cu₃O_6.95 single crystals, such as the linearity of λ(T) and R _s(T) for T<T _c/3 and a maximum of R _s(T) at T∼T _c/2, the linearity range of λ(T) extends to T≃50 K, and this curve has a plateau in the range 60<T<85 K. The curve of R _s(T) in both the superconducting and normal states of YBa₂Cu₃O_6.95 is well described by a two-fluid model with the electron-phonon mechanism of quasiparticle relaxation. A formula describing the curve of λ ²(0)/λ ²(T) throughout the studied temperature range is also given. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 2210–2222 (December 1997)