Effects of screening of the interaction potential on the mobility characteristics of degenerate surface layers in compound semiconductors at low lattice temperatures

The rates of scattering of the conduction electrons in degenerate two-dimensional electron gas in the surface of compound semiconductors at low lattice temperatures have been obtained for interaction with the piezoelectric and deformation potential acoustic phonons, under different prevailing conditions. The calculations have been carried out taking due account of the screening of the interaction potential at low temperatures where again the phonon energy cannot be neglected in comparison to the average thermal energy of the electrons and, as a result, the equipartition approximation for the phonon distribution can hardly be valid. The scattering rates thus obtained for inversion layers in GaAs and ZnO are found to depend upon the carrier energy, the lattice temperature and the level of degeneracy in quite involved manners, which are very different from what follows if one makes the simplifying approximation of negligible phonon energy or disregards the effects of screening. The mobility characteristics are then obtained using these scattering rates. The results show how the screening of the interaction potential and the finite energy of the intravalley acoustic and piezoelectric phonons significantly change the mobility characteristics of the degenerate surface layers at low lattice temperatures. The inadequacies of the present theory are pointed out and recommendations for possible refinements are discussed.     

The scattering of low energy electrons by electric field fluctuations near crystal surfaces

We present a discussion of the interaction of low energy electrons with surface lattice vibrations, with emphasis on the role played in this interaction by electric field fluctuations set up outside the crystal by the lattice vibration. We review briefly the experimental data presently available, along with theoretical interpretations that have been offered. We also examine in a manner more general than earlier discussions the contribution to the small angle scattering cross section from scattering by electric field fluctuations. After certain assumptions are introduced, we find that this contribution to the cross section is proportional to Im $\text{[1 + ?(Ω)]}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$, where ?(Ω) is the frequency dependent dielectric constant of the material. We also exhibit an expression for the cross section for scattering from electric field fluctuations set up by particle—hole excitations.     

Explicit designs of spin chains for perfect quantum state transfer

For the process of electron-electron (e-e) bremsstrahlung the momentum and energy distributions of the recoiling electrons are calculated in the laboratory frame. In order to get the differential cross section and the photon spectrum for target electrons which are bound to an atom, these formulae are multiplied by the incoherent scattering function and numerically integrated over the recoil energy. The effect of atomic binding is most pronounced at low energies of the incident electrons and for target atoms of high atomic numbers. The results are compared to those of previous calculations.     

Elastic scattering of electrons by benzene

Relative differential cross-sections for the elastic scattering of electrons from benzene have been measured at incident energies 300, 500, 700 and 900eV and for scattering angles between 30° and 120°. The results are discussed and compared with the independent atom model (IAM) calculations. Two different sets of scattering amplitudes for the constituent atoms of benzene were used in these calculations, one obtained from first Born approximation and the other from partial wave analysis of the Dirac equation. Only the static interaction was taken into account in the calculations. The higher the incident energy, the better is the observed agreement between experiment and theory. This indicates that at higher energies, absorption, exchange and polarization effects are not significant as compared to the static interaction and that the IAM satisfactorily predicts the interference of scattering from the individual atoms of C₆H₆.     

Conductance of metallic single-wall nanotubes with single magnetic impurities

Using a model of conducting cylinder with a few number of impurities on its surface, we investigate the effects of magnetic impurity scattering on the conductance of metallic single-wall carbon nanotubes. The nonlinear part of conductance, which is due to the interaction of conduction electrons with impurities, is obtained. The signature of Kondo anomaly is found in the nonlinear conductance and it is shown that its amplitude strongly depends on the position of impurities and diameter of nanotube.     

Inelastic scattering and trapping of an atom on a cold,simple-cubic lattice

We report numerical calculations on the inelastic scattering of an incident atom with a simple-cubic harmonic lattice with the collision restricted to the head-on orientation. These calculations represent the first systematic investigation of the behavior of the energy accommodation coefficient and critical trapping energy as the interaction well depth, interaction range, incident energy, and incident mass are varied over significant ranges. These exact results provide a new, substantial “data base” for interpreting experimental results and for testing approximate theories. The incident atom is assumed to collide head-on with only one lattice surface atom. A Morse interaction is used, so that the dynamical effects of both an attractive and a repulsive interaction are included. The lattice is initially cold and classical mechanics is used throughout; the lattice dynamics are treated exactly by means of the response function for the Rosenstock-Newell lattice. We find that long range, soft interactions characteristic of physisorbed species display a broad minimum in energy accommodation at an incident energy near the dissociation energy of the adatom-surface interaction for adatom to lattice atom mass ratios of order one and greater. Stiffer interactions characteristic of chemisorbed species display a pronounced maximum in energy accommodation for mass ratios near 0.7. This is associated with a maximum in the critical trapping energy at the same mass ratio. The results are analyzed to confirm the validity of approximations based on both fast and slow collisions. In the high energy limit, the energy accommodation depends essentially only on the mass ratio, reflecting the pairwise binary collisions. In the slow collision limit, the collision dynamics are described by a newly derived adiabatic approximation for the lattice response.     

Model calculations of atom-surface scattering

The elastic scattering of light mass, thermal-energy atoms from simple surfaces is investigated. The surface is represented by the model of a single planar square array of hard spheres. The effect of the surface potential well is treated semiclassically by simply shifting the energy of the incident atom ; furthermore a constant imaginary term is added to the energy to account for inelastic scattering and adsorption. As in the multiple scattering formalism of LEED the total scattering matrix of the lattice is expanded in terms of the individual gas atom-surface atom t-matrices. Propagation of the incident atom on the surface is described in terms of a one particle Green's function propagator with complex energy. The terms in the multiple scattering series are summed to all orders, by using standard matrix inversion techniques. The size of the matrix to be inverted limits to ten the total number of phase shifts that are included in the calculation. Thermal effects are included through angle dependent Debye-Waller factors.Model calculations have been performed to study the intensity of the specular and the diffracted beams as a function of the angles of incidence. The importance of surface temperature (introduced by the Debye-Waller factors), the incident energy and the depth of the potential well of the gas-surface interaction are discussed. The main feature of the results is the decrease of the intensity of the specular beam in going from glancing incidence to normal incidence and the presence of structure due to the appearance and disappearance of diffracted beams across the surface. The azimuthal behavior of the specular beam is in agreement with experimental observations.     

Electronic excitations during grazing scattering of hydrogen atoms on KI(001) and LiF(001) surfaces

The energy loss of hydrogen atoms with energies of 400 eV and 1 keV is studied in coincidence with the number of emitted electrons during grazing scattering from atomically clean and flat KI(001) and LiF(001) surfaces. The energy loss spectra for specific numbers of emitted electrons are analyzed in terms of a binary interaction model based on the formation of transient negative ions via local capture of valence band electrons from anion sites. Based on computer simulations we derive for this interaction scenario probabilities for the production of surface excitons, for electron loss to the conduction band of KI, for emission of electrons, and for formation of negative hydrogen ions. The pronounced differences of data obtained for the two surfaces are attributed to the different electronic structures of KI and LiF.     

Spin-polarized electrons in collisions of multicharged nitrogen ions with a magnetized Fe(001) surface

We report on the first spin-resolved energy spectra for the emission of electrons during grazing scattering of 150 keV multicharged nitrogen ions from a magnetized Fe(001) surface. A substantial spin polarization for KLL Auger electrons emitted in the final stage of the neutralization sequence during the interaction of multicharged ions with a metal surface is observed. We conclude from our data that the projectile L shell is dominantly populated by electrons from the conduction band of the target. For low energy electrons we find an increase of their spin polarization with an increase of the projectile charge.     

X-ray radiation toward relativistic electrons incident on a flat target

Features of X-ray radiation emitted toward the velocity vector of relativistic electrons incident on a flat target are discussed. The contribution of polarization bremsstrahlung (PB) considered as scattering of the intrinsic field of a fast charge by electrons of the medium is estimated taking into account its dispersion properties. Spectral-angular characteristics of coherent and incoherent PB are analyzed for unstructured and structured targets. Such PB feature not only different intensities, but also different angular dependences reaching a maximum near the velocity direction of a fast charge. It is shown that coherent PB emitted from the target surface layer is characterized by an extraordinary, i.e., inversely proportional to the squared frequency, intensity dependence.     

On the role of exchange interaction in magnetic ordering and conduction of manganates

A model of chemical bonds in manganates that allows for one-electron covalent σ bonding between manganese and oxygen ions is suggested. One-electron covalent bonding results in the strongly correlated state of electrons due to exchange interaction between the electrons when they are shared by the cation and anion orbitals. The correlated state shows up as the spatial ordering of electrons and the ordering of their spins, causing the spin-ordered electron lattice to form. In this model, electrical conduction in manganates takes place when the electron lattice (more precisely, its part) shifts from one site of localization to another. The conductivity of the material depends on the type of the spin order of electrons in the electron lattice and on the energy of localization, which is defined by the energy of one-electron σ bonding. The model also implies the strong cationic polarization of anions, which facilitates the 3s2p hybridization of anions and the transition of one of the pairs of 2p electrons from the singlet state to the triplet one. The 3s2p hybridization of anions favors the formation of the spin-polarized electron lattice (the electron spins are parallel) and the ferromagnetic ordering of manganese ions. Under these assumptions, the effect of giant magnetoresistance is explained by a change in the conduction mechanism when an external voltage is applied. In this case, the conduction mechanism typical of ionic crystals changes to that specified by the spin-polarized electron lattice.     

Scattering of F atoms and anions on a TiO2(1 1 0) surface

Results of a study of energy losses and electron transfer processes for grazing scattering of fluorine atoms and anions scattering along different azimuthal orientations of the TiO₂ crystal are presented. We observe strong variations in the overall intensity of scattered particles which are due to channelling effects. The energy losses do not show strong variations as a function of crystal azimuth except for the case of scattering along the (0 0 1) direction between the bridging oxygen atom rows, where we also observe differences in the energy losses of scattered ions and neutrals. We attribute this to the fact that larger F⁻ survival occurs for trajectories staying farther from the surface, when also the energy losses remain small. The overall characteristics of energy losses are attributed mainly to trajectory effects due to scattering in regions of different electron density. Measurements of the ratio of scattered ions to the total scattered flux, i.e. the ion fractions which reflect electron capture and loss processes, show that these are not the same for incident anions and atoms. A strong difference for scattering along the (0 0 1) direction is observed, where at low incident energies a strong survival of incident ions occurs. These results are tentatively discussed in terms of non resonant electron capture at lattice O⁻ sites and electron loss into the conduction band or by collisional detachment with bridging O atoms.     

High energy elastice + − O2 scattering

Theoretical differential cross-sections are obtained for the elastic scattering of fast (E _i ⩾ 200 eV) positrons by oxygen molecules. Employing the independent atom model, the atomic scattering amplitudes are calculated with the (static + polarization) model potentials, in the partial wave analysis (PWA). Comparisons made with the theory and experiments on the incident electrons, show significant differences at small angles.     

Modelling the formation of nanostructures on metal surface induced by femtosecond laser ablation

We employ the particle-in-cell method to simulate the mechanisms of femtosecond (fs) laser interactions with a metallic target. The theoretical approach considers the solid as a gas of free electrons in a lattice of immobile ions and the laser fluences close to the ablation threshold. At first moments of the interaction, our simulations mapped out different nanostructures. We carefully characterized the rippling phase and found that its morphology is dependent on the distribution of the electron density and the period of the ripples depends on the laser intensity. The simulation method provides new insights into the mechanisms that are responsible for surface grating formation.     

Magnetic excitations in crystal-field split 4f systems

A survey is given of magnetic excitations in metallic 4f systems when the crystal-field splitting is comparable to or larger than the magnetic interaction between different sites. Particular emphasis is put on the interaction of crystal-field split rare-earth ions with conduction electrons. A number of physical effects is discussed which result from that interaction. The modifications of the magnetic excitations are described which result when the coupling of phonons to the crystal-field levels is so strong that a bound state between the two types of excitations is formed. For a study of these phenomena the method of neutron scattering is an indispensable tool. For that reason it plays a central part in this review.     

Originalarbeiten / Travaux originaux / Original Papers

An account is given of a variational calculation to estimate the amplitudes of resonance factorsɛ in a recent theory to describe the enhancement of crystalline field potentials by conduction electrons in heavy rare earth metals. It is demonstrated that the values ofɛ obtained by minimising the energy of interaction between conduction electrons and rare earth ions are consistent with those previously used to form a comparison with experiment. These latter values were obtained by maximising theA ₂ ⁰ crystal field coefficient with respect toɛ. Consistency is exhibited in both the sign and order of magnitude of the resonance amplitudes and renders the theory parameterless. The values ofɛ show an approximate linear dependence with the number of electrons in the incompletef shell of the rare earth ions.     

Restwiderstand von Bleischichten nach Implantation von Manganionen

The method of ion-implantation is applied to doping thin lead films with small amounts of manganese. The incident ion intensity is integrated to determine the concentration of magnetic impurities. A marked increase in film resistivity is caused by radiation damage induced in the host lattice and by resonance scattering of conduction electrons on the magnetic impurity sites. Both effects can be observed separately.     

Thermalization time of noble metal nanoparticles: effects of the electron density profile

The lack of d-electron screening in the s-electron spill-out region at the surface of Ag nanoparticles increases the electron-electron interaction in this region compared to the bulk. Therefore when comparing the electron-electron interaction contribution to the thermalization time of nanoparticles of varying radius, smaller particles thermalize faster due to the increased surface to bulk ratio. One aspect which has not been addressed is the effect of the spatial distribution of charge at the surface of the nanoparticle. In this work it is shown that the size dependence of the thermalization time is very sensitive to the surface density profile. The electron thermalization time of conduction electrons in noble metal nanoparticles as a function of the radius is calculated. The sensitivity of the scattering rate to the spatial distribution of charge at the surface of the nanostructure is analyzed using several model surface profiles. The change in surface charge distribution via charging or coating of the nanospheres is shown to be a tool for control and probing of the ultra-fast electron-electron dynamics in metallic nanoparticles.     

Spin-flip scattering of conduction electrons by dislocations in a metal

The spin-flip scattering of conduction electrons by dislocations in metals with a strong spin-orbit coupling is considered. Calculations are performed in terms of the model spin-orbit potential describing the spin-flip scattering of conduction electrons. It is shown that deformation of the crystal lattice in a metal leads to a change in the structure factor. The core of a rectilinear edge dislocation is calculated by the molecular dynamics method. The results obtained are compared with the experimental data on conduction-electron spin resonance (CESR) in copper.