Metal particle polarization

The effect of electron collisions with lattice atoms in metals on metal particle polarization in an ac electric field was analyzed. It was shown that, in contrast to collisionless (free) electron gas, an increase in the negative electronic permittivity with decreasing electric field frequency in relaxation metal particles is limited by the conductivity relaxation time. It was shown that the plasma frequency appears in relaxation metal only if the dielectric relaxation time is less than the free path time in metal.     

Nonlinear mixing of oppositely travelling surface plasmons

A theoretical treatment of the nonlinear mixing of two contra-directional surface plasmons of frequency ω₁ and ω₂ propagating on a semi-infinite metal surface is presented. The nonlinear interaction is analysed in terms of (a) nonlinear surface currents due to the breaking of inversion symmetry and the rapid variation of the normal electric field component at the surface, and (b) the nonlinear response of the electron gas in the bulk of the metal. These currents are treated as source terms for Maxwell's equations and electromagnetic fields are found which satisfy the driven wave equation and boundary conditions at the frequencies ω₁ ± ω₂. At the difference frequency ω₁ ? ω₂ the solution fields decay exponentially into both the air and the metal. However, at the sum frequency ω₁ + ω₂, coupling to transverse electromagnetic waves in both the air and the metal is predicted under appropriate wavevector and frequency conditions. The free-space radiation field is treated in detail and the feasibility of its experimental detection is discussed. No coupling to longitudinal bulk plasmons is predicted in this model of the nonlinear interaction.     

Abnormal heating of low-energy electrons in low-pressure capacitively coupled discharges

In low-pressure capacitively coupled plasmas, high-energy electrons are collisionlessly heated by large rf fields in the sheaths while low-energy electrons are confined in the bulk plasma by the ambipolar potential. Low-energy electrons are typically inefficiently heated due to their low collisionality and the weak rf electric field present in the bulk. It is shown, however, that as a result of the nonlinear interaction between the electron motion and the weak rf field present in the bulk, low-energy electrons can be efficiently heated. Electrons in the bulk that bounce inside the electrostatic potential well with a frequency equal to the rf excitation frequency are efficiently heated by the coherent interaction with the rf field. This resonant collisionless heating can be very efficient and manifest itself as a plateau in the electron energy probability function.     

Evaluation of the dipole interaction of a pair of metal particles in the region of the plasmon resonance

We consider the electric field of an induced dipole moment of a single small particle characterized by the absence of frequency dispersion of the permittivity and the field of a metal particle, which has frequency dispersion and is described in the free electron approximation taking into account the size effects of restriction of the electron free path. The influence of the induced field on the optical properties of a system of small particles is analyzed. It is shown that, for an ensemble of particles without frequency dispersion, the effective medium theory can be used up to concentrations corresponding to filling factors ? ≤ 0.52. In the case of metal particles, with frequency dispersion of dielectric functions and, especially, for the frequency range of the plasmon resonance, this theory can be used only for concentrations not exceeding the threshold ? ≈ 0.01.     

Degenerate plasma in a half-space under an external alternating electric field near resonance

The behavior of the electric field near the surface of a half-space filled with a degenerate electron gas in an external ac electric field is studied. The resonance case is considered in which the frequency of the external field is close to that of plasma oscillations. The special features of the behavior of the screened field are analyzed for diffuse reflection of electrons from the boundary. It is shown that there are two layers adjoining the surface in which the behavior of the screened field differs significantly.     

Steady-state longitudinal conductivity of an electron boundary layer

An analytic solution is obtained for the problem of electron motion in an electron boundary layer along the surface of a conductor in a static electric field. Calculations are made of the longitudinal conductivity near the surface in the limit of weak and strong Coulomb nonideality of the layer electrons. It is shown that under certain conditions the boundary conductivity may greatly exceed the conductivity in the bulk of the conductor. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 69, 88–93 (June 1999)     

Effect of metallic surface microroughness on the probability and spectrum of plasmon excitation by a fast charged particle moving parallel to the surface

The Green’s function of the electric field of plasmons is determined in a semi-infinite medium with an abrupt plasma boundary where nonequilibrium conduction electrons either undergo elastic reflection from the boundary or “stick” to it and give rise to a stationary surface charge. The angular reflection of elastically scattered electrons can be either specular or diffuse. The Green’s function is used to find the singleevent spectrum of energy loss by a fast electron moving parallel to the boundary. The effect of electronboundary scattering parameters on the structure of bulk and surface plasmon resonances is analyzed. The probability of transition radiation of bulk plasmon by an electron moving in vacuum is examined. A new type of surface resonance is found under conditions of perfectly elastic scattering of conduction electrons from the plasma boundary, similar in structure to a tangential surface plasmon.     

Behavior of an electron plasma in a thin metallic slab placed in a variable electric field

The response of an electron plasma in a thin metallic slab to a variable electric field applied normally to the slab surface is studied in the framework of the kinetic theory. The radiation power absorbed by a unit surface area is calculated under the assumption that the electric field frequency is small compared with the plasma frequency and that electron scattering by the metal surface is of a purely diffuse character.     

Structure of the electric field in the skin-effect problem

The structure of the electric field in a metal has been elucidated for the skin-effect problem. It is demonstrated that the electric field is the sum of the integral term and two (or one) exponentially decreasing particular solutions to the initial system and that one particular solution disappears depending on the anomality parameter. An expression for the distribution function profile in the half-space and at the metal boundary is obtained in the explicit form. The absolute value, the real part, and the imaginary part of the electric filed are analyzed in the case of the anomalous skin effect.     

A Model for the Bulk Plasma in an RF Chlorne Discharge

A model has been constructed to describe the electrical characteristics of the central bulk plasma region in a 13.56-MHz parallel-plate discharge in chlorine at pressures of about 1 torr. This region is modeled as a volume-controlled plasma with the electron balance dominated by single-step electron-impact ionization and attachment and with the electron energy distribution function in equilibrium with the local instantaneous electric field. Relationships between the ionization frequency, the attachment frequency, the electron drift velocity, and the electric field are provided by solutions of the Boltzmann equation for mixtures of Cl2 and Cl which result from Cl2 dissociation. From a measured current waveform and Cl2/Cl density ratio, the model generates the local electric-field waveform, the time-varying electron density, and the power density in the central portion of the bulk plasma. The calculated time-averaged power input per unit discharge length compares well with experimentally determined values.     

On the feasibility of the coulomb explosion of a metal

The mechanism of the Coulomb explosion of a metal in an external pulsed electric field is discussed. In the case of a low-frequency field, when its frequency is lower than the frequency of electron collisions, it is impossible to reach the conditions of the Coulomb explosion of a metal if the field pulse duration is shorter than the time of electron energy relaxation upon elastic collisions, and the electron temperature is well above the Fermi energy and the work function. In the case of a high-frequency field, e.g., in a powerful pulse of ultraviolet laser radiation, the Coulomb explosion can occur if the field strength is well above the intraatomic field strength (i.e., when the laser power density is ≥10¹⁹ W/cm²).     

Interface Polaron Within Parallel Electric and Magnetic Fields

A combinative method of variational wavefunction and harmonic oscillator operator algebra is used to treat the interface polaron in a semi-infinite polar crystal within parallel electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to the interface. Both the bulk longitudinal optical phonon and the interface optical phonon together with the anisotropic mass of the electron are included. The energy level correction up to the second-order perturbation, cyclotron-resonance frequency and cyclotron mass are expressed as functions of the electric and magnetic fields and a parameter characterizing the mean distance of the polaron from the interface. This theory is used to calculate numerically the single heterostructure AlAs/GaAs, when the electron is at the X high-symmetry point of the conduction band of AlAs. The results show that the magnetic field greatly enhances the polaronic correction of the electron energy levels while the electric field only increases the correction of their surface optical phonon part but obviously decreases that of their bulk optical mode part and thus the total energy correction decreases as the electric field increases. The change of red shift due to the electron-phonon interaction with electric and magnetic fields is also obf ained.     

Effects of an electric field on the surface electron barrier in a metal in the presence of an adsorbate. Part 2. An improved Thomas-Fermi method

An improved form of the Thomas-Fermi method (density-functional method) is used to consider the effects of an adsorbate on the screening of an external electric field near the surface of a metal. It is shown that quasihomogeneous models for the electron gas that are based on the local-density approximation do not enable one to consider the field directed towards the metal. When allowance is made for multiparticle effects and inhomogeneous corrections to the electron energy, one can calculate the damping parameter for the electron density and the coordinate of the center of gravity of the screening charge in relation to the electric field strength and adsorbate density. Various nonadditive effects are discussed that are related to the effects of the field on the structure of the double layer, which have an influence on the desorption and evaporation of surface atoms in strong electric fields.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshykeh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 11, pp. 10–14, November, 1981.     

Effect of material spatial dispersion in the degree of polarization of thermal radiation emitted by a spherical source

The influence of material spatial dispersion in the degree of polarization emitted by a metallic sphere is studied by means of fluctuational electrodynamics. The corresponding cross-spectral correlation functions of the electric field are calculated on a basis of a non-local scattering T-matrix for a spherical scatterer and for non-local dielectric functions for the metal such as those provided by the hydrodynamic model and the Lindhard theory. It is shown that the main effect of the material spatial dispersion is a blue shift of the spectra of the degree of polarization which, however, diminishes as the sphere size increases. Also, at the bulk plasma frequency, a local maximum of the degree of polarization emerges as a result of the excitation of bulk plasmons which is not evident when a local dielectric function is assumed.     

Calculation of the RF Conductivity and Hall Constant of a Thin Metal Film

The kinetic problem of finding the rf conductivity and Hall constant of a thin metal film placed in a transverse steady magnetic field and a longitudinal variable electric field has been considered. It has been assumed that electrons diffusely reflect from the upper and lower surfaces of the film. No limitations have been imposed on the relationship between the thickness of the film and the electron free path. The dependences of the conductivity and Hall constant on dimensionless parameters, namely, electric field frequency, magnetic field induction, and thickness of the film, have been studied. Calculation results have been compared with the experimental data.     

预调制型同轴虚阴极振荡器数值模拟

提出一种高效率预调制型同轴虚阴极振荡器,进行了数值模拟研究。研究表明:径向束流预调制型同轴虚阴极振荡器利用在束-波互作用区加载金属圆环形成谐振腔,改变束-波互作用区的电场,对电子束进行调制。圆筒形金属形成的调制腔产生的电场既对电子束进行了调制,同时对微波频率进行了锁定,其谐振频率主要是由加载的金属圆筒的长度和两个圆筒之间的径向距离决定。经过优化设计,在600 kV,73 kA无外加引导磁场的条件下,预调制型同轴虚阴极振荡器获得了平均功率6 GW,频率为2.575 GHz的微波输出,效率达到13.94%。     

Variation of the soft-mode frequency in ferroelectric semiconductors in a static electric field

The action of a static electric field on the soft-mode frequency in narrow-gap ferroelectric semiconductors, as a result of the contribution of the electron subsystem, is investigated within the framework of the vibronic mechanism. It is shown that the frequency of the soft mode varies directly as the square of the electric field strength under the action of the field, and the soft-mode frequency is determined in the vibronic model by the electron distribution function, whose parameters also vary under the action of the electric field. The effect is stronger for crystals with a one-dimensional electron spectrum than for those with an isotropic three-dimensional spectrum; according to estimates for ferroelectric semiconductors of the type Pb_1–xGe_xTe, a frequency variation of the order of the soft-mode frequency itself is attained in fields of the order of tens of volts per centimeter.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 1, pp. 33–37, January, 1988.     

Analytical solution to the problem of a temperature jump in a metal

An analytical solution to the problem of a temperature jump in a metal is obtained. The jump is caused by a heat flow to the surface. An exact expression for the heat-induced electric field is derived. Based on the exact expressions, the electric field profiles are plotted for different ratios of the electron free path to the Debye length. It is shown that the field profile near the surface may differ substantially from the Debye profile.     

Effect of electrode material on impedance spectra of metal-polyethylene structures with carbon nanotubes

The effect of an electrode material on electrical properties of a composite material based on super-high-molecular polyethylene (SHMPE) filled with carbon nanotubes has been studied using impedance spectroscopy. Using the method of replacing the sample by an equivalent electric circuit, it has been found that, depending on the electrode material, a blocking barrier with high active resistance and a space charge region adjacent to it arise in the interface region. It has been shown that the barrier height is controlled by surface electronic states of SHMPE and weakly depends on the electron work function of metal electrodes (Bardeen barrier). The characteristic times of electrical relaxation characterizing bulk and interface regions of the composite under study have been determined.     

Electron transport in the carbon-copper nanocluster structure

The electron transport in hydrogenated amorphous carbon films a-C: H with copper nanocluster inclusions has been investigated. The conditions of cluster formation are derived. It is theoretically demonstrated that the energy band structure of the matrix substantially affects the conditions of cluster formation. The electron transport depends on the cluster structure. It is found that, below the percolation threshold (the case of isolated clusters), the transport current is governed by two components depending on the electric field strength. At low field strengths, the current is caused by electrons in the conduction band of amorphous carbon, which are thermally excited from copper clusters. At high field strengths, the transport current is provided by tunneling electrons from the Fermi level of copper clusters to the conduction band of a-C: H. The difference between the mobility edge of the conduction band of amorphous carbon and the Fermi level in copper clusters is determined from the temperature dependence of the resistance and proves to be equal to 0.48 eV. The temperature dependences of the resistance at low field strengths exhibit a fine structure. It is revealed that, above the percolation threshold, the electrical resistance of clusters is considerably contributed by the residual resistance, which is supposedly associated with the electron scattering by cluster surfaces. The temperature effect on the electron transport is examined using the spin-wave scattering technique at a frequency of 4.0 GHz. It is found that the spin wave in the yttrium iron garnet (YIG) film is predominantly affected by thermally excited electrons located above the mobility edge in the conduction band of a-C: H.