The Electron-Phonon Interaction at Vicinal Metal Surfaces Measured with Helium Atom Scattering.

Recently, it was demonstrated that inelastic helium atom scattering from conducting surfaces provides a direct measurement of the surface electron-phonon coupling constant (mass enhancement factor ) via the temperature or the incident wave vector dependence of the Debye-Waller exponent. Here, previous published as well as unpublished helium atom scattering diffraction data from the vicinal surfaces of copper (Cu(11α), with α = 3, 5, 7) and aluminum (Al(221) and Al(332)) were analyzed to determine . The results suggested an enhancement with respect to the corresponding data for the low-index surfaces (111) and (001) above the roughening transition temperature.

A semiempirical potential for alkali halide diatoms with damped interactions I. Rittner potential.

A new semiempirical potential is described for the ground state XΣ of the alkali halide diatoms. The model potential is the first to account for the damping of all the electrostatic and induction potential terms as well as of the long-range dispersion potential. Accordingly, the potential does not have a negative singularity at vanishingly small internuclear distances and is the first Rittner-type model with a realistic dependence of the repulsion at short distances.

Magic Numbers in Boson He Clusters: The Auger Evaporation Mechanism.

The absence of magic numbers in bosonic He clusters predicted by all theories since 1984 has been challenged by high-resolution matter-wave diffraction experiments. The observed magic numbers were explained in terms of enhanced growth rates of specific cluster sizes for which an additional excitation level calculated by diffusion Monte Carlo is stabilized. The present theoretical study provides an alternative explanation based on a simple independent particle model of the He clusters.

Accurate semiempirical potential energy curves for the aΣ-state of NaCs, KCs, and RbCs.

A five parameter semiempirical Tang-Toennies type model is used to describe the potential curves of the aΣ-state of the heteronuclear polar molecules NaCs, KCs, and RbCs. These molecules are of current interest in experiments at ultra-cold conditions to explore the effects of the strong dipole-dipole forces on the collective many-body quantum behavior. New quantum phenomena are also anticipated in systems consisting of atomic species with different fermion/boson statistics.

Evidence for a spin acoustic surface plasmon from inelastic atom scattering.

Closed-shell atoms scattered from a metal surface exchange energy and momentum with surface phonons mostly via the interposed surface valence electrons, i.e., via the creation of virtual electron-hole pairs.

Conformal Analytical Potential for All the Rare Gas Dimers over the Full Range of Internuclear Distances.

An analytical model for the potential between two rare gas atoms at distances between R=0 to R→∞ is assumed to be conformal with the previously published potential for He_{2} [J. Chem. Phys.

An accurate semiempirical potential energy curve for the aΣ-state of KRb.

A semiempirical potential energy curve for the aΣ-state of the KRb molecule with only five parameters is reported. The potential is continuous over the entire range of internuclear distances and has the correct long-range attractive dispersion potential from established theory. The potential provides an equally good fit of the laser induced fluorescence Fourier transform spectroscopic data of Pashov et al.

An accurate semi-empirical potential model for the a Σ state of the alkali dimers Na, K, Rb, and Cs which reproduces the scattering length.

A new four parameter Tang-Toennies type potential model is described for the a  Σ triplet state of the alkali dimers Na, K, Rb, and Cs. Compared to an earlier three parameter semi-empirical model based on the experimental well depth, D, well location, R, and the harmonic vibrational frequency, ω [Lau et al., J.

Electron-Phonon Coupling Constant of Metallic Overlayers from Specular He Atom Scattering.

He atom scattering has been shown to be a sensitive probe of electron-phonon interaction properties at surfaces. Here it is shown that measurements of the thermal attenuation of the specular He atom diffraction peak (the Debye-Waller effect) can determine the electron-phonon coupling constant, λ, for ultrathin films of metal overlayers on various close-packed metal substrates. Values of λ obtained for single and multiple monolayers of alkali metals, and for Pb layers on Cu(111), extrapolated to large thicknesses, agree favorably with known bulk values.

Surface lattice dynamics and electron-phonon interaction in cesium ultra-thin films.

The phonon dispersion curves of ultrathin films of Cs(110) on Pt(111) measured with inelastic helium atom scattering (HAS) are reported and compared with density-functional perturbation theory (DFPT) calculations. The combined HAS and DFPT analysis also sheds light on the bulk phonon dynamics of bcc-Cs, on which very little is known from neutron scattering due to its large neutron capture cross-section. Moreover the temperature dependence of the elastic HAS Debye-Waller exponent of Cs(110)/Cu(111) ultrathin films allows for an estimation of the electron-phonon coupling strength λ as a function of the film thickness.

An accurate potential model for the aΣ state of the alkali dimers Na, K, Rb, and Cs.

A modified semi-empirical Tang-Toennies potential model is used to describe the aΣ potentials of the alkali dimers. These potentials are currently of interest in connection with the laser manipulation of the ultracold alkali gases. The fully analytical model is based on three experimental parameters, the well depth D, well location R, and the harmonic vibrational frequency ω of which the latter is only slightly optimized within the range of the literature values.

Communication: A simple full range analytical potential for H2b(3)∑u (+), H-He (2)∑(+), and He2 (1)∑g (.).

The Tang-Toennies potential for the weakly interacting systems H2b(3)Σu (+), H-He (2)Σ(+), and He2 (1)Σg (+) is extended down to the united atom limit of vanishing internuclear distance. A simple analytic expression connects the united atom limiting potential with the Tang-Toennies potential in the well region. The new potential model is compared with the most recent ab initio calculations for all three systems.

Para-hydrogen and helium cluster size distributions in free jet expansions based on Smoluchowski theory with kernel scaling.

The size distribution of para-H2 (pH2) clusters produced in free jet expansions at a source temperature of T0 = 29.5 K and pressures of P0 = 0.9-1.

Detection of Negative Charge Carriers in Superfluid Helium Droplets: The Metastable Anions He and He.

Helium droplets provide the possibility to study phenomena at the very low temperatures at which quantum mechanical effects are more pronounced and fewer quantum states have significant occupation probabilities. Understanding the migration of either positive or negative charges in liquid helium is essential to comprehend charge-induced processes in molecular systems embedded in helium droplets. Here, we report the resonant formation of excited metastable atomic and molecular helium anions in superfluid helium droplets upon electron impact.

The response of a (3)He Fermi liquid droplet to vibronic excitation of an embedded glyoxal molecule.

The zero-phonon line (ZPL) and the sideband in the vibronic spectrum of a single glyoxal molecule inside a (3)He droplet are analyzed within the framework of the Lax formalism. The new theory takes full account of the coupling of the molecule to the single particle-hole (PH) and collective excitations of the doped Fermionic droplet. The effect on the coupling of the wavevector dependence of the effective (3)He mass and the large local density of the first (3)He shell, resulting from the interaction with the chromophore, are also included in the theory.

Unveiling mode-selected electron-phonon interactions in metal films by helium atom scattering.

The quasi two-dimensional electron gas on a metal film can transmit to the surface even minute mechanical disturbances occurring in the depth, thus allowing the gentlest of all surface probes, helium atoms, to perceive the vibrations of the deepest atoms via the induced surface-charge density oscillations. A density functional perturbation theory (DFPT) and a helium atom scattering study of the phonon dispersion curves in lead films of up to 7 mono-layers on a copper substrate show that: (a) the electron-phonon interaction is responsible for the coupling of He atoms to in-depth phonon modes; and (b) the inelastic HAS intensity from a given phonon mode is proportional to its electron-phonon coupling. The direct determination of mode-selected electron-phonon coupling strengths has great relevance for understanding superconductivity in thin films and two-dimensional systems.

A density functional study of the structure of small OCS@3He(N) clusters.

Kohn-Sham density functional calculations are reported for the structures of clusters consisting of a carbonyl sulfide (OCS) molecule with N = 1, 8, 18, and 40 attached (3)He atoms. The N = 1 cluster ground state is highly localized at the molecular waist (donut ring position), but for higher levels of excitation becomes increasingly delocalized. The first magic cluster with 8 atoms has a significant density at both ends of the molecule in addition to the donut ring.

Infrared spectroscopy of carbonyl sulfide inside a pure 3He droplet.

The infrared spectrum of the ν(3) band of an OCS (carbonyl sulfide) molecule embedded inside pure (3)He droplets of about 12 × 10(3) atoms reported in 1998 [S. Grebenev, J. P.

Mode-selected electron-phonon coupling in superconducting Pb nanofilms determined from He atom scattering.

The electron-phonon coupling (EPC) strength for each phonon mode in superconducting Pb films is measured by inelastic helium atom scattering (IHAS). This surprising ability of IHAS relies on two facts: (a) In ultrathin metal films, the EPC range exceeds the film thickness, thus enabling IHAS to detect most film phonons, even 1 nm below the surface; (b) IHAS scattering amplitudes from single phonons are shown, by first-principle arguments, to be proportional to the respective EPC strengths. Thus IHAS is the first experiment providing mode-selected EPC strengths (mode-lambda spectroscopy).