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 dete...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2011-08, Vol.107 (9), p.095502-095502, Article 095502
Main Authors: Sklyadneva, I Yu, Benedek, G, Chulkov, E V, Echenique, P M, Heid, R, Bohnen, K-P, Toennies, J P
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary: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).
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.107.095502