Theory of surface phonons at metal surfaces: recent advances

Recent studies of the surface dynamics of Al(001) and Cu(111) based on density functional perturbation theory have substantiated the existence of subsurface optical phonon resonances of all three polarizations, thus confirming early predictions of the embedded-atom method. The hybridization of the s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physics. Condensed matter 2010-03, Vol.22 (8), p.084020-084020
Main Authors: Benedek, G, Bernasconi, M, Chis, V, Chulkov, E, Echenique, P M, Hellsing, B, Peter Toennies, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed matter
Density
DFPT
Dispersions
Dynamics
first principles calculations
Fysik
Linear response theory
Metal surfaces
Optical resonance
Phonons
Physical Sciences
surface phonons
Thin films
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Summary:Recent studies of the surface dynamics of Al(001) and Cu(111) based on density functional perturbation theory have substantiated the existence of subsurface optical phonon resonances of all three polarizations, thus confirming early predictions of the embedded-atom method. The hybridization of the shear-vertical optical resonance with the longitudinal acoustic phonon branch accounts for the ubiquitous anomalous acoustic resonance as an intrinsic feature of metal surfaces. The DFPT calculation of the phonon-induced surface charge density oscillations shows that helium atom scattering spectroscopy (HAS) can indeed probe subsurface resonances. This opens new perspectives to HAS for the measurement of subsurface phonon dispersion curves in thin films, as proved by recent HAS studies on Pb and Fe ultrathin films on copper. After discussing these recent advances, this paper briefly reviews other important trends of surface dynamics expressed in recent years.
ISSN:0953-8984
1361-648X
DOI:10.1088/0953-8984/22/8/084020