Mean free path of a suddenly created fast electron moving in a degenerate electron gas

Article

关键词: CONDENSED MATTER;    PHYSICS;   

DOI  :  10.1103/PhysRevB.85.115131

来源: SCIE

【 摘 要 】

A lower bound on the mean free path (l) of a swift electron moving in a degenerate electron gas is calculated by implementing a standard theoretical framework for the collision rate, 1/tau, with a scattering amplitude characterized by the matrix element of a hole-screened interaction potential taken between plane-wave states. The instantaneous hole around a system's electron is considered at the Hartree-Fock level for the ground-state wave function of the degenerate electron gas. The real transitions in the many-body system are considered by following Galitskii's treatment on an almost perfect Fermi gas of neutral atomic constituents. The analytical results show minima both in tau and l, and they appear at (E/E-F) similar or equal to 4.6 and (E/E-F) similar or equal to 2.5, respectively, where E is the kinetic energy of the fast electron and E-F is the Fermi energy of the host. Comparison with mean free path data obtained recently for Cu is made and a reasonable agreement is found.

【 授权许可】

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