Relativistic and retardation effects in the two--photon ionization of hydrogen--like ions

The non-resonant two-photon ionization of hydrogen-like ions is studied in second-order perturbation theory, based on the Dirac equation. To carry out the summation over the complete Coulomb spectrum, a Green function approach has been applied to the computation of the ionization cross sections. Exact second-order relativistic cross sections are compared with data as obtained from a relativistic long-wavelength approximation as well as from the scaling of non-relativistic results. For high-Z ions, the relativistic wavefunction contraction may lower the two-photon ionization cross sections by a factor of two or more, while retardation effects appear less pronounced but still give rise to non-negligible contributions.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Nonlinear stopping effects of slow ions in a no-free-electron system: Titanium nitride

A recent experimental study of the energy losses of various ions in titanium nitride, in the low-energy range [M. A. Sortica, Sci. Rep. 9, 176 (2019)2045-232210.1038/s41598-018-36765-7], showed a striking departure of the measured values from those predicted by density functional theory. They suggested electron promotion in atomic collisions between dressed atoms as an explanation. In this Rapid Communication, we investigate the process of energy loss of slow ions in TiN using theoretical formulations that are based, on one side, on self-consistent models of nonlinear screening and quantum scattering theory, and on the other, on ab initio computations of the electron-density profile of titanium nitride. Two theoretical approaches are considered to determine the average energy transfer: One is based on the local-density approximation for the inhomogeneous electron gas corresponding to the calculated density of TiN, and the other is based on the Penn model for the convolution of the inhomogeneous electron-gas response based on a measured electron-loss function. Both approaches produce very similar results and are in remarkable agreement with the experimental data, indicating that the observed enhancement in the energy-loss values is due to the contribution of a range of electron densities in the TiN compound.Fil: Matias Da Silva, Flávio. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Energía Nuclear. Instituto Balseiro. Archivo Histórico del Centro Atómico Bariloche e Instituto Balseiro | Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Balseiro. Archivo Histórico del Centro Atómico Bariloche e Instituto Balseiro; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte; ArgentinaFil: Grande, P. L.. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Vos, M.. The Australian National University; AustraliaFil: Koval, Peter. Donostia International Physics Center; EspañaFil: Koval, Natalia E.. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Nanogune; EspañaFil: Arista, Nestor Ricardo. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Energía Nuclear. Instituto Balseiro. Archivo Histórico del Centro Atómico Bariloche e Instituto Balseiro | Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Instituto Balseiro. Archivo Histórico del Centro Atómico Bariloche e Instituto Balseiro; Argentin

LAPW frozen-phonon calculation, shell model lattice dynamics and specific-heat measurement of SnO

An ab-initio Linear Augmented Plane-Wave (LAPW) calculation of the zone-centered phonon frequencies of SnO has been performed. E$_g$ symmetry has been ascribed to the mode observed at 113 cm$^{-1}$ in Raman measurements, discarding a previous B$_{1g}$ assignement. The other phonon modes measured by Raman spectroscopy are also well reproduced. A new shell-model has also been developed, that gives good agreement of the zone-centered frequencies compared to the measured data and the LAPW results. Specific heat measurements have been performed between 5 K and 110 K. Computation of the specific heat and the M\"{o}ssbauer recoilless fraction with the improved shell-model shows a good agreement with the experimental data as a function of temperature.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure. to appear in Phys. Rev. B (November 1999