Electron-phonon coupling in transition metals beyond Wang's approximation

The electron-phonon coupling is the primary mechanism responsible for material relaxation after ultrafast laser irradiation. However, it remains an elusive variable that is extremely challenging to extract experimentally, especially at high electron temperatures. Various previous theoretical approaches to determine electron-phonon coupling demonstrated large degree of inconsistency. In this paper, we present a first-principles framework for simulating the electron-phonon coupling parameter based on the electron-phonon spectral function, going beyond the approximation introduced by Wang et al. [Phys. Rev. B 50, 8016 (1994)0163-182910.1103/PhysRevB.50.8016]. Our simulations provide electron-temperature-dependent electron-phonon coupling values for transition metals Ru, Pd, and Au. Our findings reveal significant differences between the values obtained from the exact and approximated spectral functions, thus highlighting the limitations of Wang's approximation at elevated electron temperatures.</p

Does the nonlinear Schroedinger equation correctly describe beam propagation?

The parabolic equation (nonlinear Schrödinger equation) that appears in problems of stationary nonlinear beam propagation (self-focusing) is reconsidered. It is shown that an additional term, which involves changes of the propagation constant along the propagation direction, should be taken into account. The physical consequences of this departure from the standard approximation, which uses the parabolic equation, are discussed. A numerical simulation showing the difference between the new approach and the standard nonlinear Schrödinger equation is given as an example. © 1993 Optical Society of AmericaPeer Reviewe

Crystal surface characterization

Characterization of the structure of the crystal surface is essential for next generation electronics devices. Such as spin injection structures and topological insulators, to name a few. We have studied the advantages of characterization of the crystal surface based on the analysis of modulations of specular X-ray reflection occurred during the azimuthal scan in grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GID) geometry

Combined EUV reflectance and X-ray reflectivity data analysis of periodic multilayer structures

We present a way to analyze the chemical composition of periodical multilayer structures using the simultaneous analysis of grazing incidence hard X-Ray reflectivity (GIXR) and normal incidence extreme ultraviolet reflectance (EUVR). This allows to combine the high sensitivity of GIXR data to layer and interface thicknesses with the sensitivity of EUVR to the layer densities and atomic compositions. This method was applied to the reconstruction of the layered structure of a LaN/B multilayer mirror with 3.5 nm periodicity. We have compared profiles obtained by simultaneous EUVR and GIXR and GIXR-only data analysis, both reconstructed profiles result in a similar description of the layered structure. However, the simultaneous analysis of both EUVR and GIXR by a single algorithm lead to a ∼2x increased accuracy of the reconstructed layered model, or a more narrow range of solutions, as compared to the GIXR analysis only. It also explains the inherent difficulty of accurately predicting EUV reflectivity from a GIXR-only analysis