Theory of metal surfaces

Lang, N. D., and Kohn, W. (1970). Theory of metal surfaces charge density and surface energy. Phys. Rev. B 1, 4555-4568. 

In the past decade, many new techniques have been developed and applied to the study of interfaces. While earlier measurements involved only macroscopic characteristics of the interface (e.g., surface charge, surface tension, and overall potential drop), new spectroscopic techniques have opened a window to the microstructure of the interface, and insight at the atomic level in this important region is now possible. Parallel to these discoveries and supported by them, more realistic theoretical models of the interface have been developed that combine quantum mechanical theories of metal surfaces and the statistical mechanics of solutions. 

The central problem of the atomic theory of metal surfaces is the proper determination of the surface energy of ideally flat and atomically smooth faces of a simple metal crystal. The methods of quantum mechanics permit the computation of energies with much less effort than is needed for a description in terms of correct wave functions and, of course, the construction of a successful theory of surface energy must touch on most other aspects of the atomic nature of surfaces, such as the potential in the surface region and its associated double layer, or the atomic arrangement and the change in electronic configuration in the surface. 

Theory of metal surfaces work function N. D. Lang and W. Kohn, Phys. Rev. B 3, 1215 (1970). Coupled partial ion-transfer steps in the anodic dissolution of metals. D. Vanmaekelbergh and B. H. Erne, J. Electrochem. Soc. 146, 2488 (1999). 

The iif-LDOS is not simply a mathematical aid in the theory of metal surfaces or of magnetic resonance. It has a physical sense wherever quasi-particle theory is... 

Tompkins (1978) concentrates on the fundamental and experimental aspects of the chemisorption of gases on metals. The book covers techniques for the preparation and maintenance of clean metal surfaces, the basic principles of the adsorption process, thermal accommodation and molecular beam scattering, desorption phenomena, adsorption isotherms, heats of chemisorption, thermodynamics of chemisorption, statistical thermodynamics of adsorption, electronic theory of metals, electronic theory of metal surfaces, perturbation of surface electronic properties by chemisorption, low energy electron diffraction (LEED), infra-red spectroscopy of chemisorbed molecules, field emmission microscopy, field ion microscopy, mobility of species, electron impact auger spectroscopy. X-ray and ultra-violet photoelectron spectroscopy, ion neutralization spectroscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy, appearance potential spectroscopy, electronic properties of adsorbed layers. 

N.D. Lang and W. Kohn. Theory of Metal Surfaces Charge Density and Surface Energy. Phys. Rev. B 1 4555 (1970). 

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