Temperature Dependence of the Shake-off Effect for Conductivity Electrons in Metals

We analyzed the emission of the conduction electrons in metals caused by any nuclear decay. The refraction of the electron wave at the crystal surface, as well as its attenuation due to scattering by phonons, are taken into account. It is shown that the energy distribution of ejected shake-off elect...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Date:2010
Main Authors: Dzyublik, A.Ya., Spivak, V.Yu.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Відділення фізики і астрономії НАН України 2010
Subjects:
Online Access:https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/13433
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Journal Title:Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
Cite this:Temperature Dependence of the Shake-off Effect for Conductivity Electrons in Metals / A.Ya. Dzyublik, V.Yu. Spivak // Укр. фіз. журн. — 2010. — Т. 55, № 4. — С. 426-430. — Бібліогр.: 21 назв. — англ.

Institution

Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
_version_ 1860011804564914176
author Dzyublik, A.Ya.
Spivak, V.Yu.
author_facet Dzyublik, A.Ya.
Spivak, V.Yu.
citation_txt Temperature Dependence of the Shake-off Effect for Conductivity Electrons in Metals / A.Ya. Dzyublik, V.Yu. Spivak // Укр. фіз. журн. — 2010. — Т. 55, № 4. — С. 426-430. — Бібліогр.: 21 назв. — англ.
collection DSpace DC
description We analyzed the emission of the conduction electrons in metals caused by any nuclear decay. The refraction of the electron wave at the crystal surface, as well as its attenuation due to scattering by phonons, are taken into account. It is shown that the energy distribution of ejected shake-off electrons contains a peak at the energy of the order of 1 eV, whose intensity falls down with growing temperature. The dependence of the yield of conduction electrons on the thickness of a radioactive source is studied as well. Проаналiзовано емiсiю iз металу електронiв провiдностi, спричинену ядерним розпадом. Враховано заломлення електронної хвилi на поверхнi кристала та затухання, викликане розсiянням на фононах. Показано, що енергетичний розподiл випромiнених електронiв струсу має пiк при енергiї порядку 1 еВ, iнтенсивнiсть якого спадає зi зростанням температури. Вивчено також залежнiсть виходу електронiв провiдностi вiд товщини зразка.
first_indexed 2025-12-07T16:42:23Z
format Article
fulltext A.YA. DZYUBLIK, V.YU. SPIVAK TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE OF THE SHAKE-OFF EFFECT FOR CONDUCTIVITY ELECTRONS IN METALS A.YA. DZYUBLIK, V.YU. SPIVAK Institute for Nuclear Research, Nat. Acad. of Sci. of Ukraine (47, Prosp. Nauky, Kyiv 03028, Ukraine; e-mail: dzyublik@ ukr. net ) PACS 25.20.Dc c©2010 We analyzed the emission of the conduction electrons in metals caused by any nuclear decay. The refraction of the electron wave at the crystal surface, as well as its attenuation due to scattering by phonons, are taken into account. It is shown that the en- ergy distribution of ejected shake-off electrons contains a peak at the energy of the order of 1 eV, whose intensity falls down with growing temperature. The dependence of the yield of conduction electrons on the thickness of a radioactive source is studied as well. 1. Introduction For a long time, the problem of the emission of low- energy electrons from targets, following any nuclear transmutation, attracts a great attention [1–18]. The electrons around the nucleus apprehend its charge al- teration as a sudden perturbation of the Coulomb field, which gives rise to their emission from the target. The energy of emitted shake-off electrons equals a few eV. Previously, all theorists have been concentrating on the shake-off effect for electrons initially bound on deep K and L levels of an isolated atom. The emission proba- bility of these electrons is too small as compared with that from experimental data. In particular, the estima- tions in [3] show that the probability for the emission of a K electron after the beta-decay only is 3/4Z2, where Z stands for the atomic number. At the same time, exper- iments [12] indicate that the average yield of low-energy electrons after the β decay of a single nucleus 154Eu in a thin source is nβ = 0.5. Such a discrepancy can be easily understood, by applying standard formulas of the sud- den perturbation theory [19] which predict a quick de- crease of the electron emission probability with increase in their binding energy. Therefore, it can be stated that experimentalists mainly observe the shake-off electrons initially bound on the upper levels. In metals, such levels belong to the conduction band. In our previous paper [18], the shake-off effect was first analyzed for valent electrons in metal crystals within the simplest model. The electrons were treated as noninter- acting particles moving in a rectangular potential well U(r) = { −U0, inside the crystal, 0, outside it (1) with wave vectors q. The depth of the potential well equals U0 = εF +A, (2) where εF = ~2q2F/2m is the Fermi energy, and A is the work function. When a nucleus decays at some distance zs from the surface of the crystal slab, it suddenly perturbs the Coulomb field at this point and gives rise to a spher- ical outgoing electron wave with the origin at the nu- cleus. Such spherical wave may be decomposed into the plane waves eiKr which are refracted at the surface, bear- ing the waves eikr in vacuum. If the shake-off electron has the energy E = ~2k2/2m, then the obvious equality holds: E = ε− U0. (3) Here, ε = ~2K2/2m represents the kinetic energy of the electron inside the crystal. Due to the inelastic scattering of an electron wave by vibrating ions of the crystal, the wave vector K at- tributes the imaginary part. As a result, the intensity of the electron beam which passed the distance x in the medium exponentially decreases: I(x) = I(0)e−µx. (4) Here, the attenuation coefficient depending mainly on the scattering by phonons is µ = σin/v0, (5) where σin is the inelastic scattering cross section of elec- trons by phonons referred to one atom, and v0 is the volume of the elementary cell (we assume that it con- tains one atom). In this article, we will study the role of the attenuation of a shake-off electron wave in the crystal. For this aim, 426 ISSN 2071-0194. Ukr. J. Phys. 2010. Vol. 55, No. 4 TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE OF THE SHAKE-OFF EFFECT we calculate the inelastic cross section σin for the scatter- ing of electrons with absorption or emission of phonons which depends significantly on the temperature. Ear- lier, σin was calculated in the long-wave approximation for low-energy conduction electrons, regarding the crys- tal as a continuous medium (see, e.g., [20]). But, in our case, the electrons inside the crystal have kinetic energy ε of the order of 10 eV and higher, which forces us to give a more refined derivation. Having found formulas for σin, we are able then to analyze the effects related to the attenuation of shake-off electrons in the medium. It is worth to note that a similar picture arises when fast ions flying through microstrip metal detectors pro- vide the emission of a great number of low-energy elec- trons [21]. Therefore, the investigation of various aspects of low-energy electron emission from metal films become today the most actual. 2. Attenuation of an Electron Wave In this section, we will calculate the inelastic scattering cross section σin of electrons by phonons in a perfect crystal which enters the attenuation coefficient (5). We recall that we consider the crystal with one atom per unit cell, whose position is defined by the vector Rl = l + ul, (6) where l is the lattice vector, and ul is a displacement of the ion from its equilibrium position. The perturbation operator is given by V̂ (r) = ∑ l [vc(|r−Rl|)− vc(|r− l|)], (7) where vc(r) is the Coulomb interaction energy of the electron with an ion, vc(r) = −Ze 2 r e−r/r0 , (8) depending on the screening length r0. The initial state of the system (crystal lattice + elec- tron) is described by the function |a〉 = |{νκj} 〉 eiKr, (9) where νκj denotes the number of phonons specified by a quasiwave vector κ, branch number j, and frequency ωj(κ). The final wave function will be |b〉 = |{ν′κj} 〉 eiK ′r. (10) The cross section for the transition from |a〉 to |b〉 is given by σa→b = 2π ~v |Vba|2δ(Eb − Ea), (11) where v = ~K/M is the velocity of incident electrons, and the matrix element in the Born approximation is determined by the expression Vba = 4πZe2r20 1 +Q2r20 ∑ l 〈 {ν′κj}|eiQ(l+ul)|{νκj} 〉 (12) with the scattering vector Q = K−K′. (13) In the single-phonon approximation, the inelastic scat- tering cross section of electrons by a crystal is given by σ (N) in = 2π ~v ∫ dK ′ (2π)3 ∑ κj ( 4πZe2r20 1 +Q2r20 )2 × ×e−2W (Q) ~ 2NMωj(κ) |Q ej(κ)|2 × × [ ∣∣∣∣∣∑ l ei(Q+κ)l ∣∣∣∣∣ 2( ν̄j(κ) 2 ) δ (ε′ − ε+ ~ωj(κ)) + + ∣∣∣∣∣∑ l ei(Q−κ)l ∣∣∣∣∣ 2( ν̄j(κ) + 1 2 ) δ (ε′ − ε− ~ωj(κ)) ] , (14) where ε = ~2K2/2m and ε′ = ~2K ′2/2m are the initial and final values of the electron kinetic energy inside the crystal formed by N atoms, exp(−2W (Q)) is the Debye– Waller factor, and ν̄j(κ) is the mean number of phonons. It is determined by the Bose–Einstein distribution ν̄j(κ) = [ exp ( ~ωj(κ) kBT ) − 1 ]−1 . (15) Since the minimum electron kinetic energy ε ∼ 10 eV, while the maximum phonon energy ~ω ∼ 0.1 eV, one can neglect ~ω in the δ functions. Following Ziman [20], we consider only the so-called normal scattering of electrons without any diffraction. In addition, we approximate the phonon spectrum by the Debye model and believe that the sound velocity s is the same for all three branches of the acoustic vibrations. So that, we have ωj(κ) = ω(κ) = sκ, (16) where the wave vector κ varies from 0 to the bound value κD, given by [20] κD = ( 6π2/v0 )1/3 . (17) ISSN 2071-0194. Ukr. J. Phys. 2010. Vol. 55, No. 4 427 A.YA. DZYUBLIK, V.YU. SPIVAK The corresponding maximum frequency is ωD = kBθD/~, (18) where θD is the Debye temperature. These quantities determine the sound velocity: s = ωD/κD. (19) In what follows, the average number of phonons ν̄j(κ) depending only on |κ| will be designated by ν̄(κ). Moreover, the Debye model yields 2W (Q) = 3~2Q2T 2 MkBθ3D θD/2∫ 0 [ 1 ez − 1 + 1 2 ] zdz. (20) In (14), we first integrated over κ and after that over the spherical coordinates K ′, ϑ, φ of the vector K′, using the equality Q2 = 2K2t, t = 1− cosϑ. (21) Here, ϑ represents the angle between the wave vectors K′ and K. Then the inelastic scattering cross section of electrons referred to one atom of the crystal, σin = σ (N) in /N, (22) becomes σin = 4π ( mZe2r20 ~2 )2 × × ( ~K Ms ) tmax∫ 0 dt √ 2te−2W (K √ 2t) (1 + 2K2r20t)2 [ ν̄(K √ 2t) + 1 2 ] , (23) where tmax = κ2 D/2K 2. 3. Energy Spectrum Let a crystal film be formed by Np crystal planes spaced by distance d. They are numerated by the number n = 0, 1, 2, ..., Np − 1, where the number n = 0 is associated with the plane on the face surface. The thickness of such a film equals D = Npd. The energy and angular distribution of shake-off elec- trons emitted from the crystal after the decay of a nu- cleus embedded in the n-th plane is described by a func- tion wn(E, θ), so that the average number of electrons emitted in the energy interval ΔE at a solid angle ΔΩ after the decay of one nucleus in the n-th plane is ΔN (n) e = ∫ ΔE dE ∫ ΔΩ dΩwn(E, θ). (24) This distribution is defined by the expression [18] wn(E, θ) = w0(E, θ) exp {−µ(E)nd/ cos θ0} , (25) where w0(E, θ) is the distribution of electrons ejected after the decay of a nucleus lying on the surface, θ0 or θ is, respectively, the angle between the electron wave vector K or k and the z axis which is perpendicular to the surface of the crystal film. They are connected by the relation [18] cos θ0 = ( 1− E E + U0 sin2 θ )1/2 . (26) The distribution w0(E, θ) written in terms of the di- mensionless parameters K̃ = Kr0, q̃ = qr0, (27) has the form [18] w0(E, θ) = T (E) (r0 a )5 1 E0 √ 2E E0 8 π3 × × q̃max∫ 0 ñ(q̃)q̃2dq̃ [K̃2 − q̃2][1 + 2(K̃2 + q̃2) + (K̃2 − q̃2)2] , (28) where a = ~2/me2 and E0 = e2/a are the Bohr radius and the atomic unit of energy, respectively, T (E) = 4(1 + U0/E cos2 θ)1/2 [1 + (1 + U0/E cos2 θ)1/2]2 (29) is the transmission coefficient of an electron wave through the surface, and ñ(q̃) = [ exp { αq̃2 − εF kBT } + 1 ]−1 (30) with α = ~2/2mr20 (31) represents the Fermi distribution for conduction elec- trons depending on the dimensionless parameter q̃. The integration in (28) is performed over all bound states |q〉 of the conduction electrons in the potential well with the depth U0. Therefore, the upper limit of integration q̃max in (28) should be taken a bit less than√ 2mU0r0/~. 428 ISSN 2071-0194. Ukr. J. Phys. 2010. Vol. 55, No. 4 TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE OF THE SHAKE-OFF EFFECT 0 2 4 6 N e (D ) N e (D ) 0 20 40 60 D, ÅD, Å Fig. 1. Average yield of shake-off electrons Ne from a copper crys- tal after the single decay of a radioactive nucleus as a function of the crystal thickness D. Our calculations are drawn by the solid line, while the data of [16] are presented by dots. The dashed line indicates the experimental background 4. Yield of Electrons By averaging (25) over all crystal planes, we get a distri- bution of shake-off electrons emitted from the slab after the single nuclear decay at any point of the crystal: w(E, θ) = w0(E, θ) 1 Np 1− e−µ(E)D/ cos θ0 1− e−µ(E)d/ cos θ0 . (32) For a thick crystal, when µD � 1, this expression is reduced to w(E, θ) = w0(E, θ) 1 Np 1 1− e−µ(E)d/ cos θ0 . (33) The energy distribution of all electrons emitted from the metal is determined by the integral over the angles: W (E) = 2π π/2∫ 0 w(E, θ) sin θdθ. (34) The average number of low-energy electrons ejected from the crystal following the decay of one nucleus lo- cated at an arbitrary point of the crystal is given by the integral Ne = ∞∫ 0 W (E)dE +B, (35) where B denotes any experimental background. 2 4 W (E ) × 10 4 , eV − 1 W (E ) × 10 4 , eV − 1 0 10 20 30 E, eVE, eV T=600K T=300K T=0K Fig. 2. Energy distribution of shake-off electrons emitted from a copper film at various temperatures 0 20 40 60 λ , Å λ , Å 0 10 20 30 E, eVE, eV T=0K T=300K T=600K Fig. 3. Energy dependence of the free path length for electrons in a copper crystal at various temperatures The number Ne of low-energy electrons emitted from a copper film as a function of the film thickness D has been recently measured in [16]. Such electrons escape mainly from the conduction band, since they are most weakly bound as compared with inner electrons of ions. We calculated the function Ne(D), by using the follow- ing parameters for the copper film: v0 = 1.2 × 10−23 cm3, εF = 7.0 eV, A = 4.4 eV, θD = 315 K, U0 = 11.4 eV, and r0 = 0.55 Ȧ. From Eqs. (32)–(35), one sees that the number of emitted shake-off electrons per one nuclear decay falls down with increase in Np due to the attenuation of the electron wave inside the crystal. The attenuation coefficient has been calculated with the aid of Eqs. (5) and (23). Our results are compared with the experimental data in [16] in Fig. 1. In addition, the energy distribution W (E) for elec- trons emitted from a copper film is presented in Fig. 2 ISSN 2071-0194. Ukr. J. Phys. 2010. Vol. 55, No. 4 429 A.YA. DZYUBLIK, V.YU. SPIVAK 2 4 6 N e (T ) × 10 3 N e (T ) × 10 3 0 200 400 600 T, KT, K Fig. 4. Temperature dependence of the integral electron yield from a copper film at the temperatures T = 0, 300, and 600 K. For defi- niteness, we took the number of crystal planes Np = 40. We see that, as T grows, the shape of the curve W (E) changes due to the strong dependence of µ on the energy E. The energy dependence of the free path length λ = µ−1 for low-energy electrons in copper is displaced in Fig. 3 at the same temperatures. It is seen that λ de- creases with increase in the temperature due to growing the average number of phonons and, respectively, the amplitude of vibrations. The total yield of electrons Ne from the same copper film, as is shown in Fig. 4, decreases with increase in the temperature due to raising the attenuation µ of electron waves. We thank Profs. V.M. Pugatch and V.I. Sugakov for the helpful discussion of the results. 1. A. Migdal, J. Phys. (USSR) 4, 449 (1941). 2. E.L. Feinberg, J. Phys. (USSR) 4, 424 (1941). 3. J.S. Levinger, Phys. Rev. 90, 11 (1953). 4. M.S. Freedman, F.T. Porter, F.J. Wagner, and P.P. Day, Phys. Rev. 108, 836 (1957). 5. F.T. Porter, M.S. Freedman, and F. Wagner, jr., Phys. Rev. C 3, 2246 (1971). 6. B.V. Bobykin, S.K. Lyubov, and Yu.A. Nevynni, Zh. Tekhn. Fiz. 58, 1524 (1988). 7. A. Kovalik, V.M. Gorozhankin, Ts. Vylov et al., J. Elec- tron Spectr. Relat. Phen. 95, 1 (1998). 8. A.M. Dychne and G.L. Yudin, Uspekhi Fiz. Nauk 121, 157 (1977). 9. A.M. Dychne and G.L. Yudin, Uspekhi Fiz. Nauk 125, 377 (1978). 10. I.S. Batkin and Yu.G. Smirnov, Particles and Nuclei 11, 1421 (1980). 11. V.I. Matveev and E.S. Parilis, Uspekhi Fiz. Nauk 138, 573 (1982). 12. V.T. Kupryashkin, L.P. Sydorenko, A.I. Feoktistov, and I.P. Shapovalova, Izv. Russian Acad. Nauk. Ser. Phys. 67, 1467 (2003). 13. V.T. Kupryashkin, L.P. Sydorenko, A.I. Feoktistov, and I.P. Shapovalova, Izv. Russian Acad. Nauk. Ser. Phys. 68, 1208 (2004). 14. A.Ya. Dzyublik, in Isomers and Quantum Nucleonics: Proceedings of the 7th AFOSR Workshop (Dubna, June 26–July 1, 2005), edited by S.A. Karamian, J.J. Carroll, and E.A. Cherepanov. (JINR, Dubna, 2006), p.145. 15. A.A. Valchuk, V.T. Kupryashkin, and L.P. Sidorenko et al., Ukr. J. Phys. 51, 5 (2006). 16. T. Kupryashkin, L.P. Sydorenko, and A.I. Feoktistov, Ukr. J. Phys. 51, 126 (2006). 17. A.I. Feoktistov, A.A. Valchuk, V.T. Kupryashkin, and L.P. Sidorenko, Izv. RAN. Ser. Phys. 72, 285 (2008). 18. A.Ya. Dzyublik and V.Yu. Spivak, Ukr. J. Phys. 53, 120 (2008). 19. L.D. Landau and E.M. Lifshitz, Quantum Mechanics. Non-Relativistic Theory (Pergamon Press, New York, 1980). 20. J.M. Ziman, Principles of the Theory of Solids (Cam- bridge University Press, Cambridge, 1979). 21. V. Pugatch et al., Nucl. Instr. and Meth. A (2007), d oi:10.1016/j.nima.2007.08.042. Received 19.06.09 ТЕМПЕРАТУРНА ЗАЛЕЖНIСТЬ ЕФЕКТУ СТРУСУ ЕЛЕКТРОНIВ ПРОВIДНОСТI В МЕТАЛАХ О.Я. Дзюблик, В.Ю. Спiвак Р е з ю м е Проаналiзовано емiсiю iз металу електронiв провiдностi, спри- чинену ядерним розпадом. Враховано заломлення електронної хвилi на поверхнi кристала та затухання, викликане розсiян- ням на фононах. Показано, що енергетичний розподiл випро- мiнених електронiв струсу має пiк при енергiї порядку 1 еВ, iн- тенсивнiсть якого спадає зi зростанням температури. Вивчено також залежнiсть виходу електронiв провiдностi вiд товщини зразка. 430 ISSN 2071-0194. Ukr. J. Phys. 2010. Vol. 55, No. 4
id nasplib_isofts_kiev_ua-123456789-13433
institution Digital Library of Periodicals of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
issn 2071-0194
language English
last_indexed 2025-12-07T16:42:23Z
publishDate 2010
publisher Відділення фізики і астрономії НАН України
record_format dspace
spelling Dzyublik, A.Ya.
Spivak, V.Yu.
2010-11-08T17:21:40Z
2010-11-08T17:21:40Z
2010
Temperature Dependence of the Shake-off Effect for Conductivity Electrons in Metals / A.Ya. Dzyublik, V.Yu. Spivak // Укр. фіз. журн. — 2010. — Т. 55, № 4. — С. 426-430. — Бібліогр.: 21 назв. — англ.
2071-0194
PACS 25.20.Dc
https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/13433
We analyzed the emission of the conduction electrons in metals caused by any nuclear decay. The refraction of the electron wave at the crystal surface, as well as its attenuation due to scattering by phonons, are taken into account. It is shown that the energy distribution of ejected shake-off electrons contains a peak at the energy of the order of 1 eV, whose intensity falls down with growing temperature. The dependence of the yield of conduction electrons on the thickness of a radioactive source is studied as well.
Проаналiзовано емiсiю iз металу електронiв провiдностi, спричинену ядерним розпадом. Враховано заломлення електронної хвилi на поверхнi кристала та затухання, викликане розсiянням на фононах. Показано, що енергетичний розподiл випромiнених електронiв струсу має пiк при енергiї порядку 1 еВ, iнтенсивнiсть якого спадає зi зростанням температури. Вивчено також залежнiсть виходу електронiв провiдностi вiд товщини зразка.
We thank Profs. V.M. Pugatch and V.I. Sugakov for the helpful discussion of the results.
en
Відділення фізики і астрономії НАН України
Тверде тіло
Temperature Dependence of the Shake-off Effect for Conductivity Electrons in Metals
Температурна залежність ефекту струсу електронів провідності в металах
Article
published earlier
spellingShingle Temperature Dependence of the Shake-off Effect for Conductivity Electrons in Metals
Dzyublik, A.Ya.
Spivak, V.Yu.
Тверде тіло
title Temperature Dependence of the Shake-off Effect for Conductivity Electrons in Metals
title_alt Температурна залежність ефекту струсу електронів провідності в металах
title_full Temperature Dependence of the Shake-off Effect for Conductivity Electrons in Metals
title_fullStr Temperature Dependence of the Shake-off Effect for Conductivity Electrons in Metals
title_full_unstemmed Temperature Dependence of the Shake-off Effect for Conductivity Electrons in Metals
title_short Temperature Dependence of the Shake-off Effect for Conductivity Electrons in Metals
title_sort temperature dependence of the shake-off effect for conductivity electrons in metals
topic Тверде тіло
topic_facet Тверде тіло
url https://nasplib.isofts.kiev.ua/handle/123456789/13433
work_keys_str_mv AT dzyublikaya temperaturedependenceoftheshakeoffeffectforconductivityelectronsinmetals
AT spivakvyu temperaturedependenceoftheshakeoffeffectforconductivityelectronsinmetals
AT dzyublikaya temperaturnazaležnístʹefektustrusuelektronívprovídnostívmetalah
AT spivakvyu temperaturnazaležnístʹefektustrusuelektronívprovídnostívmetalah