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Published March 15, 1973 | Published
Journal Article Open

Optical Absorption in the Alkali Metals: Detailed Calculations

Abstract

The results of detailed computations of the optical absorption in alkali metals are presented. Nettel's formalism is used to calculate the phonon-assisted processes and modifications are made to allow approximately for the Debye-Waller factor, multiphonon terms, anharmonic effects, and the "optical pseudopotential." The direct interband absorption is also incorporated, and the validity of the classical ω^(-2) frequency dependence for the Drude absorption is discussed. Results are presented as a function of temperature, form factor, and pseudopotential coefficient V_(110). Smith's data for absorption in sodium are found to be consistent with V_(110)(0°K)=0.28 eV. The data for potassium and rubidium are also consistent with the model but the data for cesium and lithium are not.

Additional Information

© 1973 The American Physical Society. Received 10 August 1972; published in the issue dated 15 March 1973 I am very grateful to Professor D. Beaglehole for his guidance, and to Professor N. W. Ashcroft for many fruitful discussions. I wish to thank the Physics Department, Victoria University, for the prolonged use of computer facilities and the staff of the Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University, for help in publishing this paper.

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