Electronic structure of warm dense silicon dioxide

K. Engelhorn, V. Recoules, B. I. Cho, B. Barbrel, S. Mazevet, D. M. Krol, R. W. Falcone, and P. A. Heimann

Phys. Rev. B 91, 214305 – Published 17 June 2015

Abstract

The electronic structure of warm dense silicon dioxide has been investigated by x-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy. An ultrafast optical laser pulse was used to isochorically heat a thin silicon dioxide sample, and measured spectra were compared with simulations generated by molecular dynamics and density functional theory. In comparison with the room temperature spectrum, two features were observed: a peak below the band gap and absorption within the band gap. This behavior was also observed in the simulations. From consideration of the calculated spectra, the peak below the gap is attributed to valence electrons that have been promoted to the conduction band, while absorption within the gap is attributed to broken Si-O bonds.

Received 13 August 2014
Revised 19 May 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.91.214305

Authors & Affiliations

K. Engelhorn^1,2,*, V. Recoules³, B. I. Cho⁴, B. Barbrel⁵, S. Mazevet⁶, D. M. Krol⁷, R. W. Falcone^1,5, and P. A. Heimann^8,†

¹Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
²Department of Applied Science and Technology, UC Berkeley, California 94720, USA
³CEA, DAM, DIF, F-91297 Arpajon, France
⁴Department of Physics and Photon Science, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Gwangju, Korea
⁵Department of Physics, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
⁶LUTH, Observatoire de Paris, Paris, France
⁷Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, UC Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA
⁸Linac Coherent Light Source, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA

^*kce@berkeley.edu
^†paheim@slac.stanford.edu

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Issue

Vol. 91, Iss. 21 — 1 June 2015

Reuse & Permissions

Access Options

Article Available via CHORUS

Download Accepted Manuscript

Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Physical Review B

covering condensed matter and materials physics