Inelastic X-Ray Scattering as a Probe of the Many-Body Local-Field Factor in Metals

B. C. Larson; J. Z. Tischler; E. D. Isaacs; P. Zschack; A. Fleszar; A. G. Eguiluz

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.1346

Inelastic X-Ray Scattering as a Probe of the Many-Body Local-Field Factor in Metals

B. C. Larson, J. Z. Tischler, E. D. Isaacs, P. Zschack, A. Fleszar, and A. G. Eguiluz

Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 1346 – Published 12 August 1996

Abstract

We report the first measurement of the many-body local-field factor $G (\vec{q}, ω)$ for a simple metal (Al) at large wave vectors. Inelastic x-ray measurements of the dynamical structure factor are analyzed using ab initio calculations of the noninteracting polarizability. Our measured $G (\vec{q}, ω)$ is in agreement with available theory for $q < {1.5 k}_{F}$ , unlike earlier electron energy-loss results; however, for $q \sim {2 k}_{F}$ our $G (\vec{q}, ω)$ is a factor of 2 stronger than most theoretical predictions. We have also measured the polarizability for noninteracting electrons at a wave vector for which $G (\vec{q}, ω) ≅ 1$ .

Received 19 December 1995

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.1346

Authors & Affiliations

B. C. Larson¹, J. Z. Tischler¹, E. D. Isaacs², P. Zschack³, A. Fleszar⁴, and A. G. Eguiluz^1,5

¹Solid State Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6030
²AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey 07974
³Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831
⁴Physikalisches Institut, Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
⁵Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1200