Surface waves on a quantum plasma half-space

TL;DR

This paper derives the dispersion relation for surface waves on a quantum plasma half-space, highlighting quantum effects' significance in dense metallic plasmas at room temperature, relevant for electronic and astrophysical applications.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum hydrodynamical model to analyze surface wave dispersion on a quantum plasma half-space, incorporating quantum forces like the Fermi temperature and Bohm potential.

Findings

Quantum effects are significant for electrostatic surface waves in dense gold plasma.

The derived dispersion relation accounts for quantum forces affecting wave behavior.

Quantum influences are prominent at room temperature in dense plasma conditions.

Abstract

Surface modes are coupled electromagnetic/electrostatic excitations of free electrons near the vacuum-plasma interface and can be excited on a sufficiently dense plasma half-space. They propagate along the surface plane and decay in either sides of the boundary. In such dense plasma models, which are of interest in electronic signal transmission or in some astrophysical applications, the dynamics of the electrons is certainly affected by the quantum effects. Thus, the dispersion relation for the surface wave on a quantum electron plasma half-space is derived by employing the quantum hydrodynamical (QHD) and Maxwell-Poison equations. The QHD include quantum forces involving the Fermi electron temperature and the quantum Bohm potential. It is found that, at room temperature, the quantum effects are mainly relevant for the electrostatic surface plasma waves in a dense gold metallic plasma.