Energy loss of charged particles moving parallel to a magnesium surface

TL;DR

This paper provides ab initio calculations of electronic energy loss for charged particles near magnesium surfaces, highlighting the impact of band-structure effects on plasmon resonance and energy loss behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a realistic, first-principles approach to modeling energy loss that accounts for band-structure effects and plasmon resonance broadening.

Findings

Finite plasmon resonance width affects energy loss at large distances.

Band-structure effects significantly modify the asymptotic energy loss behavior.

Results are relevant for understanding particle interactions with microcapillary surfaces.

Abstract

We present it ab initio calculations of the electronic energy loss of charged particles moving outside a magnesium surface, from a realistic description of the one-electron band structure and a full treatment of the dynamical electronic response of valence electrons. Our results indicate that the finite width of the plasmon resonance, which is mainly due to the presence of band-structure effects, strongly modifies the asymptotic behaviour of the energy loss at large distances from the surface. This effect is relevant for the understanding of the interaction between charged particles and the internal surface of microcapillaries.