First principles quasiparticle damping rates in bulk lead

TL;DR

This paper presents first principles calculations of quasiparticle damping rates in bulk lead, revealing localization effects and the influence of spin-orbit splitting on lifetimes for electrons and holes up to 8 eV.

Contribution

It provides detailed first-principles data on quasiparticle damping rates in lead, including the effects of spin-orbit coupling and localization, across the entire Brillouin zone.

Findings

Localization effects significantly influence lifetimes.

Spin-orbit splitting impacts quasiparticle damping.

Averaged inelastic lifetimes vary with energy up to 8 eV.

Abstract

First principles calculations of the damping rates (inverse inelastic lifetimes) of low energy quasiparticles in bulk Pb are presented. Damping rates are obtained both for excited electrons and holes with energies up to 8 eV on a set of k vectors throughout the Brillouin zone (BZ). Strong localization effects in the calculated lifetimes are found. Averaged over the BZ inelastic lifetimes versus quasiparticle energy are reported as well. In addition, the effect of the spin-orbit induced splitting in the band structure on the calculated lifetimes in Pb is investigated.