University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Noble-metal quantum well structures: A theoretical and experimental study

McMahon, William E.

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Description

Title
Noble-metal quantum well structures: A theoretical and experimental study
Author(s)
McMahon, William E.
Issue Date
1996
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Chiang, Tai-Chang
Department of Study
Physics
Discipline
Physics
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Physics, Condensed Matter
Language
eng
Abstract
  • Currently, there is a great deal of interest in metallic multilayer systems, in particular magnetic multilayer structures, for both technological and scientific reasons. Since the growth properties and band structures for these systems are, in general, quite complicated, most current research is directed at understanding these systems at a very basic level. One crucial element of this research is understanding electronic coupling and confinement in thin (5-20A) metal films.
  • This thesis is a study of noble-metal quantum-well structures. Although this research program was begun before its relevance to magnetic multilayers was known, it has turned out to be quite relevant. These systems are intrinsically much simpler: any desired quantum-well structure can be grown with atomically abrupt interfaces, and the band structures in the energy region of interest are quite simple. This makes noble-metal quantum-well structures ideal for studying fundamental aspects of electronic coupling and confinement in solids.
  • A simple model based upon Bloch wave functions is presented and compared with the experimental results. This can be successfully applied to any arbitrary noble-metal quantum-well system with reasonable results; it contains all of the essential physics. Care must be taken before applying this model to other quantum-well structures, however. One must first understand the model's underlying assumptions and check that they will remain valid. It is hoped that a thorough understanding of this model and its limitations will contribute to an understanding of more complicated quantum-well systems.
Type of Resource
text
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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/22711
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 1996 McMahon, William E.

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