Electron-phonon interaction in bulk Pb: Beyond the Fermi surface

The electron-phonon interaction in bulk Pb and the influence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) on the pairing strength are investigated within the density-functional theory and linear-response approach in the mixed-basis pseudopotential representation. We find that the SOC-induced modifications of both e...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Sklyadneva, Irina Yu., Heid, Rolf, Echenique, Pedro M., Bohnen, Klaus-Peter, Chulkov, Eugene V.
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2012
Country:España
Institution:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repository:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/102007
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/102007
Access Level:Open access
Description
Summary:The electron-phonon interaction in bulk Pb and the influence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) on the pairing strength are investigated within the density-functional theory and linear-response approach in the mixed-basis pseudopotential representation. We find that the SOC-induced modifications of both electronic bands and lattice vibrations result in striking changes in the phonon-induced scattering of excited electrons (holes). The strength of the momentum-averaged electron-phonon interaction λ(E) ranges from 0 to 2.5 while the contribution to λ(E) from particular electronic states can even exceed 4. It is found that the coupling strength is exceedingly strong for phonon-induced transitions between electronic states of p and d symmetry. The electron-phonon coupling in Pb also shows a band dependence which, in particular, results in two different sets of electron-phonon coupling parameters on the two sheets of the Fermi surface. © 2012 American Physical Society.