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N Binggeli

Publications and source records attributed to N Binggeli.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Surface reactivity and quantum-size effects on the electronic density decay length of ultrathin metal films.

The origin of the correlation between surface reactivity and quantum-size effects, observed in recent experiments on the oxidation of ultrathin magnesium films, is addressed by means of ab initio calculations and model predictions. We show that the decay length in vacuum of the electronic local density of states at the Fermi energy exhibits systematic oscillations with film thickness, with local maxima induced when a quantum-well state at crosses the Fermi energy. The predicted changes in the decay length are expected to have a major impact on the electron transfer rate by tunneling, which has been proposed to control the initial sticking of in the oxidation process.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2002

Work functions at facet edges.

We perform ab initio pseudopotential calculations for metal crystals with finite facets of different crystallographic orientation to investigate the work function profile near crystal edges. We examine local edge effects, and address the problem of the coexistence of different face-dependent local work functions at crystal edges. By modeling the electronic dipoles at the metal surface, we show how nonvanishing surface charges spontaneously appear on metals with inequivalent facets. Our studies of Al crystal nanowires with (100) and (111) facets are extended to derive the dependence of the work function on the crystal morphology in the macroscopic limit.

Journal Article↗