Anisotropy of the electron-phonon interaction in gold

Abstract

Constant-energy surfaces, effective masses, and Fermi velocities have been calculated by means of the relativistic augmented plane wave method. By comparing the calculated quantities to experimental results the anisotropy of the apparent electron-phonon renormalization, λ( k), has been derived. The average electron-phonon renormalization is small in Au, 〈λ〉 ≈ 10%, but λ( k) exhibits large variations over the Fermi surface. It is particularly large where the distortions of the Fermi surface show that the electronic states are most sensitive to the crystal potential.