Many-body effects on the x-ray spectra of metals

Abstract

The effects of band structure, of a solid surface, of temperature, and of disorder on the many-electron x-ray spectra of metals are evaluated in a change-of-mean-field approximation using a one-dimensional nearest-neighbor tight-binding model of a metal. The x-ray spectral shapes are determined by both the band structure and the final-state interactions. The effect of the band being non-free-electron-like is not felt at the x-ray threshold, but away from it such effects are noticeable. When the core hole is created at the surface, the spectra at the edge exhibit a Nozieres-de Dominicis-type singularity with the appropriate surface phase-shifts. At energies away from the edge, the one-particle effects are prominent with the x-ray emission and absorption spectra closely reflecting the local one-electron density of states. The recoil spectrum of a Fermi sea at a non-zero temperature has less asymmetry than the zero-temperature case. It was found that at ordinary temperatures the reduction of the asymmetry due to the thermal distribution of one-electron states is not very significant. Finally, using a one-dimensional Anderson model, the effect of lattice disorder on the x-ray absorption spectra is studied for the first time. There are two effects: (1) the strong infrared divergence peak is gradually quenched more » as disorder is increased, and (2) the threshold is broadened because the threshold energies for absorption at different sites in the crystal depend on the varying local lattice environment. It is proposed that the x-ray spectra may be useful as a tool for studying the degree of electron localization in disordered many-electron systems. « less