The exchange-correlation effects on surface plasmon oscillations in semi-bounded quantum plasma

Abstract

We studied the surface plasmon waves in a quantum plasma half-space by considering the effects of exchange and correlation for the electrons. We used a quantum hydrodynamic approach, including the full set of Maxwell equations and considering two new quantities (measuring the exchange and correlation effects) in addition to the Fermi electron temperature and the quantum Bohm potential, to derive the dispersion relation for the surface plasmon waves. It was found that the exchange-correlation effects significantly modified the behavior of surface plasmon waves. We showed that the frequency of surface plasmon wave was down-shifted by the exchange-correlation effects. On the other hand, the quantum effects (including of the exchange-correlation effects and the quantum Bohm potential) was seen to cause an increase in the phase speed of surface plasmon waves. Our results can help to understand the propagation properties of surface waves in intense laser produced solid density plasmas and metallic plasmas.