Van der waals-casimir-polder interaction of an atom with a composite surface
- We study the dispersion interaction of the van der Waals and Casimir-Polder (vdW-CP) type between a neutral atom and the surface of a conductor by allowing for nonlocal electrodynamics, i.e. electron diffusion. We consider two models: (i) bulk diffusion, and (ii) diffusion in a surface charge layer. In both cases, we find that the transition to a semiconductor as a function of the conductivity is continuous, unlike the case of a local model. The relevant parameter is the electric screening length and depends on the carrier diffusion constant. We find that for distances comparable to the screening length, vdW-CP data can distinguish between bulk and surface diffusion, hence it can be a sensitive probe for surface states.
| Author details: | E. Eizner, Baruch HorovitzORCiD, Carsten HenkelORCiDGND |
|---|---|
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2012-30294-x |
| ISSN: | 1434-6060 |
| Title of parent work (English): | The European physical journal : D, Atomic, molecular, optical and plasma physics |
| Publisher: | Springer |
| Place of publishing: | New York |
| Publication type: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Year of first publication: | 2012 |
| Publication year: | 2012 |
| Release date: | 2017/03/26 |
| Volume: | 66 |
| Issue: | 12 |
| Number of pages: | 11 |
| Funding institution: | German-Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF) |
| Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Physik und Astronomie |
| Peer review: | Referiert |
