ELECTRONIC AND OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF NOBLE AND TRANSITION METALS

Abstract

In this thesis, an attempt has been made td correlate the electronic and optical properties of noble and transition metals. Most of the electronic properties of pure crystalline metals can be discussed in terms of a one electron band structure. The validity of the calculated band structure depends on the construction of an effective one electron potential, the correctness of which can be checked by comparison with the optical and Fermi surface data. The interpolation scheme proposed by Hodges,Ehrenreich and Lang and by Mueller, and modified by Smith and Mattheiss has been found to be most suitable for this purpose. The parameters of the scheme can be chosen to reproduce Fermi-surface areas as well as experimentally observed optical gaps.