We report the first angle-resolved photoemission measurement of the wave-vector dependent plasmon satellite structure of a three-dimensional solid, crystalline silicon. In sharp contrast to nanomaterials, which typically exhibit strongly wave-vector
dependent, low-energy plasmons, the large plasmon energy of silicon facilitates the search for a plasmaron state consisting of resonantly bound holes and plasmons and its distinction from a weakly interacting plasmon-hole pair. Employing a first-principles theory, which is based on a cumulant expansion of the one-electron Greens function and contains significant electron correlation effects, we obtain good agreement with the measured photoemission spectrum for the wave-vector dependent dispersion of the satellite feature, but without observing the existence of plasmarons in the calculations.
Mg-Ti alloys have uncommon optical and hydrogen absorbing properties, originating from a spinodal-like microstructure with a small degree of chemical short-range order in the atoms distribution. In the present study we artificially engineer short-ran
ge order by depositing Pd-capped Mg/Ti multilayers with different periodicities and characterize them both structurally and optically. Notwithstanding the large lattice parameter mismatch between Mg and Ti, the as-deposited metallic multilayers show good structural coherence. Upon exposure to H2 gas a two-step hydrogenation process occurs, with the Ti layers forming the hydride before Mg. From in-situ measurements of the bilayer thickness L at different hydrogen pressures, we observe large out-of-plane expansions of the Mg and Ti layers upon hydrogenation, indicating strong plastic deformations in the films and a consequent shortening of the coherence length. Upon unloading at room temperature in air, hydrogen atoms remain trapped in the Ti layers due to kinetic constraints. Such loading/unloading sequence can be explained in terms of the different thermodynamic properties of hydrogen in Mg and Ti, as shown by diffusion calculations on a model multilayered systems. Absorption isotherms measured by hydrogenography can be interpreted as a result of the elastic clamping arising from strongly bonded Mg/Pd and broken Mg/Ti interfaces.
