Metallic bond effects on mean excitation energies for stopping powers
Mean excitation energies for first row metals are evaluated by means of the local plasma approximation. Particle corrections based on Pines' (1953) procedure and the Wigner Seitz (1934) model of the metallic state are included. The agreement with experimental values is remarkably good. In contrast to previous work, the calculations given here estimate shifts in the plasma frequency according to the theory for plane wave states in an extended plasma as calculated by Pines. It is demonstrated that the effects of the metallic bond in lithium and beryllium are quite large and that they appear mainly as a result of collective oscillations in the 'free' electron gas formed from the valence electrons. The usefulness of the plasma frequency shift derived for a degenerate electron gas in predicting the plasma frequency shift within the ion core is considered surprising.