February 14th - Two-dimensional electron states at surfaces: 50 years after the first experimental detection in Trondheim
Friday Physics Colloquia
The Friday Physics Colloquia at the Department of Physics are open to all. An important goal for the colloquia is to be a meeting place between faculty and students to learn about interesting developments in physics.
Undergraduate students are especially encouraged to attend. Speakers are asked to keep the talks at a level targeting a master student in physics.
Speaker: Prof. Markus Donath, University of Münster, Germany
Time: 10:30-11:15
Place: E5-103 (map)
Title: Two-dimensional electron states at surfaces: 50 years after the first experimental detection in Trondheim
Abstract: For electrons in a periodic potential, Kronig and Penney identified forbidden regions in the energy spectrum. Tamm introduced a crystal boundary: surface states were “born”. Shockley predicted a particular class of states in so-called Shockley-inverted band gaps. This all happened about 90 years ago and shaped our understanding of two-dimensional (2D) electron states. This year, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first experimental detection of a surface state in Trondheim [1]. During five decades, we have extended our knowledge to interface states, quantum-well states, image-potential states and even topological surface states as representations of 2D electron states. Apart from energy and momentum, the spin is an important characteristic of the electron in view of spintronic applications. This talk will start with some historic remarks and then present a selection of recent results on spin landscapes of 2D electron states.
[1] P. O. Gartland and B. J. Slagsvold, Phys. Rev. B 12, 4047 (1975).
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