Role of dielectric screening in atom-surface interactions

Carey Schwartz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

The effect of dielectric screening of a substrate by an overlayer is calculated. Both the overlayer and substrate are modeled as dielectric continua which are then treated by linearized hydrodynamics. The effect of dielectric screening is a shift of the plane to which the total van der Waals interaction is referenced. It is found that models of the atom-surface interaction based upon the pairwise summation of atom-atom potentials underestimate the total van der Waals interaction as a result of ignoring dielectric screening. Detailed calculations are then carried out for helium interacting with a rare-gas-coated silver surface.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)437-443
Number of pages7
JournalThe Journal of chemical physics
Volume83
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1985

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Physics and Astronomy
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry

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