We study the energy-loss function for lead in the framework of the time-dependent density functional theory, using the full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave plus local orbitals method. The ab initio calculations are performed in the adiabatic local density approximation. The comparison between the obtained energy-loss function for zero momentum transfer with those from reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy measurements and from first-principles calculations shows good agreement. | Communications in Physics, Vol. 27, No. 1 (2017), pp. 65-70 DOI: ENERGY-LOSS FUNCTION FOR LEAD HIEU T. NGUYEN-TRUONG1,† , TAN-TIEN PHAM2 , NAM H. VU2 , DANG H. NGO2 AND HUNG M. LE3 1 Theoretical Physics Research Group & Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 2 Faculty of Materials Science, University of Science, Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 3 Computational Chemistry Research Group & Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam † E-mail: nguyentruongthanhhieu@ Received 7 February 2017 Accepted for publication 30 March 2017 Abstract. We study the energy-loss function for lead in the framework of the time-dependent density functional theory, using the full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave plus local orbitals method. The ab initio calculations are performed in the adiabatic local density approximation. The comparison between the obtained energy-loss function for zero momentum transfer with those from reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy measurements and from first-principles calculations shows good agreement. Keywords: energy-loss function, local field effect, adiabatic local density approximation. Classification numbers: , , , . I. INTRODUCTION The energy-loss function (ELF) represents the probability that an incident electron loses an energy and transfers a momentum per unit path length traveled in a solid. The ELF is directly related to the dielectric function, and hence many dielectric properties of materials can be extracted from the determination of the ELF. Unfortunately, experimental data for the ELF is not always available because it is difficult to determine experimentally. The ELF for zero momentum transfer is usually obtained from optical reflection and transmission measurements on thin film [1]. The ELF for finite momentum transfer is then determined with .
