EXCITON-LIKE BEHAVIOR IN LOW-ENERGY ABSORPTION SPECTRA OF SIMPLE ALLOYS (OPTICAL PROPERTY, LOCAL EXCITATIONS, MAGNESIUM, ZINC

The valence excitation (ns('2) (--->) nsnp) spectra of Mg, Zn, and Ca impurities at various concentrations in Li have been measured. Polarization modulation ellipsometry was used to determine the impurity-induced changes in real and imaginary parts of the dielectric function simultaneously, together with the differential reflectivity, in the energy range 1.5 - 4.5 eV.;The most important result at sufficiently dilute alloy compositions, is that the system investigated display a distinct absorption peak above the Drude background. The height of this peak varies linearly with impurity content. The impurity-specific character of these spectral features points to exciton-like behavior at low-energy, arising from atomic-like excitations in which the electron and the hole linger together at the impurity site. Existing theories of alloy spectra do not explain these effects, because they do not include the Coulomb correlations between the interacting quasiparticles created in the optical event, or the way in which the interacting pair is confined to the impurity site by the mutual field.;A remarkable added result of this research is that the exciton-like behavior can be followed with increasing impurity content, all the way to the pure Mg response, when it becomes the interband transition. This has led Kunz and Flynn to reformulate the theory of optical absorption including excited state interactions; and to apply the theory to the spectrum of pure Mg. The Coulomb interaction causes striking effects which are in generally good agreement with experiment. Zn-Li alloys behave differently. At an alloy composition for which Zn-Zn interactions become prevalent, the local, impurity-specific character of the spectrum disappears, leaving only a featureless Drude-like absorption. These results have provoked cluster calculations by Boisvert and Kunz, which predict the spectral shifts, and exhibit qualitatively similar persistence for Mg-Li, and broadening for Zn-Li.