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arXiv · 1503.08250

Variation in electron work function with temperature and its effect on the Young's modulus of metals

Reza Rahemi·Dongyang Li
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Abstract

Properties of metals are fundamentally determined by their electron behavior, which is largely reflected by the electron work function ($φ$). Recent studies have demonstrated that many properties of metallic materials are directly related to $φ$, which may provide a simple but fundamental parameter for material design. Since material properties are affected by temperature, in this article a simple model is proposed to correlate the work function with temperature, expressed as $φ(T)=φ_{0} -γ\frac{(k_{B} T)^{2}}{φ_{0}} $, where $γ$ varies with the crystal structure. This $φ$-T relationship helps determine and understand the dependence of metal properties on temperature on a feasible electronic base. As a sample application, the established relationship is applied to determine the dependence of Young's modulus of metals on temperature. The proposed relationship is consistent with experimental observations.

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Reza Rahemi, Dongyang Li. 2015-03-28. Variation in electron work function with temperature and its effect on the Young's modulus of metals. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2014.11.022

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