Phys. Rev. B 49 (1994) pp. 14035-14038

Partial wave summations in atomic-sphere surface calculations

S. Crampin

Cavendish Laboratory, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HE, United Kingdom

Abstract
Using a simple model it is demonstrated that l=3 partial waves contribute significantly to the description of the exponentially decaying charge distribution at metal surfaces calculated within the atomic-sphere approximation. Despite a partially compensating error in the calculated Fermi level, truncating at l=2 overestimates calculated work functions by up to 0.7eV or 15%, whilst trends are well established. The better converged results improve agreement with experiment for the late-row metals, but generally result in poorer agreement for the BCC transition metals.