Quantum size effects in metallic nanostructures

Abstract

In solid-state physics, crystals are usually assumed to be large enough that the influence of finite dimensions on their electronic structure is negligible compared to the effects of the periodic potential produced by the regular arrangement of the ion cores. The energy of a nearly free valence-band electron in a metal can then simply be described by its dependence on the wave vector k=(27π/λ)e, where e is a unit vector in the direction of propagation of the electron and λ is its wavelength.