The influence of the electron structure into the stacking fault energy of noble metals

The study of the electron structure of Ag, Au and Cu transition metals by EELS shows that the greatest electron concentration in conduction band observes in Ag and decreases through An to Cu. At the same time the fraction of free-electron in conduction band of Ag is less than 0.2 while this value is about of 0.5 for An and more than 0.6 for Cu. Thus the electron system of these elements consists from high-energy free-electron and low-energy nearly free-electron subsystems. The SFE of Ag, Au and Cu increases with increasing free-electron fraction in electron system of these metals. The explanation of this phenomenon was discussed in the frame of electron theory of metals. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.