Photodetachment of H- near a metal surface

By using the closed orbit theory, the photodetachment cross section of H- near a metal surface is derived and calculated. The results show that the metal surface has great influence on the photodetachment process. As the ion-surface distance is very large, the influence of the electrostatic image potential caused by the metal surface becomes small and can be neglected. The period, action; and length of the detached electron's closed orbit are nearly the same as the case of the photodetachment of H- near an elastic interface. However, with the decrease of the ion-surface distance, the influence of the metal surface becomes significant. The amplitude of the oscillation in the photodetachment cross section becomes complicated. Each resonance peak in the Fourier transformed cross section is associated with one electron's closed orbit. Unlike the case of the photodetachment of H- near an elastic interface, the length of the closed orbit does not equal the twice distance between the ion and the surface. But with the increase of the ion-surface distance, the length of the closed orbit approaches the case of the closed orbit near an elastic interface; which suggests the correctness of our method. This study provides a new understanding on the photodetachment process of H- in the presence of a metal surface.