Does conductors have refractive index for electrons?

[Duda Jarek]

First approximation of free electron in conductor can be a plane wave.

So shouldn't there be more analogies from optics?

Remember that single electron can go through two slits at the same time...

 

Photons interact with local matter (electron/photons) which results (in first approximation) in complex coefficient (n) - refractive index.

It's imaginary part describes absorption - corresponds to resistance for conductor.

It's real part corresponds to phase velocity/wavelength, is there analogy in free electron behavior?

 

Different conductors have different local structure, electron distributions etc. - so maybe they have a difference in refraction index...

If yes, there should be more effects from optics, like partial internal reflection, interferences ... we could use in practice.

I know - electrons unlike photons interact with each other - so electron waves should quickly loose it's coherence.

But maybe we could use such quantum effects on short distance in crystals?

 

Or maybe in one dimension - imagine for example long (-CH=CH-CH=CH- ...) molecule.

It's free electrons should behave like one-dimensional plane wave.

Now exchange hydrogen to for example fluorine (-CF=CF-) - it still should be a good conductor, but the behavior of electrons should be somehow different ... shouldn't it have different refraction index?

If yes, for example (-CF=CH-) should have intermediate...

 

What for?

Imagine for example something like anti-reflective coating from optics:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-reflective_coating

Let say: thick layer of higher refractive index material and thin of lower.

The destructive interference in thin layer happen only from the anti-reflective side (thin layer) - shouldn't it reflect a smaller amount of photons/electrons than from the second side?

If we choose reflective layer for dominant thermal energy of photons/electrons, shouldn't it spontaneously create gradient of densities?

For example to change heat energy into electricity...

[reetha25]

Surface plasmons are waves of electron density that move along the interface between a conductor and a dielectric. They can be excited by photons, and they can excite photons in turn. When the frequency of the exciting radiation is close to the plasma frequency in the metal, the wavelength of the plasmons becomes much shorter than that of the exciting light. This phenomenon has allowed the use of plasmons in various techniques that overcome diffraction limits, such as in creating narrow beams.

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reetha

 

http://www.scienceforums.net

[Flashman]

If we choose reflective layer for dominant thermal energy of photons/electrons, shouldn't it spontaneously create gradient of densities?

For example to change heat energy into electricity...

 

I think you just reinvented the thermocouple.