I. Koponen, ENERGY-TRANSFER BETWEEN ELECTRONS AND IONS IN DENSE DISPLACEMENT CASCADES, Physical review. B, Condensed matter, 47(21), 1993, pp. 14011-14019
A theory of the energy exchange between valence electrons and ions in
the dense displacement cascades in metals is proposed. It is shown tha
t the theory based on the relaxation of the nonequilibrium electron-io
n system gives a common basis for the electronic stopping power of slo
w ions due to valence electrons and for the energy transfer via an ele
ctron-phonon interaction. It is found that the energy loss owing to th
e electron-phonon interaction bears a close relationship to the electr
onic stopping power, but it is greatly enhanced because of the emergen
ce of phonon excitations and band structure. The corresponding cooling
rates of the thermalizing cascade are several times greater in metals
with a strong electron-ion interaction than in metals with a weak int
eraction. A similar conclusion holds in the intermediate region, where
the ions in the thermalizing cascade are essentially free to move but
band-structure effects persist. However, conduction electrons play a
role in the cooling of the cascade only if the dynamics of the ions gi
ves rise to phonons.