Plasmons and interband transitions in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8

Abstract
Electron energy-loss spectroscopy has been used to investigate the electronic structure of single-crystalline Bi2 Sr2CaCu2 O8. The dielectric function was derived in the energy range of 0.2-48 eV. Information on interband transitions and low-lying core levels is obtained. The charge-carrier plasmon shows a quadratic dispersion in momentum transfer. From the dispersion constant the Fermi velocity of the charge carriers could be derived.