Contribution of inter- and intraband transitions into electron-phonon coupling in metals

We recently developed an approach for calculation of the electron-phonon (electron-ion in a more general case) coupling in materials based on tight-binding molecular dynamics simulations. In the present work, we utilize this approach to study partial contributions of inter- and intraband electron scattering events into total electron-phonon coupling in Al, Au, and Cu elemental metals and in AlCu alloy. We demonstrate that the interband scattering plays an important role in the electron-ion energy exchange process in Al and AlCu, whereas intraband d-d transitions are dominant in Au and Cu. Moreover, inter- and intraband transitions exhibit qualitatively different dependencies on the electron temperature. Our findings should be taken into account for the interpretation of experimental results on the electron-phonon coupling parameter. Graphic abstract