Character of electron reflection at a normal metal-Peierls semiconductor boundary

Abstract

The reflection of electrons incident from a normal metal on the boundary of the metal with a quasi-one-dimensional conductor containing a charge-density wave (CDW) is investigated theoretically. It is shown that the reflection is not of an Andreev character, as it was suggested earlier, but rather of a Bragg character. This is due to the fact that the CDW is actually an electronic crystal, and its wave vector is a reciprocal lattice vector of the electronic crystal. The ratio of the intensities of the standard and Bragg reflection depends on the phase of the CDW.