ELECTRON-FORBIDDEN ENERGY GAP OF HYDROGEN IN A WIDE PRESSURE INTERVAL
Khrapak A.G., Yoshino K.

Received: June 24, 2004

PACS: 72.20.-i, 52.27.Gr

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A simple model is used for estimation of the bottom energy of the electron conduction band and the electron-forbidden gap energy. It is shown that electrons in liquid hydrogen are localized not in the electron bubbles as was considered previously but in molecular negative ions surrounded by voids of radius about 0.5 nm. The conductivity of fluid hydrogen at not very high pressures is connected to transfer of positively charged clusters and negatively charged bubbles. As the pressure and density increase, molecular dissociation occurs and electron localization on atoms becomes more favorable, also with creation of void around atomic negative ions. At a sufficiently high concentration of atoms, the probability of the tunnel transition of an electron from one atom to another becomes close to unity, the energy level of the negative ion degenerates in the band, and the conductivity is caused by the transfer of these quasifree electrons. It is supposed that this charge transfer mechanism may play important role in the region of the fluid hydrogen metallization.