Theory of electronic, vibrational, and superconducting properties of fcc silicon

Abstract

We present a theoretical calculation of the properties of the fcc, high-pressure structural phase of Si. The electronic and phonon properties have been studied and we predict the system to be a free-electron-like metal with a very stiff lattice. In addition, we estimate the superconducting transition temperature to be approximately 2 K based on calculations of the electron-phonon coupling constant \ensuremath{\lambda}. Comparisons are made with the results of previous calculations for Al.