Abstract
We present results of a theoretical investigation of the phonon-mediated decay of metal surface states. The calculated energy- and temperature-dependent lifetime broadening of a hole as well as the electron-phonon coupling parameter for the surface-state band on Al(100), Ag(111), Cu(111) and Au(111) are given. A detailed analysis of the Eliashberg spectral function shows that the intraband scattering is of minor importance for these systems. The surface Rayleigh phonon mode is shown to be crucial for the surface-state decay on the noble metal surfaces, in particular for energies close to the Fermi level where the Rayleigh mode is responsible for the major part of the phonon induced lifetime broadening.
Highlights
During the last few years many experimental and theoretical work have been focused on dynamical processes at metal surfacessee, for instance, Refs. 1–11͒
In this paper we study the decay of a surface hole state due to the e-p scattering, taking into account in principle all the phonon modes and electron wave functions of the system
We have presented an analysis of the phonon induced contribution to the lifetime broadening ⌫ of surface band states
Summary
During the last few years many experimental and theoretical work have been focused on dynamical processes at metal surfacessee, for instance, Refs. 1–11͒. The present investigation of the phonon-mediated decay of electronic surface states is framed in this context. The surface-state electron is trapped between the crystal potential barrier and the vacuum potentialimage potential, being mostly linked to the crystal potential in contrast to the image potential.[12,13] Detailed investigations of the inherent interactions, electron-electron (e-e) and electronphonon (e-p), responsible for the finite lifetime of excited electronsholesin surface states, are crucial for the understanding of quasiparticle dynamics on metal surfaces. 29 and 30͒ allow a detailed comparison with theoretical calculations.[14,26,31] In this paper we study the decay of a surface hole state due to the e-p scattering, taking into account in principle all the phonon modes and electron wave functions of the system. A surface hole state might decay via intraband transition to the surface state itselftwo-dimensional2Dcharacteror into bulk states3D character
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