Theory of inelastic lifetimes of surface-state electrons and holes at metal surfaces

Abstract

After the early suggestion by John Pendry to probe unoccupied bands at surfaces through the time reversal of the photoemission process, the inverse-photoemission technique yielded the first conclusive experimental evidence for the existence of image-potential bound states at metal surfaces and has led over the last two decades to an active area of research in condensed-matter and surface physics. Here we describe the current status of the many-body theory of inelastic lifetimes of these image-potential states and also the Shockley surface states that exist near the Fermi level in the projected bulk band gap of simple and noble metals. New calculations of the self-energy and lifetime of surface states on Au surfaces are presented as well, by using the $GW\Gamma$ approximation of many-body theory.

17 pages, 7 figures, to appear in J Phys-Condens Mat

References in corpus (4)

• Theory of surface plasmons and surface-plasmon polaritons
• Including nonlocality in exchange-correlation kernel from time-dependent current density functional theory: Application to the stopping power of electron liquids
• Simple dynamic exchange-correlation kernel of the uniform electron gas
• Self-energy and lifetime of Shockley and image states on Cu(100) and Cu(111): Beyond the GW approximation of many-body theory