Role of surface plasmons in the decay of image-potential States on silver surfaces.
The combined effect of single-particle and collective surface excitations in the decay of image-potential states on Ag surfaces is investigated, and the origin of the long-standing discrepancy between experimental measurements and previous theoretical predictions for the lifetime of these states is elucidated. Although surface-plasmon excitation had been expected to reduce the image-state lifetime, we demonstrate that the subtle combination of the spatial variation of s-d polarization in Ag and the characteristic nonlocality of many-electron interactions near the surface yields surprisingly long image-state lifetimes, in agreement with experiment.
García-Lekue
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Materia Kondentsatuaren Fisika Saila, Zientzi Fakultatea, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, 644 Posta kutxatila, E-48080 Bilbo, Basque Country, Spain.
Pitarke
J M
JM
Chulkov
E V
EV
Liebsch
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Echenique
P M
PM