Abstract
The phase coherence length and the corresponding lifetime of hot electrons in the surface state band of Ag(1 1 1) have been measured with a low temperature STM for energies from the Fermi level to 3 eV. A divergence of the lifetime from a (E - E-F)(-2) behavior has been observed for energies lower than 400 meV. Theoretical analysis in terms of electron-electron and electron-phonon scattering mechanisms shows that the energy dependence of the lifetime is accounted for by the competition between intra- and interband electron-electron inelastic scattering and electron-phonon contributions. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Original language | English |
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Article number | PII S0039-6028(02)02406-8 |
Pages (from-to) | L47-L52 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Surface Science |
Volume | 523 |
Issue number | 1-2 |
Publication status | Published - 10 Jan 2003 |
Keywords
- silver
- scanning tunneling microscopy
- electron-solid interactions, scattering, diffraction
- IMAGE-POTENTIAL STATES
- METAL-SURFACES
- PHOTOELECTRON-SPECTROSCOPY
- NOBLE-METALS
- DYNAMICS
- PHOTOEMISSION
- LIFETIMES
- GAS