Regensburg 2002 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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O: Oberflächenphysik
O 11: Elektronische Struktur (II)
O 11.9: Vortrag
Montag, 11. März 2002, 17:15–17:30, H44
Inter- and intraband inelastic scattering of hot surface state electrons at the Ag(111) surface — •Lucia Vitali, Peter Wahl, M.Alexander Schneider, and Klaus Kern — Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, Heisenbergstr.1 D-70569 Stuttgart
The knowledge of the length which surface state electrons can travel without losing their phase coherence is of fundamental importance. We report here a direct measurement of the phase coherence length of hot electrons in the surface state band of Ag(111) obtained with a 6K-STM. The phase coherence, or equivalently the lifetime, has been derived for energies from EF to 3 eV studying the spatial decay of the interference pattern in the LDOS at step edges. The relevant relaxation mechanism responsible for the finite lifetime of the electrons is presented in terms of inelastic electron-electron scattering and electron-phonon coupling. By comparison with theoretical calculations intraband inelastic electron-electron scattering and electron-phonon coupling is shown to strongly influence the lifetime at energies lower then 400meV.