Electron–phonon interaction on an Al(001) surface

We report an ab initio study of the electron–phonon (e–ph) interaction and its contribution to the lifetime broadening of excited hole (electron) surface states on Al(001). The calculations based on density-functional theory were carried out using a linear response approach in the plane-wave pseudopotential representation. The obtained results show that both the electron–phonon coupling and the linewidth experience a weak variation with the energy and momentum position of a hole (electron) surface state in the energy band. An analysis of different contributions to the e–ph coupling reveals that bulk phonon modes turn out to be more involved in the scattering processes of excited electrons and holes than surface phonon modes. It is also shown that the role of the e–ph coupling in the broadening of the Rayleigh surface phonon mode is insignificant compared to anharmonic effects.