Quasiparticle interactions broaden spectral features at surfaces, which can be measured using the scanning tunneling microscope (STM). We report the first study of lifetime effects on Shockley surfacestate electrons using low-temperature STM spectroscopy. Data taken from Ag(111) are analyzed using detailed tunneling calculations and a simple model, and are found to correspond to a self-energy of S 4.9 6 0.6 meV. This is considerably below values determined by angle-resolved photoemission, but remains higher than theoretical predictions. [S0031-9007(98)07612-1]
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.