Crystallographic orientation and induced potential effects in photoelectron emission from metal surfaces by ultrashort laser pulses

Abstract

The influence of the crystallographic orientation of a typical metal surface, like aluminum, on electron emission spectra produced by grazing incidence of ultrashort laser pulses is investigated by using the band-structure-based-Volkov (BSB-V) approximation. The present version of the BSB-V approach includes not only a realistic description of the surface interaction, accounting for band structure effects, but also effects due to the induced potential that originates from the collective response of valence-band electrons to the external electromagnetic field. The model is applied to evaluate differential electron emission probabilities from the valence band of Al(100) and Al(111). For both crystallographic orientations, the contribution of partially occupied surface electronic states and the influence of the induced potential are separately analyzed as a function of the laser carrier frequency. We found that the induced potential strongly affects photoelectron emission distributions, opening a window to scrutinize band structure effects.