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Abstract

The use of angle- and energy-resolved photoyield experiments for the study of collective excitations at clean metal surfaces and in thin metal films is discussed by recourse to recent experiments. It is shown that photoyield experiments, when compared with theoretical predictions based on the nonlocal corrections to the Fresnel optics, can provide a detailed interpretation of the experimental results for clean surfaces and thin films of simple metals such as Al and the alkali metals. The excitation of so-called multipole plasmons, bulk-like plasmons in thin films, and related multielectron excitations in Al and the heavier alkalis can be quantitatively understood on the basis of jellium-type calculations, whereas lattice effects are shown to be important for a description of the photoyield in Li. Apart from multielectron excitations, features above the plasmon excitations threshold can be understood in terms of single-particle transitions, and the excitation of bulk plasmons with q≠0 by the incident light. Finally, experimental observations of collective modes in more complex surface structures are presented, and the influence of surface electronic structure on the energy of the multipole plasmon is discussed.