TIME-RESOLVED MEASUREMENTS OF ENERGY-TRANSFER AT SURFACES

Developments in time-resolved measurements of energy transfer at surfa ces are reviewed. Picosecond and femtosecond measurements of vibration al and electronic relaxation at surfaces are highlighted. Experimental results for vibrational relaxation of simple adsorbates on metals, se miconductors, and insulators are reviewed, and relaxation mechanisms s uch as electron-hole pair formation, multiphonon relaxation and image dipole damping are considered. Energy transfer involving excited elect ronic states of molecules on liquid and solid dielectric surfaces and the relaxation of surface electronic states on semiconductors and of i mage states on metal surfaces are discussed.