The dynamics of charge transfer and electronic excitations are of fund
amental importance in many areas of surface physics. At metal surfaces
electronic relaxation occurs on the timescale of femtoseconds due to
the strong resonant coupling with a continuum of substrate excitations
. Recent advances in ultrafast laser sources and the development of no
nlinear laser-based surface probes, in particular the technique of tim
e-resolved photoemission, now make it possible to investigate the elec
tron dynamics at surfaces directly in the time domain. Some of the rec
ent progress in this field is exemplified by the ultrafast dynamics of
image-potential states on Cu(111) and their interaction with rare gas
adsorbates.