Mechanism of enhanced broadening of the ionization level of Li outside transition metal surfaces

We show that the d -band of a transition metal surface induces intra-atomic hybridization of an atom in its vicinity. It is demonstrated that such hybridization can have a profound influence on the resonance width and hence lifetime of the atomic ionization level. The degree of Li s-p hybridization is found to be directly correlated to the overlap of the d -band density of states with the Li 2s and 2p levels, and is shown to be not due solely to long-range electrostatic image potential effects.