Distinguishing Quasiparticle-Phonon Interactions by Ultrahigh-Resolution Lifetime Measurements

We present a determination of quasiparticle-phonon interaction strengths at surfaces through measurements of phonon spectra with ultrahigh energy resolution. The lifetimes of low energy surface phonons on a pristine Ru(0001) surface were determined over a wide range of temperatures and an analysis of the temperature dependence enables us to attribute separate contributions from electron-phonon interactions, phonon-phonon interactions, and defect-phonon interactions. Strong electron-phonon interactions are evident at all temperatures and we show they dominate over phonon-phonon interactions below 400 K.