Reflectance anisotropy spectra of Cu and Ag(110) surfaces from ab initio theory

Reflectance anisotropy spectra of Cu and Ag (110) surfaces are obtained by ab initio calculations. We disentangle the effects of the intraband and interband parts of the bulk dielectric function in the spectra, splitting them further into components stemming from bulk and surface states. As in the case of semiconductor surfaces, transitions across bulk states yield large contributions. A good description of experimental results is obtained. We find evidence of a small surface dielectric anisotropy due to intraband transitions.