Specular Reflection of Conduction Electrons at a Metal Surface

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Abstract
We calculate the probability of specular reflection of conduction electrons at an imperfect or contaminated metal surface. The coherent-potential approximation is used to treat the disordered surface layer. The scattering by an individual point defect near the surface is related (by an image technique) to the scattering by a similar defect deep in the bulk. The defects may be either lattice vacancies or impurity atoms physically adsorbed. In our calculations the electron scattering becomes specular at grazing incidence and this behavior is easily understood from a general symmetry property of the reflection amplitude.