The influence of the microscopic structure of surfaces on the optical properties of metals

The review outlines the state-of-the-art in the field of studies on the optical properties of metal surfaces. The use of recent theory has been examined to explain the results obtained in certain individual experiments on the surface modulation spectroscopy, outer photoemission and the surface Raman effect. The dependence of the surface plasmon spectrum on the surface microscopic structure has been given special consideration. It has been shown how information about the electronic structure of a surface, and the effect of adsorption on this structure in particular, can be extracted from the optical measurement data.