Dissipation of the energy of excited atoms located near an absorptive medium surface

The nonradiative process of transfer of the excited atom energy to an absorptive medium is considered. The probability of the nonradiative EL-transition is calculated for an excited atom placed near a macroscopic medium surface with the complex dielectric function ? (ω₀). In the limit of very small distances the discussed process yields a main contribution to the level weight and determines the lifetime of the excited state.