Calculation of the short-time dynamics of the hot-electron distribution in noble and transition metals

The short-time dynamics of the hot-electron distribution in noble and transition metals after optical excitation is calculated in a Boltzmann-equation formalism. We investigate the optical excitation process as well as the subsequent relaxation due to electron-electron collisions. In the optical excitation process, we study the influence of band structure and photon energy on the observed dynamics. For the dynamics due to electron-electron collisions, we calculate the time evolution of the energy- and spin-resolved distribution of excited electrons and holes using transition rates determined from realistic band structures. We find important contributions of secondary electrons to the observed decay time of the distribution. Our results for Cu are compared with recent experiments using the two-photon photoemission technique.