Optical anisotropy at the W(1 1 0) surface

Abstract We report ab initio calculations of the anisotropic dielectric function ϵ 2 [ 1 1 0] (ω)−ϵ 2 [0 0 1] (ω) of tungsten (1 1 0) surface using the linear muffin-tin-orbital method. The calculated anisotropy in the optical spectrum, for polarization of light parallel to the surface, exhibits three dominant broad structures at 3.00, 4.01 and 5.34 eV successively positive, negative and then positive. The first peak is clearly assigned to p → d interband transitions in surface atomic sites whereas the two others have their origin in interband transitions in bulk like atoms. Our results, including the interlayer relaxation effect on the surface optical response, are compared to recent reflectance anisotropy measurements.