Structural and electronic properties of thin Ni layers on Cu(111) as investigated by ARPES, STM and GIXD

The growth and the crystalline and electronic structure of Ni deposited on single crystalline Cu(111) were studied by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXD) and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). In the early stages of growth monoatomic-high flat Ni islands, partially covered by Cu migrating from the surface, are observed. Starting from a pseudomorphic epitaxial relationship the in-plane lattice parameter progressively relaxes with increasing coverage. For a 20 monolayer (ML) thick deposit the in-plane lattice parameter is still found halfway between the bulk Ni and Cu lattice parameters. ARPES data also rule out the layer-by-layer growth and provide the values of the Ni exchange splitting. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.