Metallic thin films on stepped surfaces: lateral scattering of quantum well states

Abstract

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. ; Quantum well states of Ag films grown on stepped Au(111) surfaces are shown to undergo lateral scattering, in analogy with surface states of vicinal Ag(111). Applying angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy we observe quantum well bands with zone-folding and gap openings driven by surface/interface step lattice scattering. Experiments performed on a curved Au(111) substrate allow us to determine a subtle terrace-size effect, i.e., a fine step-density-dependent upward shift of quantum well bands. This energy shift is explained as mainly due to the periodically stepped crystal potential offset at the interface side of the film. Finally, the surface state of the stepped Ag film is analyzed with both photoemission and scanning tunneling microscopy. We observe that the stepped film interface also affects the surface state energy, which exhibits a larger terrace-size effect compared to surface states of bulk vicinal Ag(111)crystals. ; This work was supported in part by the Spanish Ministry of Economy (MINECO) through grants MAT2013–46593-C6–2-P, MAT2013–46593-C6–4-P, MAT2013–46593-C6–5-P, and FIS2010–19609-C02–02, by the German Sonderforschungsbereich SFB 1083, and by the Basque Government through Projects IT-621–13 and IT-756–13. ICN2 acknowledges support from the Severo Orchoa Program (MINECO, Grant SEV-2013-0295). ; Peer Reviewed