SPIN-POLARIZED PHOTOEMISSION

The addition of spin analysis to the photoemission technique allows the investigation of the electronic structure and magnetic properties of clean and adsorbate-covered surfaces, thin firms, and multilayers. Deposition of thin films on appropriate substrates allows the investigation of different phases including the bcc phase of Ni and fcc phases of Fe and Co. Studies of noble metals deposited on ferromagnetic substrates reveal the presence of spin-polarized quantum well states with binding energies reflecting the thickness of the noble metal films. These states sample the Fermi surface with a frequency identical to that characterizing the oscillatory exchange coupling in the associated magnetic multilayers which suggests that they are the electronic states that mediate the coupling.