Quantum-well states in copper thin films

R. K. Kawakami, E. Rotenberg, Hyuk J. Choi, Ernesto J. Escorcia-Aparicio, M. O. Bowen, J. H. Wolfe, E. Arenholz, Z. D. Zhang, N. V. Smith and Z. Q. Qiu ()
Additional contact information
R. K. Kawakami: University of California at Berkeley
E. Rotenberg: Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Hyuk J. Choi: University of California at Berkeley
Ernesto J. Escorcia-Aparicio: University of California at Berkeley
M. O. Bowen: University of California at Berkeley
J. H. Wolfe: University of California at Berkeley
E. Arenholz: University of California at Berkeley
Z. D. Zhang: University of California at Berkeley
N. V. Smith: Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Z. Q. Qiu: University of California at Berkeley

Nature, 1999, vol. 398, issue 6723, 132-134

Abstract: Abstract A standard exercise in elementary quantum mechanics is to describe the properties of an electron confined in a potential well. The solutions of Schrödinger's equation are electron standing waves—or ‘quantum-well’ states—characterized by the quantum number n, the number of half-wavelengths that span the well. Quantum-well states can be experimentally realized in a thin film, which confines the motion of the electrons in the direction normal to the film: for layered semiconductor quantum wells, the aforementioned quantization condition provides (with the inclusion of boundary phases) a good description of the quantum-well states. The presence of such states in layered metallic nanostructures isbelieved to underlie many intriguing phenomena, such as the oscillatory magnetic coupling of two ferromagnetic layers across anon-magnetic layer1,2 and giant magnetoresistance3. But our understanding of the properties of the quantum-well states in metallic structures is still limited. Here we report photoemission experiments that reveal the spatial variation of the quantum-well wavefunction within a thin copper film. Our results confirm an earlier proposal4 that the amplitude of electron waves confined in a metallic thin film is modulated by an envelope function (of longer wavelength), which plays a key role in determining the energetics of the quantum-well states.

Date: 1999
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DOI: 10.1038/18178

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