Electronic Structure of Metastable bcc-Cu Ultra-thin Films Grown on FeCo(100) Probed by Angle-resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: We report an experimental investigation of the electronic band structure of metastable body-centered cubic (bcc)-Cu ultra-thin films epitaxially grown on FeCo(100) substrates. High-quality bcc-Cu films were fabricated by molecular beam epitaxy, enabling in-situ synchrotron angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements with sufficient energy and momentum resolution. The Fermi surface morphology of bcc-Cu was distinguished from that of conventional face-centered cubic-Cu and showed characteristic features consistent with the bcc structure. Overall, the experimentally observed band dispersions exhibit good qualitative agreement with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. However, the Cu-derived bands are systematically shifted toward higher binding energies compared to bulk-based DFT predictions. These deviations are likely caused by a combination of intrinsic limitations of the DFT approximation and interface-induced effects such as charge transfer at the Cu/FeCo heterointerface. The present results highlight the importance of experimentally determining the electronic structure of metastable ultra-thin films and demonstrate that interface effects must be considered when discussing Fermi surface matching and transport properties in Cu/FeCo heterostructures.
Language: English
Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $93
Awards: G1556045598, G2399477064, G2624125586, G320676841, Characterization of Organic-Supported Porous Carbon Electrodes Prepared by Supercritical Impregnation, Development of operando spin-resolved photoemission microscopy and visualization of electronic states in quantum devices, Sensing Mechanism of Graphene-Assist Oxide Gas Sensor and Fabrication of Mixed Gas Sensor, G5050483470, Understanding and controlling parasitic resistance in atomic layer devices by data-driven multi-dimensional spectromicroscopy, The observation of interface band structure using soft X-ray spin-resolved ARPES for realizing high-performance multilayered magnetoresistive devices, G5623049728, G5858528133, Organic nanocrystalline heterostructures for high energy density electrode materials, G6375251269, G7741615122, G7903470345, G8003271292
OpenAlex ID: W7208775874