Thin Fe films grown on Ag(100) studied by angle- and spin-resolved inverse-photoemission spectroscopy

We present an investigation of the empty electronic states of thin Fe films epitaxially grown on Ag(100), by means of angle- and spin-resolved isochromat inverse-photoemission spectroscopy. Results for film thicknesses in the range from 1 to 50 bcc-Fe monolayers are reported. The evolution of the bands when going from very thin to bulklike films is considered. It is found that the bulk electron d-band structure develops after the deposition of many layers (about 15), while for thinner films the exchange splitting is reduced with respect to the bulk value.