Electronic structures of magnetic ultrathin ®lms Co/Au(1 1 1) studied by spin-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

We have measured the spin-resolved photoemission spectra of the Co thin ®lms grown epitaxially on Au(1 1 1) substrate in order to investigate their valence band structures. It is proved that the electronic structures of Co thin ®lms are pretty different from that of bulk hcp-Co. It is observed that as the ®lms grow thicker, the electronic structures become closer to those of the bulk Co with the magnetic anisotropy turning into in-plane magnetization from out-of-plane magnetization. # 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved