Abstract
The magnetic exchange splitting of electronic states in a 7 monolayer Fe film on Cu(001) was investigated below and above the Curie temperature , using image-potential surface states as sensor. At , the long-range magnetic order breaks down as reflected by a vanishing spin splitting and vanishing spin polarization. The exchange splitting, in contrast, does not change abruptly at but persists up to . Equally, the spin-integrated linewidth shows no signature of the magnetic phase transition but smoothly decreases with increasing temperature. Our experimental results confirm theoretical expectations that, at , the long-range magnetic order disappears but the local magnetic moments and, in particular, the valence electronic structure are unaffected by the phase transition.
- Received 18 December 2009
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.104.237204
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