The spin-dependent reflectivity of electrons with energies between 0 and 20 eV from Fe single crystals 2–8 monolayers thick on a W(110) surface is studied by spin-polarized low energy electron microscopy. The quantum size oscillations in the reflectivity are analyzed in a similar manner as in photoemission of ground state electrons, yielding the spin-resolved unoccupied state band structure of Fe in the $\Gamma N$ direction in the energy range studied.

The evolution of the magnetic domain structure with the thickness of ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{Co}}_x$ alloy films deposited at room temperature on epitaxial Au(111) films is studied for $x<~0.3$ by spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy. In contrast to pure Fe films that show no out-of-plane magnetization small amounts of Co are sufficient to induce strong perpendicular magnetization below three monolayers with a pronounced striped domain structure. A reorientation transition to in-plane magnetization is found.

We report on a giant Rashba type splitting of metallic bands observed in one-dimensional structures prepared on a vicinal silicon substrate. A single layer of Pb on Si(553) orders this vicinal surface making perfectly regular distribution of monatomic steps. Although there is only one layer of Pb, the system reveals very strong metallic and purely one-dimensional character, which manifests itself in multiple surface state bands crossing the Fermi level in the direction parallel to the step edges and a small band gap in the perpendicular direction. As shown by spin-polarized photoemission and density functional theory calculations these surface state bands are spin-polarized and completely decoupled from the rest of the system. The experimentally observed spin splitting of 0.6 eV at room temperature is the largest found to now in the silicon-based metallic nanostructures, which makes the considered system a promising candidate for application in spintronic devices.

The interaction between graphene and germanium surfaces was investigated using a combination of microscopic and macroscopic experimental techniques and complementary theoretical calculations. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations for different reconstructions of the Ge(001) surface showed that the interactions between graphene and the Ge(001) surface introduce additional peaks in the density of states, superimposed on the graphene valence and conduction energy bands. The growth of graphene induces nanofaceting of the Ge(001) surface, which exhibits well-organized hill and valley structures. The graphene regions covered by hills are of high quality and exhibit an almost linear dispersion relation, which indicates weak graphene–germanium interactions. On the other hand, the graphene component occupying valley regions is significantly perturbed by the interaction with germanium. It was also found that the stronger graphene–germanium interaction observed in the valley regions is connected with a lower local electrical conductivity. Annealing of graphene/Ge(001)/Si(001) was performed to obtain a more uniform surface. This process results in a surface characterized by negligible hill and valley structures; however, the graphene properties unexpectedly deteriorated with increasing uniformity of the Ge(001) surface. To sum up, it was shown that the mechanism responsible for the formation of local conductivity inhomogeneities in graphene covering the Ge(001) surface is related to the different strength of graphene–germanium interactions. The present results indicate that, in order to obtain high-quality graphene, the experimental efforts should focus on limiting the interactions between germanium and graphene, which can be achieved by adjusting the growth conditions.