VANADIUM FILMS ON FE(100) STUDIED BY SPIN-RESOLVED INVERSE-PHOTOEMISSION

Ultrathin vanadium films epitaxially grown on Fe(1 0 0) have been stud ied by inverse photoemission spectroscopy excited by spin-polarized el ectrons in the 5-10 eV kinetic energy range. Two experimental evidence s are clearly observed: a strong reduction of the Fe signal upon V dep osition and a shift of the image-potential surface state resonance whi ch follows the work function change. No other transitions induced by t he overlayer are detected. Both majority and minority-spin electron be ams are strongly attenuated when passing through the V film. The atten uation length is found to be as short as (3 +/- 0.5) Angstrom and spin -independent, within the experimental accuracy. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd. All rights reserved.