Ultrathin Au films of 1 to 10 monolayers (ML) have been deposited in s
itu on Cu(001) at room temperature. Their structure has been investiga
ted by X-ray photoelectron diffraction (XPD), presented as full solid
angle intensity maps of the Au 4d5/2 peak, and by low energy electron
diffraction. The XPD patterns change from fourfold fcc (001) at low co
verage to threefold fcc (111) at high coverage. The goal of this work
is to reveal the different steps of such a drastic structure transform
ation.