Quantum well states, resonances and stability of metallic overlayers

摘要

The role of quantum well states (QWSs) and quantum well resonances (QWRs) in the stability of metallic overlayers is studied. When the substrate presents a confining gap, as it is the case of Cu(111), the stability is determined by QWSs and there is experimental evidence of the existence of magic thicknesses. For overlayers which do not have QWSs, as those grown on Al(111), we explore the existence of thicknesses of enhanced stability due to QWRs by comparing the strength of the oscillations in the surface energy.