Resonant interaction between two Cu quantum wells investigated by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

Double quantum wells (QWs) of Cu thin films were investigated using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The thickness ratio of the two Cu QW films was chosen to be 1:1 and 2:1 to purposely group the QW states of the two Cu films into degenerate and nondegenerate states. The energy spectra of the valence band show that only the degenerate QW states interact resonantly to split each degenerate state into two separate states. Furthermore, by investigating the interaction of two Cu films across a Ni/Cu [14 monolayer (ML)]/Ni QW, we show clearly that resonant splitting occurs at the quantized energy levels of the middle 14 ML Cu QW film.