Electron confinement in thin films of Pb on Cu(111) leads to the formation of quantum well states, formed out of the upper valence band of Pb. Their evolution as a function of film thickness is characterized in angle-resolved photoemission and can be interpreted in terms of a straightforward quantum well model. This permits an identification of film growth mode at low temperatures. Bringing the films into thermal equilibrium by annealing induces strong changes in the spectra. Their interpretation demonstrates that specific "magic" layers are preferred because of total energy minimization induced by the arrangement of quantum well states with respect to the Fermi level.

The study of chiral adsorbed molecules is important for an analysis of enantioselectivity in heterogeneous catalysis. Here we show that such molecules can be identified through circular dichroism in corelevel photoemission arising from the chiral carbon atoms in stereoisomers of 2,3-butanediol molecules adsorbed on Si(100), using circularly polarized x rays. The asymmetry in the carbon 1s intensity excited by right and left circularly polarized light is readily observed, and changes sign with the helicity of the radiation or handedness of the enantiomers; it is absent in the achiral form of the molecule. This observation demonstrates the possibility of determining molecular chirality in the adsorbed phase.

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