This paper describes angle-resolved photoemission and high-energy electron diffraction studies of the growth and electronic properties of Ag monolayers prepared on Ni(111), Ni(001), Cu(111), Cu(001), Au(111), and Si(111)-(7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}7). In all six systems, the Ag overlayer structure is very close to the hexagonal close-packed Ag(111) structure. Thus the effect of the substrate can be studied without the complication of major structural changes in the overlayer. The two-dimensional band dispersions for the Ag valence states have been determined along high-symmetry directions for these systems except Ag-Si(111). The Ag overlayers on Cu(111), Ni(001), and Ni(111) are incommensurate with the substrate structure, and the overlayer band dispersions are very similar despite the large differences in the electronic and atomic structures of the substrates. Ag on Cu(001) forms a c(10\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}2) overlayer, and the photoemission results are somewhat different. Ag on Au(111) forms a lattice-matched epitaxial overlayer, and its band dispersions have a very different appearance. These similarities and differences are explained in terms of the degree of commensuration of the substrate-overlayer interaction as a perturbation on the overlayer properties. The growth of Ag on Si(111)-(7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}7) is not as well ordered as in the other systems. A severe broadening of the overlayer photoemission features is observed, preventing the determination of the band dispersions. Momentum broadening as well as random crystal potential variation within the overlayer are likely to be the cause of the broadening.

We present electron diffraction, and high-resolution angle-resolved and angle-integrated photoemission studies of the initial phases of adsorption and growth of Ag on Ge(111). The results provide information on the structural properties of the Ge(111)-c(2×8) substrate surface, show Ag grows upon it almost laminarly at room temperature, and unambiguously demonstrate the presence of a small amount of Ge segregating on top of the growing Ag overlayer. The origins and behavior of these segregated atoms are discussed. Ag films more than a few monolayers thick exhibit quantum well states which are observed to evolve as a function of film thickness.

The Ge(111) surface was observed to be metallic under compressive strain, while normally it is semiconducting in the fully annealed state. The compressive strain was produced by the lattice mismatch between Ge and Si for epitaxial Ge films on Si(111). When the strain is relieved, the metallic surface becomes semiconducting.

Ag films on Si(111)-(7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}7) having thicknesses of 0--17 monolayers were studied with angle-resolved photoemission. The spectra exhibit quasiperiodic peaks with separations between neighboring peaks approximately proportional to the inverse of the film thickness. These are film states associated with the sp band of bulk Ag. A surface-state precursor was also observed on films as thin as two monolayers in thickness.

We have performed an angle-resolved photoemission study of a surface state on Cu(111) covered by various thicknesses of Ag. The growth mode of Ag on Cu(111) was determined to be layer-by-layer despite the large mismatch between the two lattices. The Cu(111) surface state was observed to evolve monotonically for increasing Ag overlayer thickness to eventually become the Ag(111) surface state. The measured rate of shift of the surface state binding energy can be explained qualitatively in terms of the degree of localization of the surface-state wave functions.

The clean CdTe(100) surface prepared by sputtering and annealing was studied with high-energy electron diffraction (HEED) and photoemission. HEED showed the surface to be a one-domain, (2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1) reconstruction. Photoemission spectra showed two surface-shifted components for the Cd 4d core level, with an intensity ratio of about 1:3, accounting for nearly an entire atomic layer. No surface-induced shifts for the Te 4d core level were detected. A model is proposed for the surface structure in which the surface layer is free of Te, and Cd atoms form dimers resulting in a (2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}1) reconstruction; in addition, about (1/4) of the surface area is covered by excess loosely attached Cd atoms. Ag was evaporated on the surface at room temperature and found to grow three dimensionally in the [111] direction. The Ag was found to interact only weakly with the substrate, although the Cd atoms originally loosely bound on top of the surface were found to float on the evaporated Ag islands. A small coverage-dependent surface photovoltage, induced by the synchrotron radiation used for photoemission, was observed; with this effect taken into account, band bending was monitored, the final Fermi-level position being near 0.96 eV above the valence-band maximum. This corresponds to a Schottky-barrier height of about 0.60 eV for the n-type sample used in this experiment. The mechanism for generation of the surface photovoltage will be discussed.

Ag(1 1 1) monolayers prepared on two substrates, Ni(1 1 1) and Ni(0 0 1), were studied with angle-resolved photoemission; their two-dimensional band dispersions were found to be identical within experimental uncertainties. Comparing the present results with those for Ag/Cu(0 0 1), the major difference is just a shift of 0.32 eV in all the binding energies. Thus the band topology of Ag overlayers in these systems is quite insensitive to the electronic and atomic structures of the substrates.

The Au 4${f}_{7/2}$ core-level binding energies for epitaxial Au films on Ag(111) and Ag(100) and Ag-covered Au films have been determined from photoemission measurements. The surface and subsurface contributions can be separated, and the evolution of binding energies as a function of Au film thickness provides useful information about the one-electron potential variation within the film. The mode of initial film growth is determined by the core-level intensities from different layers.