Magnetic Exchange Splitting in Fe above the Curie Temperature

The magnetic exchange splitting of electronic states in a 7 monolayer Fe film on Cu(001) was investigated below and above the Curie temperature T-C, using image-potential surface states as sensor. At T-C, the long-range magnetic order breaks down as reflected by a vanishing spin splitting and vanishing spin polarization. The exchange splitting, in contrast, does not change abruptly at T-C but persists up to T = 1.2T(C). Equally, the spin-integrated linewidth shows no signature of the magnetic phase transition but smoothly decreases with increasing temperature. Our experimental results confirm theoretical expectations that, at T-C, the long-range magnetic order disappears but the local magnetic moments and, in particular, the valence electronic structure are unaffected by the phase transition.