Quantum-well-driven magnetism in thin films

We have performed local spin-density calculations for an fcc (100) Ag substrate covered by 1 to 16 monolayers (ML) of Pd. We find that thin films of Pd are magnetic with a moment of the order of 0.3${\mathrm{\mu }}_{\mathit{B}}$ except for films of 1-2 ML and 5-7 ML where magnetism is completely suppressed. We present a physically transparent explanation of this behavior in terms of the Stoner picture and magnetic quantum-well states.