The discovery and realization of graphene as an ideal two-dimensional (2D) material has triggered extensive efforts to create similar 2D materials with exciting spin-dependent properties. Here, we report on a novel Sn 2D superstructure on Au(111) that shows similarities and differences to the expected electronic features of ideal stanene. Using spin-and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we find that a particular Sn/Au superstructure reveals a linearly dispersing band centered at the Γ-point and below the Fermi level with antiparallel spin polarization and a Fermi velocity of v F ≈ 1×10 6 m/s, the same value as for graphene. We attribute the origin of the band structure to the hybridization between the Sn and the Au orbitals at the 2D Sn-Au interface. Considering that free-standing stanene simply cannot exist, our investigated structure is an important step towards the search of useful stanene-like overstructures for future technological applications.

Controlling the interaction between organic semiconductors and ferromagnetic surfaces is one of the key issues for designing metal–organic hybrid interfaces for spintronic applications. The strong chemical interaction across such hybrid interfaces results in the formation of new spin-polarized hybrid interface states which determine all device-relevant properties. Here, we revisit the hybrid interface formed between the prototypical molecule Alq3 and the Co surface using spin- and angle-resolved photoemission. We reveal a significant change of the spectroscopic lineshape of the cobalt 3d bands by the adsorption of Alq3. The hole-like minority and the electron-like majority bands of the bare Co surface are replaced by an energetically very broad band with neglectable band dispersion along the Γ̅–X ̅ direction. Moreover, the magnitude and shape of the spin polarization of the Alq3/Co valence band structure are also significantly modified by the adsorption of Alq3 and become completely independent of the momentum space positions along the Γ̅–X ̅ direction. Our findings are attributed to an elastic scattering of the Co photoelectrons at the disordered Alq3 overlayer, leading to a redistribution of the spin-dependent spectral intensity in momentum space. A careful analysis of our data shows that such elastic scattering takes place without significant spin-flip scattering processes and that the spectral feature of the highest occupied molecular orbital of Alq3 is fully unpolarized.