Creating and modulating electronic states on noble metal surfaces:   ultrathin Ag islands on Si(111)-7$\times$7 as a prototype
  Various-thickness Ag islands were prepared on Si(111)-7$\times$7 using the one-step deposition at a high substrate temperature. An electronic state centered at -0.40$\sim$-0.15eV versus E$_{Fermi}$, detectable on the surface of the Ag islands thinner than 9 layers, was created by the electronic hybridization between Ag and Si at the Ag-Si interface. Scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and density functional theory revealed that the thickness of Ag islands determined the strength of the hybridization, leading to a modulation to the energy and intensity of the state on the surface. 
Fang Cheng, Xiong Zhou, Yang He, Qian Shen, Hailing Liang, Heng Li,   Jianlong Li, Wei Ji, and Kai Wu
cond-mat.mtrl-sci cond-mat.mes-hall physics.chem-ph