Evidence for Short-Range Magnetic Order in Ni aboveTc

A three-peak analysis of Ni(111) photoelectron spectra, taken with high angular and energy resolution at 7.7 eV for $300 \mathrm{K}<~T<~1.25T_c$, is performed with the assumption of a temperature-independent exchange splitting and a many-body line shape. The intensity of the nonmagnetic peak between the two magnetic ones increases but its width decreases as $T_c$ is approached from below, while the intensity of the magnetic peaks decreases but remains finite. This strongly supports the notion that short-range magnetic order persists well above $T_c$.