Momentum-resolved electronic structure at a buried interface from soft X-ray standing-wave angle-resolved photoemission

Gray, A.X.; Minár, J.; Plucinski, L.; Huijben, M.; Bostwick, A.; Rotenberg, E.; Yang, S.-H.h; Braun, J.; Winkelmann, A.; Conti, G.; Eiteneer, D.; Rattanachata, A.; Greer, A.A.; Ciston, J.; Ophus, C.; Rijnders, G.; Blank, D. H. A.; Doennig, D.; Pentcheva, Rossitza; Kortright, J.B.; Schneider, C.M.; Ebert, H. and Fadley, C. S. (2013): Momentum-resolved electronic structure at a buried interface from soft X-ray standing-wave angle-resolved photoemission. In: EPL, Vol. 104, No. 1

Abstract

Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is a powerful technique for the study of electronic structure, but it lacks a direct ability to study buried interfaces between two materials. We address this limitation by combining ARPES with soft X-ray standing-wave (SW) excitation (SWARPES), in which the SW profile is scanned through the depth of the sample. We have studied the buried interface in a prototypical magnetic tunnel junction La0.7Sr 0.3MnO3/SrTiO3. Depth-and momentum-resolved maps of Mn 3d eg and t2g states from the central, bulk-like and interface-like regions of La0.7Sr0.3MnO 3 exhibit distinctly different behavior consistent with a change in the Mn bonding at the interface. We compare the experimental results to state-of-the-art density-functional and one-step photoemission theory, with encouraging agreement that suggests wide future applications of this technique.

• Item Type: Journal article
• Faculties: Geosciences > Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences > Crystallography and Materials Science
• Subjects: 500 Science > 530 Physics; 500 Science > 540 Chemistry; 500 Science > 550 Earth sciences and geology
• Language: English